Today is Dec. 18, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

The opening day of the annual Colorado River Water Users Association on Dec. 13 featured the signing of an agreement for Lower Basin states to conserve 1.6 million acre-feet of water over the next three years.

It’s no small feat, according to representatives of California and Arizona, who spoke to Colorado Politics in advance of the three-day conference, which attracted top water officials and water users from the seven basin states of the Colorado River.

But there’s a much bigger, long-term task ahead for those who attended the Las Vegas meeting this week.

They – and many others – need to discuss how to manage the Colorado River after 2026.

Over the past three years, Colorado’s federal trial court has seen extensive turnover, with President Joe Biden appointing four members of the seven-judge district court and a fifth nominee awaiting confirmation in the U.S. Senate.

By tradition, senators wield enormous power over district judge appointments in their states. Early in Biden’s presidency, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper formed a committee to assist with interviewing and screening applicants to recommend to the White House.

One of the committee’s members is Frances A. Koncilja, who formerly sat on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and now focuses on clean energy policy in her law practice. Koncilja has been a participant in state and federal judicial selection processes over many years. She spoke with Colorado Politics about her work on the current advisory committee and what it accomplished.

A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Colorado’s plans to reintroduce gray wolves, denying a temporary restraining order sought by cattlemen and livestock growers.

In her order, federal district court judge Regina Rodriguez appeared sympathetic to plaintiffs’ worries, noting they have “lived and worked on the land for many years” and are “understandably concerned about possible impacts of this reintroduction.”

But their arguments ultimately failed to persuade her, she said.

The petitioners, the judge said, have “not presented evidence demonstrating that harm will occur if their requested relief is not granted, nor have they demonstrated such harm, if it did occur, would be irreparable,” she said, adding their concerns of “potential harm to livestock and to Gunnison sage-grouse are too speculative.”

Under the state’s plan, the wolves will be released in state lands in the Western slope. The state’s parks and wildlife agency hope to have the wolves released onto state lands as soon as Monday, Dec. 18.

Despite a federal judge’s refusal Friday to prevent the reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado, disappointed livestock producers say the ruling has not ended their battle.

Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and The Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services on Dec. 11, arguing the agency did not adequately review the negative effects that reintroducing gray wolves into Colorado would have on the industry. The state is reintroducing the predators based on a 2020 ballot measure.

Judge Regina Rodriguez denied the requested injunction on Friday.

“This is a setback to our legal strategy but not the end of our efforts,” the two associations said in a joint statement on Saturday.

Be prepared. Know the courtroom. Learn the judge’s background. Make clear what you want. Show the judge how to get there. Look nice. Be mindful of the stickers on your water bottle.

Those were some of the bullet points of advice that new attorneys heard earlier this month at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver. The Dec. 8 orientation, hosted by the Young Lawyers Division of the Colorado Bar Association, featured five trial judges from the metro area who rattled off their personal lists of pet peeves and encouragements to those who are not yet versed in the ways of the courtroom.

“We came from different backgrounds. So, I may not know anything about your discrimination claim. It’s not where I practiced. I’m learning also. So, give me the goods,” said Boulder County District Court Judge Dea M. Lindsey. “I don’t need a treatise, but I need to know where to look.”