Click the link to read the article on the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dennis Webb). Here’s an excerpt:
March 14, 2025
A $110,000 state grant is enabling Colorado Mesa University’s Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center to expand its education and outreach program, including through a spring speaker series co-organized with CMU’s Environmental Science program. The center received the money from the Colorado Water Conservation Board last fall for two years of programs. According to a news release, Freddy Witarsa, the program’s interim director, will use the funds to facilitate programs to prepare students to join the water workforce and provide a platform for Western Colorado stakeholders to address the region’s water challenges…The water center facilitates research, education, outreach and dialogue to address the water issues in the region. The center has been led in recent years by interim directors. Witarsa also is an assistant professor of environmental science and technology at CMU. In January, the Colorado River District awarded the center $300,000 to support its efforts to grow over the next three years, including by hiring an executive director. That grant is being matched by a $300,000 grant from CMU.