Meet the 27-year-old 'water buffalo' negotiating California's claim to the evaporating Colorado River

• John Brooks Hamby is a 27-year-old in charge of negotiating California's share of the Colorado River.
• The state has historically had a large portion of its flow, compared to six other states in the region.
• ProPublica reported that Hamby plans to negotiate with other states from his powerful position.

John Brooks Hamby was 9 years old the last time a group of Western states renegotiated how they share the dwindling Colorado River. When the high-stakes talks concluded two years later, in 2007, with a round of painful cuts, he hadn't reached high school.