WWA-06. Assessing the Climate Change Adaptation Landscape in Wyoming

Abstract
The Western Water Assessment [WWA] program at CIRES is one of NOAA’s ten Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments [RISA] programs across the United States. The WWA research mission is to address societal vulnerabilities to climate variability and climate change in the Intermountain West, particularly those related to water resources. WWA has historically had a strong presence in Colorado and Utah and is actively working to expand our project base in Wyoming. In Summer 2020, we conducted an exploratory study to assess the climate change adaptation landscape in Wyoming. The primary goals were: 1) to gather information about the existing Wyoming-based projects, sectors, and communities that are actively engaged in addressing the risks associated with changing climate, and 2) to determine how WWA can best support this work. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary methods were a series of remotely-based Zoom interviews with key personnel in government, federal and state agencies. Important contributions of this study included a catalogue of Wyoming-based climate adaptation (and related) projects, contact information for the project coordinators, and identifying multiple specific opportunities for WWA to support and collaborate in climate adaptation initiatives across the state.