Building Resilient Communities

People living in the Intermountain West are no strangers to coping with and adapting to a variable and changing environment. Agriculture and ranching co-exist with burgeoning urban centers that represent a growing competition for limited water supplies, pushing development into fire-prone or flood-prone areas. Energy production has also been a major theme, driving settlement, economic activity, environmental concerns, and “job boom and bust” cycles in some areas. The shift away from fossil fuel is going to differentially affect communities dependent on those extractive industries. 

Extreme weather events, climate change, and rapid demographic changes are challenging the resilience of communities in the Intermountain West like never before. These extreme events often connect and intersect with underlying social and physical vulnerabilities in ways that impact communities more than if simply occurring in isolation. Cascading impacts to other critical areas like tourism and recreation, water availability and quality, and public health will affect local community economies and health in ways that we are just beginning to understand. Indigenous, rural, and other frontline communities are particularly vulnerable to these compounding hazards and impacts.

WWA is expanding our work with communities in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, with a particular focus on frontline communities. Our work has shown that while many of these communities have a strong desire to build resilience, they face challenges that can make it difficult for them to navigate the broad range of existing tools and data sources, access support to optimize the effectiveness of their planning processes, and obtain local and sector-relevant information.

The following projects advance our work to build resilient communities in the region. We also welcome requests and suggestions from communities!