Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

A “toad’s eye” view of drought: regional socio-natural vulnerability and responses in 2002 in Northwest Colorado

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Regional Environmental Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Drought is a part of the normal climate variability and the life and livelihoods of the Western United States. However, drought can also be a high impact or extreme event in some cases, such as the exceptional 2002 drought that had deleterious impacts across the Western United States. Studies of long-term climate variability along with climate change projections indicate that the Western United States should expect much more severe and extended drought episodes than experienced over the last century when most modern water law and policies were developed, such as the 1922 Colorado River Compact. This paper will discuss research examining regional socio-natural climate vulnerability and adaptive response capacities to the 2002 drought in the Yampa–White Basins region of Colorado across sectors and will demonstrate how a bottom-up or “toad’s eye” approach to understanding drought is paramount to complement top-down, instrumental data-driven analyses of drought. The results of empirical observations through interviews and participant observation in combination with analysis of drought indicators will be presented. Implications for adaptation research and planning for climate variability and change will be discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adger WN (2003) Social capital, collective action, and adaptation to climate change. Econ Geogr 79:387–404. doi:10.1111/j.1944-8287.2003.tb00220.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Brooks N, Bentham G et al (2004) New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity, technical report 7. Tyndall Center, Norwich, England

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Arnell NW, Tompkins EL (2005) Successful adaptation to climate change across scales. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 15:77–86. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.12.005

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger N, Aggarwal P, Agrawala S et al (2007) Summary for Policymakers. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Working Group II Contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, IPCC. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–13

  • Averyt KB, Lukas J, Alvord C et al (2009) The “dealing with drought: adapting to a changing climate” workshops: a report for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. p 34

  • Botterill LC, Cockfield G (2013a) Science, policy, and wicked problems. In: Botterill LC, Cockfield G (eds) Drought, risk management, and policy: decision making under uncertainty. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Botterill LC, Cockfield G (2013b) Drought, risk management, and policy: decision making under uncertainty, p 208

  • Brekke LD, Miller NL, Bashford KE et al (2004) Climate change impacts uncertainty for water resources in the San Joaquin River Basin, California. J Am Water Resour Assoc 40:149–164. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2004.tb01016.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks N, Adger WN (2005) Assessing and enhancing adaptive capacity. In: Lim B, Spanger-Siegfried E, Burton I et al (eds) Adaptation policy frameworks for climate change. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 165–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks N, Neil Adger W, Mick Kelly P (2005) The determinants of vulnerability and adaptive capacity at the national level and the implications for adaptation. Glob Environ Chang Part A 15:151–163. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.12.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant A (2002) Re-grounding grounded theory. JITTA J Inf Technol Theory Appl 4:25

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch S (2010) Transforming barriers into enablers of action on climate change: insights from three municipal case studies in British Columbia, Canada. Glob Environ Chang 20:287–297. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.11.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charmaz K, Bryant A (2010) The SAGE handbook of grounded theory, Paperback Edition. SAGE Publications

  • Colorado Division of Water Resources (1977) Division of water resources division no. 6 1977 Annual Report. 56

  • Colorado Division of Water Resources (2002) Water Resources Division 6 2002 Annual Report. 54

  • CWCB (2009a) Yampa River Basin Information. 57

  • CWCB (2009b) White River Basin Information. 23

  • CWCB (2010a) Drought vulnerability assessment technical information: Annex B to the Colorado drought mitigation and response plan. p 25

  • CWCB (2010b) Colorado River water availability study, Phase I Draft Report

  • Downing TE, Aerts J, Soussan J et al (2005) Integrating social vulnerability into water management: NeWater Working Paper No. 5. New Approaches to Adapt Water Manag under Uncertain 37

  • Eakin H, Lemos MC (2006) Adaptation and the state: Latin America and the challenge of capacity-building under globalization. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 16:7–18. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.10.004

    Google Scholar 

  • Eakin H, Luers AL (2006) Assessing the vulnerability of social-environmental systems. Annu Rev Environ Resour 31:365–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekstrom JA, Moser SC, and Torn M (2011) Barriers to adaptation: a diagnostic framework. PIER Research Report CEC-500-2011-004. Public Interest Energy Research (PIER), Sacramento, CA

  • Engle NL (2011) Adaptive capacity and its assessment. Glob Environ Chang 21:647–656. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle NL (2012) The role of drought preparedness in building and mobilizing adaptive capacity in states and their community water systems. Clim Chang 118:291–306. doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0657-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine MM, Steinemann AC (2009) Assessing vulnerability to natural hazards: impact-based method and application to drought in Washington State. Nat Hazards Rev 10:11–18. doi:10.1061/(asce)1527-6988(2009)10:1(11)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JD, Smit B (2004) A framework for assessing the vulnerability of communities in the Canadian Arctic to risks associated with climate change. Arctic 47:389–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford JD, Smit B, Wandel J (2006) Vulnerability to climate change in the Arctic: a case study from Arctic Bay, Canada. Glob Environ Chang 16:145–160. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JD, Keskitalo ECH, Smith T et al (2010) Case study and analogue methodologies in climate change vulnerability research. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Chang 1:374–392. doi:10.1002/wcc.48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foti R, Ramirez JA, Brown TC (2012) Vulnerability of future United States water supply to shortage. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-295. (in review: p 147

