Yampa Basin Rendezvous

YBR-2021

2025 Conference:

Science in Action: Building Resiliency through Restoration of Natural Processes

May 28-29, Allbright Auditorium, Colorado Mountain College, Steamboat Springs, CO

The Yampa River is one of the wildest remaining major tributaries of the Colorado River and supports a rich ecosystem, local agriculture and ranching, and a robust recreation industry. It also provides crucial water supplies to local stakeholders and all those downstream. However, warming temperatures, rising snowlines, and increased drought occurrence and severity pose serious risks to the water-reliant ecosystems of the Yampa River Basin.

In the face of increasingly extreme weather trends, including drought, flood, and fire weather, how are we, both in the Yampa Basin and beyond, working to build resilience by taking a science-based approach to repairing and restoring natural processes?

This question will be at the forefront of the 2025 Yampa Basin Rendezvous. The 2-day event will provide an overview of exciting new local research on the interactions between snow, climate, and water supply, and will showcase efforts to address these and other related challenges both within the Yampa River Basin and beyond. The Rendezvous will include morning discussion panels with scientists and project leaders, special welcome and keynote addresses, afternoon field learning, and an evening community showcase happy hour event. The overarching goal is to provide a venue that links the latest science with projects that work in concert with natural systems to achieve a more secure and sustainable future. 

Building a resilient water future in the Yampa Valley requires deep, meaningful connections with people who live, study, work, and steward rivers in the West. This event is part of ongoing efforts by the YBR partner organizations to develop and strengthen those connections.

REGISTER HERE

2025 Schedule

Wednesday, May 28

8:30  – Doors open; coffee, tea and mingle

9:00-9:25 – Welcome and Introductory Remarks 

  • Andy Rossi, General Manager, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District
  • Marty Ralph, Director, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes

9:30-10:50 – Multi-scale observations of Upper Yampa snow for science-informed decision-making

In this panel, researchers at the cutting edge of snow science will present their perspectives on observing and modeling Colorado snow on scales ranging from snowflake nucleation physics to basin-wide snowpack dynamics.

Moderator:

  • TBC

Speakers:

  • Gannet Haller, Director, Storm Peak Laboratory, University of Utah
  • Jeff Deems, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Airborne Snow Observatories
  • Noah Molotch, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder

11:00-12:20 – Keeping it local: Restoring the Yampa Basin for natural resilience

This panel will explore the projects and partnerships seeking to build resilience throughout the Yampa Basin and will highlight ongoing floodplain, wet meadow, and stream restoration projects at the Yampa River-Walton Creek confluence and in California Park.

Moderator:

  • Tim Sullivan, Senior Director of Climate Resilience, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council

Speakers:

  • Julie Baxter, Water Resources Manager, City of Steamboat Springs
  • Ryan Messinger, Natural Climate Solutions Program Manager, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council
  • Brian Hodge, Fisheries Scientist, Trout Unlimited

12:20-1:20 – Lunch Break and Networking- boxed lunches provided for all registered attendees.

1:30-4:00 – Field Excursion: Examining the Spectrum of Stream Restoration Approaches (Tentative)

Location: Various project sites throughout the city of Steamboat Springs (Tentative)

5:00-7:00 – Community Showcase Happy Hour

Happy hour session featuring posters and other presentations that showcase projects throughout the Yampa and Colorado River Basins that are moving the needle for healthy, resilient landscapes. Drinks and snacks provided.  

Location: 2F1v5fsct8?entry=ttu">The Boathouse, 609 Yampa St, Steamboat Springs, CO.

Thursday, May 29

8:30 – Doors Open; Coffee, Tea and Mingle

9:00-10:15 – Plenary Welcome Keynote

  • Emily Fairfax, Assistant Professor of Physical Geography, University of Minnesota

10:30-11:50 – Beyond the Yampa: Building resilience in the Upper South Platte, White, and Arkansas basins 

Professionals from Denver Water, The Nature Conservancy, and Colorado Open Lands will discuss their efforts to address post-fire sedimentation, stream channelization and loss of wetlands, and wildfire risk mitigation.

Moderator:

  • Megan Karschner, Executive Director, Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition

Speakers:

  • Dirk Rasmussen, Restoration Program Manager, Colorado Open Lands
  • Joseph Leonhard, Riparian Restoration Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy
  • Alison Witheridge, Watershed Planning Manager, Denver Water

12:00-4:30 – Field Excursion: Natural Climate Solutions in Action

Location: TBC. Boxed lunches provided for all registered field trip attendees.

What is the Yampa Basin Rendezvous?

In 2018, Friends of The Yampa partnered with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, Colorado Mountain College (CMC), and Steamboat Resorts, to co-organize the Yampa Basin Rendezvous (YBR).

The conference is highly collaborative, science-based, and focuses on water and weather in the Yampa River Basin.

The event is now in its sixth year and provides an opportunity to explore relevant research and foster discussions in the Yampa River Basin to help inform management decisions and build collaboration.

Why is the Yampa Basin Important?

The Yampa River is one of the wildest remaining major tributaries of the Colorado River and supports a rich ecosystem, local agriculture and ranching, and a robust recreation industry. It also provides crucial water supplies to local stakeholders and locations as far removed as Arizona and Southern California. A multitude of environmental and societal factors are expected to be affected by climate change in the Yampa River Basin and are pertinent to other watersheds around the American West.

How are we, as a community, measuring the existing seasonal variability and adapting to manage the impacts of current and expected seasonal changes? Join the dialogue, connection with others, and let’s talk about climate!

YBR Mission

The YBR strives to be an opportunity for reflection, communication, appreciation, and collaborative, interactive learning about the Yampa Basin ecosystems, environment, weather, climate, people, and culture and their intersections, for members of the Yampa Basin community as well as all the communities downstream who rely on the Yampa’s water.

YBR Goals

Connect students, researchers, institutions, and community members who live and work in the Yampa River Basin to share knowledge regarding climate variability and change that has impacts on the environment, people and the economy. Build community and encourage collaborative problem-solving and planning, and provide an opportunity for citizens and visitors to be informed about the state of the Yampa Basin and the people and plans in place and in process to protect it.

More Information about the Rendezvous

We will explore the science behind projected changes in precipitation and temperature patterns and their effects on resource management, how we monitor and measure these changes, and whether or not our existing systems are capable of matching historical predictive skills for resource management. Through this dialogue with the local community, we hope to pair CW3E’s research directions with the community’s expertise on the challenges and successes of resource management practices in the Yampa to identify how additional climate and weather information and research may be beneficial.

This event is an effort to connect graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, researchers, staff, and faculty from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E; cw3e.ucsd.edu) to river basins throughout the west, to pursue the mission and goals, listed above, of this new center. CW3E is based at the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD) Scripps Institution of Oceanography and is building a regional community of scientists and engineers to work on western weather and climate problems.

Organized by the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Friends of the Yampa, Colorado Mountain College, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, 

the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, River Network, Yampatika, The Nature Conservancy, Steamboat Ski Resort, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council and the Community Agriculture Alliance

2025 YBR Steering Committee
Emily Burke, Co-Chair, Friends of the Yampa
Jacob Morgan, Co-Chair, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, UC San Diego
Jenny Frithsen, Co-Chair, Friends of the Yampa
Jeri Wilcox, Co-Chair, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, UC San Diego
Halie Cunningham, Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council
Deanna Nash, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, UC San Diego
Courtney Lynn, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District
Holly Kirkpatrick, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District
Ben Cavarra, Steamboat Resort
Brian Murphy, River Network
Ian Whidden, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Michelle Mahosky, Yampatika
Andy Baur, The Nature Conservancy
Patrick Stanko, Community Agriculture Alliance
Sally Cariveau, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council
Si Axtell, Colorado Mountain College
Nathan Stewart, Colorado Mountain College

 

 

 

 

Watershed Partners

River Partners