Funding Year: 2013-2014

To balance Biodiversity and Water Security in Critical Watersheds

This GCRT targeted critical headwater regions of the world, which pose major 21st Century sustainability issues where the intersection of humanity and biodiversity is confronted by rapidly changing environmental and climatic conditions. A scoping exercise was undertaken to identify signature headwater regions and the challenges associated with these areas as critical sources of water. We developed a demonstration project focusing on the Cache la Poudre headwater region building on many existing efforts to assess and protect this important local resource. Integral to this was the bringing together of stakeholders and focus groups to discuss mechanisms for adaptation to changing climatic conditions.

Principal Investigators:

• Melinda Laituri, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
• Neil Grigg, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Reagan Waskom, CSU Water Center