Institute news - Mountain Hydrology Group

The Mountain Hydrology Group will be developing a new snowpack data set to inform water supply management in the western United States, thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

In a study published March 5 in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from CU Boulder and Tel Aviv University in Israel revealed that deforestation combined with climate change could negatively impact 84% of North America’s lizards by the end of the century. Nearly one in five could face population decline. Keith Musselman is one of the three authors.

Video interview with Noah Molotch about how remote sensing technology is helping forecast water availability in the Rocky Mountains. Watch this two-minute, well-edited interview, interspersed with clips of fieldwork and explanatory illustrations.

Keith Musselman (INSTAAR & Geography) is one 16 CU Boulder faculty members selected by the Research and Innovation Office as their 2024 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. The program supports faculty in achieving their research/innovation goals and promotes collaboration, all through tailored training, experiential learning and leadership development opportunities. Musselman and his cohort will kick off 2024 with an intensive three-day retreat in January, followed by several more focused retreats and a variety of informal networking activities.

If there's a place that embodies climate extremes and their impacts on agriculture, it may be California. After years of drought, last spring devastating floods hit the state of the West Coast. Noah Molotch weighs in on the hydrology. (French language broadcast.)

Their collaborative art piece, part of a CU Boulder-sponsored exhibit, is one of several hanging in the Colorado State Capitol building.

Noah Molotch is quoted in this Los Angeles Times article about mapping the recent historic snowpack in California using laser pulses and spectrometers from the air. The flights are collecting data to estimate when and how fast the snow will melt, helping officials prepare for the runoff, manage water releases from dams, and asses areas at risk of flooding.

Snow is melting earlier, and more rain is falling instead of snow in the mountain ranges of the Western U.S. and Canada, leading to a leaner snowpack that could impact agriculture, wildfire risk and municipal water supplies come summer, according to a new CU Boulder analysis. Kate Hale and Noah Molotch are authors on the study.

An exhibit that just opened in the Colorado capitol building's rotunda features artwork made in the process of partnerships between artists from around Colorado, their communities, and CU Boulder scientists. Called “Coloradans and our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change,” the art grapples with the climate and environmental challenges that are part of Coloradoans' lives: drought, decreasing groundwater, acid mine drainage, wildfire, pine beetle tree mortality, and more.

A collaborative exhibition tells the story of how Coloradans are experiencing interrelated challenges of fire, drought, and water and air quality in their communities. Artists (the CASE Fellows) partnered with scientists and communities to make visible the connections between Coloradans and their environment. Several INSTAARs acted as scientist partners. This website showcases the artwork, as well as quotes from the partners, explorations of the issues, and what you can do to act.