Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wyoming
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

In semi-arid systems, water availability is a critical resource for species to track, but we do not have good quantification of water availability. Climate change and increased water abstraction will increase the frequency and intensity of drought, but the ecological implications are not well understood. There is a need to better quantify water availability and evaluate implications for fish populations. This project is a collaboration of researchers between the USGS Wyoming Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit and the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative. Maps of spatial and temporal variation in water availability will be developed that will be useful in the planning and prioritization of management actions.