Resilience to Climate and Population Changes in Colorado
Resilient communities take action to reduce their risks from climate change and population growth.
Colorado communities are adjusting to new normals with increasing pressure to adapt to climate change and population growth. Hazards such as flood, drought, and wildfire can result in economic hardships and social inequality.
What is resilience?
The 2015 Colorado Resiliency Framework defines resilience as:
"The ability of communities to rebound, positively adapt to, or thrive amidst changing conditions or challenges—including human-caused and natural disasters—and to maintain quality of life, healthy growth, durable systems, economic vitality, and conservation of resources for present and future generations.”
Resilience actions can include better community planning and management, diversifying revenue streams, managing ecosystems and infrastructure, and creating collaborative and adaptive management solutions.
Resilient communities take actions to:
Taking action in all three areas can bolster a community's resilience.
Reduce their risks
- Moving property out of the floodplain
- Creating defensible space
- Managing water storage effectively
Respond better during disasters
- Develop better emergency communication
- Create neighborhood plans
Recover more quickly
- Have a recovery plan
Today's resources are vulnerable to climate change and population growth.
Agriculture today.
Cattle graze in a riparian field next to irrigated crops. The few trees help ensure water is preserved for the fields. The fields in the distance are irrigated by pivot sprinklers.
Recreation and tourism today.
Snow falls on a crowded ski resort. Hotels, shops, and restaurants are busy with visitors who have come to ski at the resort.
The built environment today.
Homes are dispersed through wooded areas. The main road is near the river and each home has its own access bridge. There is a burn scar on the hillside from a recent fire.
Action today can protect future resources.
The following scenes illustrate the difference between a resilient future and a non-resilient future. Communities that take action today can create a resilient future.
2050 with no resilience actions
Increased drought and population have strained water resources throughout the region. With no change in farming practices, crops dry under a hot sun. Cattle are continuously grazing on pastureland. This grazing has strained fields and caused erosion on the streambank. Some pivot agriculture circles have been turned off because of water shortages caused by out-of-priority water rights.
A resilient 2050
Although droughts and population have increased, resilient actions have reduced impacts. Resilient farming practices such as dryland crop rotation and cover crops have helped maintain robust crop growth. Cattle graze rotationally in contained paddocks, allowing fields to recover and helps preserve the riparian corridor and stream health. Wind turbines in agriculture fields diversify farmer’s income.
2050 with no resilience actions
Natural snowpack has decreased so resorts cannot keep as much terrain open. Snowmaking machines work all season to make as much snow as possible, putting a strain on water rights. Because of the poor ski conditions, the hotels, shops, and restaurants are less crowded.
A resilient 2050
Left: During the winter natural snowpack is still limited by drought, but resorts are less impacted. They have invested in more efficient snowmaking equipment, allowing them to make more snow with less water. Resorts have invested in a broader range of activities including on-mountain coasters and festivals.
Right: Resorts have continued their programming into the warmer months. Mountain biking, adventure parks, zip lines, and guided hikes keep the resort open in the summer. The resort is crowded again with a diversity of tourists.
2050 with no resilience actions
Left: Major rainfall on the burn scar has caused a debris flow that covers the road. The debris enters the river and destroys a home in the valley.
Right: Homes dispersed throughout the wooded area are threatened by a major wildfire. Smoke from the major wildfire reduces air quality.
A resilient 2050
Planners and engineers have redesigned the road using future climate projections so that it is further from the river. A single flood-resilient bridge, designed with future climate projections in mind, provides access across the river. Land-use development plans concentrate new residential growth into neighborhoods. These new neighborhoods are surrounded by community-led defensible space. This development strategy improves firefighters' ability to protect homes. Foresters took action to stabilize the soil in the burn scar to reduce debris flow risk.
Resilience in Practice
Colorado has already taken many actions to build resilience at the state, county, local, and individual levels. Sharing our stories of resilience actions can help us learn from each other and advance resilience across the state.
Below we highlight one resilience action example for each hazard.
Flood Resilience in Practice
In 2000, Ft. Collins upgraded its building code to prohibit new residential construction in the Poudre River’s 1% chance (100-year) floodplain. New, nonresidential structures or additions near the river must be elevated by 2 feet. The code also banned buildings and facilities that serve at risk populations and provide essential services in the 0.2% chance (500-year) floodplain.
Drought Resilience in Practice
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary Farm Bill conservation program available to agriculture producers. EQIP provides financial resources and technical support. They work with farmers to identify conservation programs that change water use practices. These practices include irrigation system efficiency improvements, water supply development, riparian protection, and wildlife habitat enhancement. In 2019, Colorado had more than half a million acres in the EQIP program.
Wildfire Resilience in Practice
The West Region Wildfire Council offers free site visits for homeowners living in the Wildland-Urban interface (WUI) in the southwestern part of the state. A trained mitigation specialist and a Colorado State Forester will provide you with recommendations to increase your home's resilience to wildfire.
Inequitable Resilience
Some people may be disproportionately affected by hazards.
The most vulnerable groups of people include those who have underlying economic hardships, who do not speak English, who have physical disabilities, and the elderly.
By taking resilience actions that help address these inequities, and by taking extra care to ensure that actions to not further disadvantage certain groups of people, we can build equitable resilience.
Examples of Inequities
Flood Inequities
Lower income housing is often built in areas that are more likely to flood. These households can be even more vulnerable to an extreme event. It can be harder for them to:
Reduce their risk. Moving out of a flood zone may be too expensive.
Respond during an event. People who depend on hourly wages cannot always afford the time off to evacuate or take care of their families. The elderly, disabled, or those who don’t own their own vehicle or can’t drive may have a difficult time physically evacuating. Furthermore, not speaking English can make it difficult to understand forecasts or evacuation instructions.
Recover from an event. People who don’t have flood insurance or have little or no savings can have a more difficult time recovering from a disaster.
Drought Inequities
Many communities and tribes in Colorado depend on the income from small family farm agriculture. Entire communities can suffer during years of extreme drought. It can be more difficult for these communities to:
Reduce their risk. Investing in new equipment or practices can be expensive or time-consuming and therefore riskier for smaller family farms.
Respond during an event. Smaller family farms may not have a diversified income stream and can be hit harder with the loss of a season.
Recover from an event. Certain traditional farming practices can deplete the soil of moisture and nutrients.
Wildfire Inequities
Housing in mountain communities can be very expensive, forcing lower income residents into housing tucked deeper in the forest, which can be harder for emergency workers to access. It can be harder for these residents to:
Reduce their risk. Lower-income residents may not be able to afford to move out of a high-risk wildfire zone.
Respond during an event. Not speaking English can make it difficult to understand forecasts or evacuation instructions. People who depend on hourly wages cannot always afford the time off to evacuate or take care of their families. The elderly, disabled, or those who don’t own their own vehicle or can’t drive may have a difficult time physically evacuating.
Recover from an event. People without insurance or whom have little to no savings can have a more difficult time recovering from a disaster.
Creating equitable resilience
To create a truly resilient Colorado, we need to consider equity issues alongside the economic impacts of climate change and population growth.
Summit County residents volunteered to build flood resilience in the Front Range after the Sep. 2013 floods.
Together we can create equitable resilience for Colorado.
For Additional Info
Access the 2015 Colorado Resiliency Framework from the Colorado Resiliency Office
Access the 2018 State of Colorado Hazard Mitigation Plan from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management
