Elizabeth Payton
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University of Colorado BoulderSenior Professional Research Assistant, CIRESElizabeth Payton
she/hersSenior Water Resources SpecialistLiz Payton works with water users in the WWA region to access and understand climate and hydrology information. She is the Water Chapter Lead for the recently released Fifth National Climate Assessment and co-editor and co-author of the synthesis report, Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science, released in 2020. She was also associate guest editor of the Journal of the Water Resources Association's featured collection, Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later, Parts I and II, published in 2022.
Her experience includes several river basin and municipal system water supply modeling projects across the West, including one of the first studies of climate change impacts on hydrology and water allocation in the Colorado River basin. Liz served as the Wyoming State Engineer's technical expert in statistical hydrology in the NE v. WY North Platte River litigation in the original jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court.
Liz has an MS in Civil Engineering from CU Boulder and was a water resources engineer at Hydrosphere Resource Consultants for 16 years. Prior to earning her MS degree, she served in the US Peace Corps as a volunteer math and science teacher in a remote village in western Nepal. Liz has also volunteered on city working groups and boards including chairing the City of Boulder Planning Board.
Projects
Publications
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Pokhrel, Yadu, Ahmed Elkouk, Lifeng Luo, Liz Payton, Ben Livneh, and Yifan Cheng. 2023. “Impact of Model Parameters on Runoff Sensitivities in the Community Land Model: A Study on the Upper Colorado River Basin.” EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10644. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10644
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Payton, E.A., A.O. Pinson, T. Asefa, L.E. Condon, L.-A.L. Dupigny-Giroux, B.L. Harding, J. Kiang, D.H. Lee, S.A. McAfee, J.M. Pflug, I. Rangwala, H.J. Tanana, and D.B. Wright, 2023: Ch. 4. Water. In: Fifth National Climate Assessment. Crimmins, A.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock, Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA. https://doi.org/10.7930/NCA5.2023.CH4
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Frisvold, George B., Linda M. Fernandez, Flavio Lehner, Stephanie A. McAfee, Sharon Megdal, Elizabeth Payton, Jack Schmidt, Julie Vano, and Connie Woodhouse. 2022. “Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I.” JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58 (5): 597–603. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13062
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Frisvold, George B., Linda M. Fernandez, Flavio Lehner, Stephanie A. McAfee, Sharon Megdal, Elizabeth Payton, Jack Schmidt, Julie Vano, and Connie Woodhouse. 2022. “Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part II.” JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58 (6): 1049–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13085
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Payton, Elizabeth, Joel Biederman, and Marcos Robles. 2021. “Snowtography: Snowpack & Soil Moisture Monitoring Handbook.” Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado Boulder. Snowtography: Snowpack & Soil Moisture Monitoring Handbook https://doi.org/10.25810/r9s7-4t28
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Payton, E. and J. Lukas (2021). Colorado River basin climate and hydrology state of the science: A synthesis report to support water planning and management. Colorado Water, 38:1. Climate Change and Adaptation Issue of Colorado Water, June 2021
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Lukas, J., and E. Payton, eds. (2020). Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science. Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado Boulder. ColoRiver_StateOfScience_WWA_2020_FullReport_hi-res.pdf doi: 10.25810/3hcv-w477
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Woelders, L., J. Lukas, E. Payton, and B. Duncan (2020). Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West: A User Guide. Western Water Assessment. Snowpack_Monitoring_in_the_Rocky_Mountain_West_A_User_Guide.pdf