Soil Moisture, Water, & Snow

Our goal is to link education with action so that YVSC can support the community in scaling up water conservation actions across key sectors and increasing adaptive capacity and resilience to a warmer and drier Yampa Valley future.

Why it matters:

The water landscape in the west is changing: it’s drying as a result of increased temperatures caused by climate change. In Colorado, we have long relied on our snowpack to supply water, but as snowpack decreases, spring melt shifts earlier, dryer ground uptakes more water and evaporative loss increases, our relationship with water in the west also changes. The goal of this program is to link education with action to support the community in scaling up water conservation across key sectors and increase adaptive capacity and resilience to a warmer and drier Yampa Valley. The program also seeks to increase access to and application of relevant data and research through collaborative partnerships with research institutions and organizations to provide data for land and water decision-makers and foster conservation actions across all stakeholder and user groups. Investing in land management and water conservation actions that reduce emissions and increase resilience is essential to climate action.

Resources

Routt and Moffat counties were identified in this article as hot spots in the Western U.S. for increased temperatures.

You can access USGS Streamflow Data here

Click here to view snowpack data from SNOTEL.

What we are doing

Programs

Yampa Basin Atmosphere & Soil Moisture Integrated Network (YBASIN)

Data will provide new insights on water production and availability in the Upper Yampa River Basin

Soil moisture data can provide key insights into how we predict and make decisions about water resources in the Yampa River Basin. YVSC has partnered with the Center for Western Weather Extremes, Colorado Mountain College, and Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District to establish a new soil moisture and climate monitoring network that will establish new long-term measurements to provide data and scientific insight on the reduction of runoff by dry soils, provide a continuous record of changing landscape conditions with a changing climate and support runoff model and forecast improvements.

Learn more about the network

Water Conservation

Community education, workshops and trainings

To help the community act on water conservation, we partnered with the City of Steamboat Springs, Mount Werner Water and Sanitation District, and Craig-Scheckman Family Foundation in 2021 on water conservation and equity education and outreach for the 2020 Water Conservation Plan. This program aims to increase water conservation actions and successes across stakeholder and user groups to help prepare for an adaptable and water-conscious community. Our outreach plan includes in-person workshops and trainings, along with online and print education resources that teach water users about valuable water conservation principles and practices.

Learn more

Yampa Basin Rendezvous

Learn the newest on water and weather in the Yampa River Basin

In 2018, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council partnered with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Colorado Mountain College (CMC), Friends of The Yampa and Steamboat Resorts, to co-organize the Yampa Basin Rendezvous (YBR). The conference is highly collaborative, science-based, and focuses on water and weather in the Yampa River Basin.

Learn more

What you can do

Stay up to date on water in our basin by learning more and getting involved. Check out what our Yampa-White-Green basin roundtable has been up to.

Visit our water conservation page to find tips and resources for ways to conserve water.

Features

  • This article from April 1, 2021, discusses drought, weather events, and water supply. It features YVSC’s Madison Muxworthy and Dr. Marty Ralph, Director of Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes.
  • This article from April 1, 2021, discusses drought, weather events, and water supply. It features YVSC’s Madison Muxworthy and Dr. Marty Ralph, Director of Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes.