Heather Dutton grew up in a farming family in the San Luis Valley, where she gained a love for agriculture and the outdoors. She is fortunate to have worked as the Manager of the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District since 2016. The greatest reward of this position is the opportunity to work with friends in the water community to find creative ways to manage water and natural resources in the Upper Rio Grande Basin.

Prior to working for the District, Heather was the Executive Director of the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project. She serves on the Interbasin Compact Committee (IBCC), Colorado State University Water Center Advisory Board, and Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation Board. Heather is happiest when exploring the San Juan Mountains on foot, motorcycles, and snowmobiles with her husband.

Sarah co-owns Jones Farms Organics, a 4th and 5th generation family farm in the San Luis Valley, and the 1st Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) Farm in the state of Colorado. JFO grows multiple varieties of heirloom wheat and rye (Rouge de Bordeaux, Yecora Rojo, Sonora, Durum, Wrens Abruzzi, and Ryman Rye) and over 20 varieties of specialty potatoes. As the director of sales, marketing, and logistics, she has cultivated relationships with over 30 direct customers.

Sarah is the vision behind Rye Resurgence Project, which was awarded grant funding from the SLV Water Conservancy District to help farmers in the SLV reduce reliance on groundwater, improve soil health and maintain profitability through cultivating a market for local terroir driven rye.

Marielle spent her formative years living in the Rocky Mountains near Estes Park. While living in Portland, OR for 10 years, Marielle worked for a statewide environmental non-profit and during her tenure, launched and grew the Oregon Brewshed Alliance - a coalition of Oregon's craft brewing industry supporting and advocating for forest watershed protection. During that time, she went back to school and received her masters in environmental law & policy to become better versed in the complex language of western water and to help break down barriers to entry. She then moved back to her home state to serve as the Communications Director at the Colorado River District, based in Glenwood Springs. After several years on the West Slope, she's resettled near Estes once again.

Introduced to the Rye Resurgence Project on a 2023 field tour with Heather and Sarah, she is proud to be supporting RRP with branding, design, outreach, and communications efforts, combining her passion for Colorado, western water issues, supporting local agriculture, and the craft food & beverage world. She spends her time in the mountains with her pack of three pups, who love to join her for hikes and fly fishing adventures.