Within some forums, TNC's participation has evolved to that of mediator and honest broker, says Tercek. "Because we are science-driven, we are often in a position to play that role," he says.

In the Colorado River basin, TNC is leading several regional forums to develop solutions to water shortages. It helped launch the Water Bank Work Group, which is exploring use of market mechanisms to move water around in times of shortage. It now facilitates the group while also serving as a member, scientific adviser and liaison to the agricultural community. "We have evolved in our role with this group to broker a dialogue among municipal water suppliers, large water districts, native American tribes and agricultural interests," Tercek says, "[We are] helping group members identify shared interests and develop creative, practical solutions."

TNC also helped broker, through its outside counsel, a binational agreement, signed in 2012, that is the first-ever international accord to allocate water not only for human uses but also for the environment. The pact between Mexico and the U.S. provides an integrated, cooperative approach to water management, including sharing surpluses and shortages. "We will continue to play the role of honest broker and mediator in negotiations to extend this agreement indefinitely," Tercek says.

TNC's water infrastructure director is Robert Sinkler, a retired Corps of Engineers colonel. His previous mission was the construction of a $14.6-billion ring of flood defenses around New Orleans, after which he served as the Corps' national environmental programs chief until his retirement last year.

Sinkler

Sinkler says he answered an ad and was hired by the TNC almost immediately after leaving the Corps. He says his position is new, established as TNC's North American priority. "There was a realization in TNC that it cannot have the influence and make the kind of difference we need just by focusing on land and water easement and conservation practice," Sinkler says.

TNC had to get more active in sustaining development and water infrastructure because economic development will occur, says Sinkler. "It's just a practical, realistic way of looking at things," he adds. "You cannot achieve a lot of collective goals that we all have by just partitioning off some lands for development and other lands for conservation."

He aims to partner TNC with other organizations and double national investment in water infrastructure by 2020. "We clearly are going to have to figure out how to do that, but ... I think it's doable," Sinkler says.

He says it is not all about building, though. In many cases, significant gains can be made by managing resources more wisely, he says. One TNC initiative he cites consists of launching studies and developing proposals for revising rules written more than a half-century ago for maintaining and operating navigation and flood-control structures on major river systems. Termed "reoperating," one of its goals is to take a fresh look at the long-term effects of maintaining water depths within tight, consistent ranges to facilitate navigation, which has robbed rivers of water-level fluctuation cycles, natural habitat and flood resilience.

"Sometimes, when the federal government doesn't have the resources to investigate reoperation of original structures, TNC has been able to step in to conduct studies and open discussions," Sinkler says.

"It is a science-based organization [that is] not driven as much by passion and emotion as by good science and thought. It has credibility and legitimacy in helping bring people together," Sinkler says.

TNC is finding that, in some cases, small, well-timed modifications of operations and restoration of floodplains' natural habitat can make for big improvements in ecosystem health, flood management, hydroelectric generation capacity and drinking-water and recreational water availability. "We are smarter than we were 70 or 80 years ago," Sinkler says. "Water is not the enemy."

"We don't engage on every environmental issue," Tercek notes, "but we pick issues critical to our mission and where we think we can make a real difference." For example, TNC was "very engaged" with the recently passed Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which authorizes programs for the Corps. "We were focused on trying to make sure nature is not only protected but, more importantly, that nature is considered as a critical way in how we meet our water-resource needs," he adds.

TNC involvement often begins by invitation, but it also initiates efforts on projects, policy or planning that it sees as strategically or regionally important. The group works with consulting firms, private landowners, government agencies and universities as well as companies interested in improving corporate sustainability. It builds collaborative efforts and teams, Tercek says, "so we can use our organization's expertise and resources to help get very big work done at a large scale."

TNC relies on the construction community to help it deliver, Tercek says. Often, the work funded by TNC and executed by engineering firms ends up being counted as work-in-kind toward a cost-share partner contribution to a federal project.