The community was treated to a most engaging talk exploring Colorado’s rich water heritage in early October by Greg Hobbs, former Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. Knowing that not everyone could attend in person, the Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center captured the lecture about “The History, Culture and Poetry of Water” on video.
As part of the Salazar Center’s emerging Water Education Initiative, this and recordings of other valuable water talks over the past two years are being posted on-line as they become available. Interested citizens can find these on the Adams State University’s YouTube channel and the Salazar Center Playlist at The History, Culture and Poetry of Water.
Hobbs, who practiced law for 23 years with an emphasis on water, environment, land use and transportation, was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1996. He is now the Distinguished Jurist in Residence and Co-Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. He also serves as a Senior Water Judge for the Colorado Courts and is assigned to the mediation of water cases.
In addition to authoring many articles, books and water related decisions while serving on Colorado’s highest court, Hobbs is also well known for his poetry, which evokes the beauty, culture, history and human relationship to water. His book, “Colorado, Mother of Rivers: Water Poems,” has over 200 poems, written over a span of 40 years. For Hobbs, poetry is a powerful and simple way to convey and summarize the complex interactions of nature, engineering, science, history, culture and water.
“I like to use poetry because it helps to communicate the rhythm of the landscape, of the people and the creatures—and we’re all water creatures.” he says. “That’s why we identify so much with the water. And why must we continue to earn our most notable distinction: Colorado, Mother of Rivers!”
The Salazar Center’s Water Education Initiative offers relevant and useful information about critical issues related to water in the San Luis Valley, its past and current management, and community-based approaches to sustainable water use for the future. For more information, contact Rio de la Vista, Director of the Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center, at 719-850-2255 or riodelavista@adams.edu.
