Resources

Wildfires, which have intensified with climate change, can contaminate drinking water supplies after a heavy rain. AGCI's Tanya Petach and Energy Innovation's Alex Urquhart examine wildfires' long-term impacts on water quality and the need for fire-resilient water systems in this piece for Yale Climate Connections.

As the Colorado River Compact is renegotiated, scientists are critically examining historical research on the river’s flow to ensure water users across the western United States and Mexico have the information they need to prepare for a future where drought is the norm.

Field notes on the October 2022 install and reflections from the Sublimation of Snow Project Principal Investigator Jessica Lundquist.

A single snowflake hadn’t yet fallen when a team of snow researchers descended on a small town in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains this past fall. But that was intentional — they were preparing for the coming winter’s mission to answer a longstanding research question: What happens to snow after it falls?

The Wiki is a web-based platform with many goals, including helping to inform discussions about the next Interim Guidelines on the Colorado River. The site summarizes and shares the most recent Colorado River research, increases visibility of the activities of the research community, and makes accessible important datasets and tools.

Wildfires are increasing in intensity, frequency, and size, decimating ecosystems and devastating communities. As worries about the impacts of wildfires grow, researchers are ramping up efforts to understand wildfires’ water quality repercussions. Studies conducted following the Marshall and Camp fires will help lay the groundwork for future water resiliency efforts and community preparedness.

In October, Sublimation of Snow project research partners installed a suite of field instruments to fill in data gaps on the poorly understood process of how snow behaves in windy mountain environments.

More than ever, a sustainable future for the Colorado River basin depends on collaborative efforts and trust.

Snow sublimation, the process through which snow turns directly from a solid to a gas (water vapor) without first melting, may remove up to 90% of snowpack from the ground, but the process is not well understood. The goal of the SOS project is to improve and communicate fundamental scientific understanding of when, where, and how much snow is lost the atmosphere through sublimation.

The Colorado River Science Wiki is a web-based clearinghouse for scientific and technical information and data relevant to the Colorado River and management of its water and other natural resources.