The Yampa River is one of the wildest remaining major tributaries of the Colorado River and supports a rich ecosystem, local agriculture and ranching, and a robust recreation industry. It also provides crucial water supplies to local stakeholders and all those downstream. However, warming temperatures, rising snowlines, and increased drought occurrence and severity pose serious risks to the alpine and riverine ecosystems of the Yampa River Basin. How are we, as a community, managing snows and flows amidst historic long-term drought to ensure our own water resilience? This question will be at the forefront of the 2023 Yampa Basin Rendezvous.

This 2-day event will provide an overview of the record weather and water extremes that continue to define our present and future in the Yampa River Basin, and whether current water and riparian land management practices will lead to the resilient future we desire. The overarching goal is to provide a venue that encourages a science-based, community-centered approach to create informed, adaptive, proactive, and science-based management strategies for the Yampa Basin’s natural resources and communities.

During the sixth-annual Yampa Basin Rendezvous, participants will examine the Yampa River Basin with a focus on Snows, Flows, and Drought: Managing for Western Water Resilience. The Rendezvous will include morning discussion panels with regional experts, water managers, scientists, and leaders, afternoon field learning, and an evening community event. We will explore new opportunities for water retention, storage, and sustainable use with the goal of building water resilience in the Yampa River Basin. Through this dialogue with our community, we hope to pair CW3E’s research directions with local expertise on the challenges and successes of current natural resource management practices in the Yampa Basin to identify how and where additional research, partnership, and collaboration may be beneficial.