“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.”

Sen. Mark Udall repeated that famous quote by Colorado congressman Wayne Aspinall at a unique gathering Friday of corporate forces working to protect and sustain the encumbered Colorado River.

Population growth, drought and increasing demand are challenging the Colorado River and threatening Western economies and outdoor lifestyles.

“In order to meet those challenges, we have to acknowledge that the current management and current use of the river is unsustainable. We’ve got to start from that point,” said Udall, addressing the first Business of Water Corporate Leaders Summit in Denver, hosted by Protect the Flows, a network of almost 1,000 businesses advocating for protection of the 1,450-mile river.

More than 30 business leaders rallied for the two-day summit, sharing innovations and strategies for better water management.

Catherine Greener, head of sustainability for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the largest national park concessionaire with operations in Rocky Mountain, Zion and Grand Canyon national parks, told the gathering how her company has decreased water use, gas emissions and fossil-fuel use by enlisting guests in its “softer footprint” mission.

Mark LeChevallier is the scientist in charge of innovation and sustainability at American Water, a utility that serves 15 million people in 30 states. His utility’s conservation measures have reduced residential consumption by 15 percent in the past decade despite years of drought using innovation such as acoustic monitoring to detect leaks and reducing water pressure during low-demand hours.

Liese Dallbauman, director of water stewardship for PepsiCo, detailed her company’s global efforts to provide community watersheds with the same amount of water used by PepsiCo plants in the region. PepsiCo’s three plants in Arizona work with the Nature Conservancy on several water-conserving programs that have led the company to reduce its water use by 20 percent.

“The water we use is a debit. We are spending something. We want to offset that,” Dallbauman said.

Every speaker offered concrete strategies for not just protecting water but educating consumers on its value. George Wendt urges the 3,000 people a year who float his OARS rafts down the Colorado River to support conservation. Broomfield’s WhiteWave Foods makes sure consumers know its plant-based drinks require 77 percent less water per half gallon than cow milk. MGM Resorts International is fighting to include water conservation in energy-saving metrics that often focus only on reducing carbon impact.

The idea is to build a groundswell of consumer and business support for water conservation. With Western populations swelling, demand for the Colorado River’s water is expected to exceed supply by 3.2 million acre-feet in 2060, according to the Bureau of Reclamation’s alarming multiyear “Colorado River Basin Water Supply & Demand Study” released last year.

That does not bode well for the 40 million people who drink Colorado River water. Or the farmers who irrigate 4 million acres with that water. Or the 5 million people who recreate around Colorado River water, generating a $26 billion impact that sustains 230,000 jobs across seven states.

Protecting that natural resource protects jobs and fuels economies, Udall said.

“Conserving the great outdoors is a long-term investment in jobs that can’t be outsourced,” said Udall, who suggested that a balance between increased conservation and wastewater treatment, expanding storage and recharging groundwater supplies would alleviate pressure on the Colorado River.

Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasontblevins