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LARAMIE -  Wyoming’s water resources are vulnerable to climate change because Wyoming is a dry state, a headwaters state, and a state that relies on mountain snow as its main source of surface water, concludes a report by University of Wyoming scientists released today.

The Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources produced the report, “Assessing the Future of Wyoming’s Water Resources: Adding Climate Change to the Equation,” as a basis for water management strategies.

“This report covers what we know and what we wish we knew about Wyoming and the West’s changing climate and the various impacts on water resources,” says Wyoming State Climatologist Steve Gray, the lead author and director of the Water Resources Data System at University of Wyoming.

“There is mounting evidence that the Earth is experiencing a warming trend,” and, as a result, “any increase in temperature will increase the impact of drought just as population growth and other factors have greatly increased the West’s vulnerability to water shortages,” the report warns.

Gray explains that downstream states are buffered from the types of drought seen in Wyoming because dryness in one area can be offset by wet conditions in another. In many cases, through compacts and decrees, water is stored upstream for these states.

But Wyoming is more exposed to drought and the potential impacts of climate change for three reasons, the report states.

First, Wyoming is the fifth driest state in the United States. More than 70 percent of the state receives less than 16 inches of precipitation on average each year. Though technically speaking, much of Wyoming does not qualify as true desert, it is a dry state by any measure.

Second, the majority of snowpack in Wyoming is concentrated in a relatively small area that is responsible for the majority of Wyoming’s runoff and surface water supplies. Any events such as changes in climate, vegetation change, fires, or insect outbreaks that impact these mountain watersheds will have major consequences for all of Wyoming’s water users, and for water users far downstream.

Finally, Wyoming is a headwaters state for some of the largest river systems in North America, including the Snake-Columbia, Green-Colorado, Yellowstone-Missouri, and Platte Rivers. This puts Wyoming at a disadvantage when faced with many scenarios for climatic, economic, and demographic change, according to the report.

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