  • Fukuyama F, Hodgson GM (2003) Social capital and civil society. In: Ostrom E, Ahn TK (eds) Foundations of social capital. Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, pp 291–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Fussel H-M, Klein RJT (2006) Climate change vulnerability assessments: an evolution of conceptual thinking. Clim Chang 75:301–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Getches DH (1990) Water law in a nutshell. West Pub. Co., St. Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Glantz MH (1988) Societal responses to climate change: forecasting by analogy. Westview Press

  • Glantz MH (1991) The use of analogies in forecasting ecological and societal responses to global warming. Environment 33:10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glantz MH, Katz RW (1977) When is a drought a drought? Nature 267:192–193. doi:10.1038/267192a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray ST, Lukas JJ, Woodhouse CA (2011) Millennial-length records of streamflow from three major upper Colorado River tributaries. J Am Water Resour Assoc 47:702–712. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00535.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grothmann T, Patt A (2005) Adaptive capacity and human cognition: the process of individual adaptation to climate change. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 15:199–213. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.01.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn MB, Riederer AM, Foster SO (2009) The livelihood vulnerability index: a pragmatic approach to assessing risks from climate variability and change—a case study in Mozambique. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 19:74–88. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.11.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Harding BL, Sangoyomi TB, Payton EA (1995) Impacts of a severe sustained drought on Colorado River water resources. Water Resour Bull 31:815–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes MJ, Svoboda MD, Knutson CL, Wilhite DA (2004a) Estimating the economic impacts of drought. 14th Conference Applied Climatology

  • Hayes MJ, Wilhelmi OV, Knutson CL (2004b) Reducing Drought Risk: Bridging Theory and Practice. Nat Hazards Rev 5:106–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinkel J (2011) “Indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity”: towards a clarification of the science-policy interface. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 21:198–208. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.08.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Kallis G (2008) Droughts. Annu Rev Environ Resour 33:85–118. doi:10.1146/annurev.environ.33.081307.123117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly PM, Adger WN (2000) Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climate change and facilitating adaptation. Clim Chang 47:325–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenney D, Ray A, Harding B et al (2010) Rethinking vulnerability on the Colorado River. J Contemp Water Res Educ 144:5–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp CN, Fernandez-gimenez M (2008) Forum knowing the land: a review of local knowledge revealed in Ranch Memoirs. Rangel Ecol Manag 61:148–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knutson CL (2008) The role of water conservation in drought planning. J Soil Water Conserv 63:154A–160A. doi:10.2489/63.5.154A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn E (2012) Risk management strategies for the Upper Colorado River Basin. p 45

  • Lempert RJ, Groves DG (2010) Identifying and evaluating robust adaptive policy responses to climate change for water management agencies in the American west. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 77:960–974. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2010.04.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord WB, Booker JF, Getches DM et al (1995) Managing the Colorado River in a severe sustained drought—an evaluation of institutional options. Water Resour Bull 31:939–944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luers AL (2005) The surface of vulnerability: an analytical framework for examining environmental change. Glob Environ Chang 15:214–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luers AL, Lobell DB, Sklar LS et al (2003) A method for quantifying vulnerability, applied to the agricultural system of the Yaque Valley, Mexico. Glob Environ Chang 13:255–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malone EL, Engle NL (2011) Evaluating regional vulnerability to climate change: purposes and methods. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Chang 2:462–474. doi:10.1002/wcc.116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeeley SM (2012) Examining barriers and opportunities for sustainable adaptation to climate change in Interior Alaska. Clim Chang 111:835–857. doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0158-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeeley SM, Shulski MD (2011) Anatomy of a closing window: vulnerability to changing seasonality in Interior Alaska. Glob Environ Chang 21:464–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills J, Bonner A, Francis K (2006) The development of constructivist grounded theory. Int J Qual Methods 5:25

    Google Scholar 

  • NCVST (2009) Vulnerability through the eyes of the vulnerable: climate change induced uncertainties and Nepal’s development predicaments. p 114

  • O’Brien K, Leichenko R, Kelkar U et al (2004) Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change and globalization in India. Glob Environ Chang 14:303–313. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.01.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ojima D, Steiner J, McNeeley S et al (2012) Great Plains Regional Climate Assessment Technical Report for the 2013 National Climate Assessment

  • Pederson GT, Gray ST, Fagre DB, Graumlich LJ (2006) Long-duration drought variability and impacts on ecosystem services: a case study from Glacier National Park. Earth Interact, Montana. doi:10.1175/EI153.1

