Wyomingites Eager to Talk about Water-Related Hazards, UW Research Shows

A new University of Wyoming study reveals Wyoming residents are eager to discuss how to plan for different water scenarios that may arise in the future.

The team of nine researchers from multiple disciplines, led by Mary Keller, a UW senior lecturer in religious studies, aimed to create a roadmap for engaging rural communities in conversations about their lived experiences and local knowledge related to climate and water-related risks, such as drought.

A recently published paper from the team's work, "Unwinding the spiral of silence in rural America: Looking backward with stories to plan forward," was inspired by the idea that there are few opportunities for rural Wyoming residents to discuss water-related risks face-to-face.

The team conducted a representative survey of 557 Wyoming residents and found that, even though respondents expressed concerns about water-related hazards --78.1 percent reported that drought is increasing, and 75.2 percent reported wildfire is increasing -- they rarely communicated about water-related risks and how to deal with them, with only 16.3 percent of respondents communicating about water-related hazards more than "sometimes."

With that in mind, research team members coordinated with UW Extension personnel and traveled to Powell, Sheridan and Torrington to discuss past drought events that community members faced and potential future water scenarios that community members may need to confront, such as a drier or wetter climate conditions.

"Our workshops allowed Wyoming community members to think about the ways they adapted in the past and could apply those strategies to the future," Keller says. "We learned so much from participants about their resilience and wits, including the value of their neighbors and communities when facing previous drought. As the workshop ended, participants were still eager to continue their conversations with one another."

The research group's statewide survey also revealed that many residents observed summer (56.7 percent), fall (52.2 percent) and winter (54.9 percent) are getting warmer, with half of respondents also agreeing that rivers, lakes and reservoirs are warmer in the summer compared to the past.

Participants in the scenario planning workshops expressed similar observations as those found in the survey and connected these changes to risks in the community's safety and well-being; risks to family income and livelihood; risks to crops and animals; and risks to local ecosystems.

Wyoming residents highlighted fluctuations in water availability as a vulnerability to the state's major economic sectors and expressed concern about agricultural adaptations. Changes in the availability of water in late summer were of special concern.

Despite the potential challenges that Wyoming communities may face, they expressed hopefulness.

"In all three workshops, we heard versions of the phrase, 'We've always gotten through the challenges, and we always will.' This sentiment reflected the resilience of the communities and their shared pride in personal independence, coupled with neighborly cooperation as the source of their strength," says J.J. Shinker, a UW professor of geology and geophysics. "As a professor, it was great to learn from people in our state, how they have experienced drought in the past and how they use those experiences when considering future droughts."

Keller adds that workshop participants engaged enthusiastically in conversations.

"Once people started telling stories about their past experiences, time just slipped by," Keller says. "People shared memories about previous challenges and expressed surprise when they hadn't realized what others had gone through."

She also notes her own feeling of relief as someone born and raised in Wyoming to hear from Wyoming voices that she innately trusts in conversation with evidence-based science.

Kristen Landreville, a co-author of the paper and researcher at UW, expresses excitement about the momentum their workshops created in communities: "We got people talking, which is the first step to community planning and action."

Other co-authors of the research include Kristiana Hansen, Kathryn Cooper, Emily Donaldson, Michelle Kim, Ginger Paige and Anders van Sandt.