Chair
Bear River Commission
Bio:
Jody Williams is a veteran Utah water lawyer and a member of the Utah Water Task Force. She has worked for over four decades to understand, protect and help her clients responsibly develop and use our precious water resources. She represents some of Utah’s largest water districts, mining companies and industries. Jody has developed creative strategies to successfully acquire and move wet water to Great Salt Lake. She began her legal career working on Bear River issues and negotiated the Bear Lake Settlement Agreement among the Bear River Water Users Association, Bear Lake Watch and PacifiCorp. Recognizing her knowledge of the river and diplomatic solutions to difficult problems, ten years ago the President appointed Jody as the Federal Commissioner and Chair of the Bear River Commission, established in the interstate compact among Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and ratified by Congress. Previously by Presidential appointment she served as Chair of the Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation Commission created to mitigate environmental impacts of the Central Utah Project. Currently, she is a lawyer with Holland & Hart LLP.
Title:
Abstract: The last decade has brought greater awareness of the connectivity among Great Salt Lake and the river basins emptying into it. But in the 150 years prior to our acknowledgment of this interrelationship, the Provo River, Jordan River, Weber River, and Bear River basins developed independently with their own decrees, water right priorities, storage reservoirs, river commissioners, and politics. Another layer of complexity is added by the Bear River. The Bear River “belongs” not just to Utah, but to three sovereign states, each with their own unique water rights, administration, different water laws, and politics. Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming negotiated and amended the Bear River Compact pursuant to Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, ratified by Congress and signed by the President. The federal presence on the river is reflected in three U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Refuges—one in each of the three states. This presentation will introduce the interstate law of the Bear River to our discussion of Great Salt Lake today.