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Abstract
The Colorado Front Range is the meeting of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains, a nexus of great topographic, geologic, and atmospheric forces. As water collects in the mountains and moves to the deserts and plains, it fosters unique ecosystems, some of which support rare and sensitive species. This water also creates opportunities and challenges for a growing metro area, fuels the recreational activities of residents and visitors, and supports an expansive agricultural industry. A complex system of ditches, pipelines, reservoirs, and transbasin diversions has been constructed to meet these myriad uses. The management challenges of the Front Range national forests are exacerbated by a warming climate and associated changes in hydrological patterns (Brown et al. 2019). In particular, the water resources provided by the Rocky Mountains in Colorado are vulnerable to the interacting effects of rising temperatures and increasing demands (Imerzeel et al. 2019). A detailed understanding of this vulnerability is necessary to plan management activities that will benefit natural and human communities through the end of the 21st century.
Parent Publication
Keywords
adaptation,
Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests,
disturbances,
ecosystem services,
fire,
flooding,
forest planning,
forest resources,
infrastructure,
insects,
Pike-San Isabel National Forests,
socioeconomic,
resource management,
water resources,
wildfire,
wildlife
Citation
Smith, D. Max. 2024. Water resources of the Front Range national forests (Chapter 4). In: Hanberry, Brice B., ed. Colorado Front Range climate change vulnerability assessment for National Forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-438. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 57-66.