    Google Scholar 

  • Pederson GT, Gray ST, Woodhouse CA et al (2011) The unusual nature of recent snowpack declines in the North American Cordillera. Science 333:332–335. doi:10.1126/science.1201570

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pelling M, High C (2005) Understanding adaptation: what can social capital offer assessments of adaptive capacity. Glob Environ Chang 15:308–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RA, Doesken N, Bliss N et al (2005) Drought 2002 in Colorado: an unprecedented drought or a routine drought? Pure Appl Geophys 162:1455–1479. doi:10.1007/s00024-005-2679-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaska RM (2004) Division of Water Resources 2004 Annual Report Water Division VI Yampa, White, & N. PLatte River Basins. 45

  • Polsky C, Neff R, Yarnal B (2007) Building comparable global change vulnerability assessments: the vulnerability scoping diagram. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 17:472–485. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.01.005

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulwarty R, Jacobs K, Dole R (2005) The hardest working river: drought and critical water problems on the Colorado. In: Wilhite D (ed) Drought and water crises: science, technology, and management. Taylor and Francis Press, New York, pp 249–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Roehm GW (2004) Management plan for endangered fishes in the Yampa River Basin and environmental assessment. p 214

  • Schroter D, Polsky C, Patt AG (2005) Assessing vulnerabilities to the effects of global change: an eight step approach. Clim Chang 10:573–596

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwinning S, Belnap J, Bowling, Ehleringer JR (2008) Sensitivity of the Colorado plateau to change: climate, ecosystems, and society. Ecol Soc 13:28

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I (1998) Sustainable rural livelihoods: a framework for analysis. p 22

  • Seager R, Ting M, Held I et al (2007) Model projections of an imminent transition to a more arid climate in southwestern North America. Science 316:1181–1184. doi:10.1126/science.1139601

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Pilifosova O (2001) Adaptation to Climate Change in the Context of Sustainable Development and Equity - Chapter 18. In: McCarthy JJ, Canziani OF, Leary NA et al (eds) Clim. Chang. 2001 Impacts, Adapt. Vulnerability - Contrib. Work. Gr. II to Third Assess. Rep. Int. Panel Clim. Chang. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 877–912

  • Smit B, Wandel J (2006) Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Glob Environ Chang Policy Dimens 16:282–292. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.03.008

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Burton I, Klein RJT, Wandel J (2000) An anatomy of adaptation to climate change and variability. Clim Chang 45:223–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stahle DW, Cook ER, Cleaveland MK et al (2000) Tree-ring data document 16th century megadrought over North America. EOS Trans AGU 81:121–125. doi:10.1029/00eo00076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travis WR, Klein R (2011) Assessing measures of drought impact and vulnerability in the intermountain west. p 26

  • Tronstad R, Fuez D (2002) Impacts of the 2002 drought on western ranches and public land policies. West Econ Forum 1:19

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner BL, Kasperson RE, Matson PA et al (2003) A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:8074–8079. doi:10.1073/pnas.1231335100

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhelmi OV, Hayes MJ, Thomas DSK (2008) Managing drought in mountain resort communities: Colorado’s experiences. Disaster Prev Manag 17:672–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhite DA (2005) Drought and water crisis: science, technology, and management issues. p 406

  • Wilhite DA, Pulwarty RS (2005) Drought and water crises: lessons learned from the road ahead. Drought Water Cris

  • Wilhite DA, Svoboda MD, Hayes MJ (2007) Understanding the complex impacts of drought: a key to enhancing drought mitigation and preparedness. Water Resour Manag 21:763–774. doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9076-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodhouse CA, Gray ST, Meko DM (2006) Updated streamflow reconstructions for the Upper Colorado River Basin. Water Resour Res 42:W05415. doi:10.1029/2005wr004455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodhouse CA, Meko DM, MacDonald GM et al (2010) A 1,200-year perspective of 21st century drought in southwestern North America. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:21283–21288. doi:10.1073/pnas.0911197107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yohe G, Tol RSJ (2002) Indicators for social and economic coping capacity—moving toward a working definition of adaptive capacity. Glob Environ Chang 12:25–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Integrated Science Program, Advanced Study Program, and the Climate Science and Applications Program and their sponsor, the National Science Foundation, for supporting this research. Also, thanks goes to the Yampa–White Basin Roundtable and other water managers in the region who provided critical guidance and interviews for the research. The findings and perspective remain those of the author alone. Two anonymous reviewers and Will Steffen also provided suggestions to greatly improve this article, and Bobbie Klein provided valuable edits.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Central Climate Science Center, Natural Resources Ecology Lab, NESB A309, Colorado State University, 1231 East Drive, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Shannon M. McNeeley

Authors
  1. Shannon M. McNeeley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shannon M. McNeeley.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 781 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McNeeley, S.M. A “toad’s eye” view of drought: regional socio-natural vulnerability and responses in 2002 in Northwest Colorado. Reg Environ Change 14, 1451–1461 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-014-0585-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-014-0585-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy