$20 million grant jumpstarts Wyoming climate resiliency work

By ZOE BOMMARITO Trout

Mountain

The valleys of the Teton and Gros Ventre Ranges, with their iconic landscape and waters, illustrate the beauty and longevity of nature. But what will it look like 100 years from now? With climate change and drought wreaking havoc on streams across the country, we are more motivated than ever to invest in climate resiliency for future generations.

The Snake River Headwaters just outside of Jackson, Wyoming, will be the subject of a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to better understand how climate change will affect stream flows, aquatic ecosystems and the communities and individuals who rely on them.

The headwaters of the Snake River were carved by glaciers and snowmelt coursing through the jagged peaks and broad valleys of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The mainstem Snake River provides cold, clean water and a diversity of connected habitats for native Snake River cutthroat trout – the only remaining subspecies of cutthroat trout in the West that still dominates its home range.

In 2016, Trout Unlimited and the Jackson Hole TU chapter launched the Snake River Headwaters Initiative out of recognition of the conservation importance of this special place. Since then, critical streams have been reconnected and restored through partnerships with over 65 conservation organizations and agencies and more projects are in the works.

Safeguarding native cutthroat trout from drought

Wyoming, like many western states, is experiencing historic drought conditions. Climate change and drought are resulting in reduced wintertime snowpack and declines in streamflow and water availability. This, paired with increased demand for water supply, illustrates an uncertain future for this ecosystem. The past few years of drought have brought complex issues facing the watershed, like near-empty reservoirs and stranded fish, that require proactive and collaborative solutions.

Projects that improve climate resiliency, like Spread Creek, ensure that this is a thriving cutthroat fishery into the future. However, Trout Unlimited and our partners need more research and monitoring to inform climate-resiliency projects for the future –that’s where the new $20 million grant comes in.

See $20 MILLION GRANT on page 9

The five-year, $20 million grant, awarded to the University of Wyoming (UW), will enable research on long-term water availability and expected changes to the system due to climate change. The project’s official name is WyomingAnticipating Climate Transitions (WY-ACT). In addition to water monitoring, the project aims to predict how climate change will impact the state’s natural resources, agriculture and tourism sectors. WY-ACT will use data collection and computer monitoring to simulate climate impacts on water supply, hydrology, streamflow, and aquatic ecosystem health.

To best understand the current challenges to Wyoming’s water supply, UW is collaborating with stakeholders throughout the state, including Trout Unlimited. TU is currently working with the WYACT team on stakeholder mapping to help plan the structure and membership of a new Snake River Headwaters watershed group whose goal will be to increase coordination and collaboration to collectively address complex issues facing the watershed. In turn, members of the watershed group will be able to help the WY-ACT team with future climate scenario planning and provide input on monitoring efforts as needed.

This year, the watershed group will begin by discussing drivers of change in the Snake River system, resulting in a specific set of scenarios over the next 10-40 years. Then, WY-ACT will develop computer models to simulate linkages between climate, river flow, fish populations, and community activities. These simulations will be informed by new monitoring instruments such as buoys, boats, snow measurement equipment, portable temperature sensors, and more.As the project continues, WY-ACT will develop a framework to measure the health and vitality of the Snake River system and issue a “report card” to report on progress.

While we do not know exactly what this ecosystem will look like in 100 years, we do know this: WY-ACT funding for robust climate science data, monitoring, and projections in the basin will help TU and its partners safeguard the upper Snake’s high-elevation native trout habitat for years to come.