Rocky Mountain Adaptation: Adapting to Climate Change the Colorado Way

In episode 166 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons hosts adaptation experts from Colorado. We learn how extreme storm events have been a major driver in adaptation planning in the state. Discover the most pressing climate impacts facing Colorado. We hear from the state climatologist about Colorado's unique climate and what challenges it brings to adaptation planners. We also hear about on the ground examples of resilience planning from city and local governments. Colorado is learning quickly how to upscale their post-disaster recovery efforts. The epic 2013 floods were a catalyst for many of the resilience actions we see today in Colorado. Learn how that happened and how responding to these events has spurred adaptation innovation at the state level. Colorado has created a useful template on how other states can begin to comprehensively adapt to climate change.

Colorado Experts in this episode:

• Anne Miller - Colorado Resiliency Office Director in the Colorado Office of Local Affairs
• Russ Schumacher - Colorado State Climatologist
• Maya Machamer – Co-founder and Director of the Boulder Watershed Collective
• Jim Webster - Wildfire Partners Program Coordinator for Boulder County
• Lori Hodges - Director Office of Emergency Management for Larimer County, Colorado
• Jessica Olson - Executive Director of the Left Hand Watershed Center

Topics covered:

• Colorado Resiliency office can help with technical assistance and help with workshops if local communities request it.
• What was the Resilience Collaborative and what role did it play in establishing the Colorado Resiliency Office?
• What is the Wildlife Partners Program and how it empowers homeowners to make their homes more resilient to wildfires.
• Colorado is learning quickly how to upscale their post-disaster recovery efforts.
• How extreme events can be a catalyst for innovative adaptation planning.
• How Colorado institutionalized resilience into a statewide office.
• Learn how Boulder is being proactive with adaptation planning and how they get their local citizens involved.
• What is a "Wildfire ready watershed"?
• Learn from the state climatologist about Colorado's unique climate and how they help local governments with critical climate data.
• We learn what 'restoring the landscape to a future condition' means.

This episode was generously sponsored by the Genesee Mountain Foundation.

Transcript of this episode available here. (Transcribed by computer so there are some errors).

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Links in episode:
https://cdola.colorado.gov/colorado-resiliency-office
https://watershed.center/
https://www.boulderwatershedcollective.com/
https://wildfirepartners.org/mitigation-specialists/
https://www.larimer.gov/emergency
https://climate.colostate.edu/ccc_info.html
https://geneseefoundation.org/

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Strategies to Address Climate Change Risk in Low- and Moderate-income Communities - Volume 14, Issue 1
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