Improving the Resilience of Water Resources after Wildfire through Collaborative Watershed Management: A Case Study from Colorado

This case study introduces students to the impacts that wildfires have on water resources as well as the challenges associated with managing these risks. By examining the development of a collaborative watershed group galvanized by the 2012 High Park Fire in Colorado, the case engages with the longstanding conundrum of how better to align ecological and social scales in natural resources management. It explores the role that collaborative groups are playing in addressing water resources problems at the watershed scale despite fragmented governance at that scale. A phased case study format allows students to investigate the motivations of diverse stakeholders and appreciate the challenges faced in watershed-based collaboration after a catalyzing event, such as a wildfire. Upon completion of the lesson, students will be able to (1) explain wildfires’ impacts to water resources and stakeholders; (2) assess the challenges and benefits of approaching management based on the physical boundaries of a watershed, rather than political boundaries; (3) identify and interrogate how collaborative watershed groups form as well as the factors that are key to their success; and (4) evaluate the outcomes of these collaborative efforts and their ongoing strengths and opportunities as well as their limitations and challenges. This line of inquiry is increasingly significant as collaborative watershed management groups proliferate in the United States, in many instances catalyzed by a disaster. Ultimately, this case study explores how collaborative watershed groups emerge and the role(s) they play in tackling long-term, multi-jurisdictional, and watershed-scale management challenges.