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Santa Fe Watershed Climate Change Interactive Workshop

Santa Fe, NM – February 28, 2012 - Residents living in the Santa Fe watershed are invited to a free workshop on the impacts of climate change in the Santa Fe watershed. The workshop is hosted by the, Santa Fe County, City of Santa Fe, and the Bureau of Reclamation and will be held on Tuesday, March 6, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy Street. The workshop discussion will focus on potential effects of climate change on the watershed and on individual residents, as well as on ways to enhance watershed resiliency. The morning will include talks from experts in the field of climate change. The afternoon will have participants in breakout groups.

Attendance is free but participants must register. Please Click Hereto register.

The following experts in the field will give a brief overview including projected impacts of climate change. This will provide the foundation for the afternoon discussion.

• Dr. David Gutzler – University of New Mexico climatologist and a climate change expert.
• Dr. Bill DeBuys - author of "A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest" and conservationist, who served as founding chair of the Valles Caldera Trust.
• Dr. Park Williams - postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory who focuses on how global climate variability influences drought in places where water is a limiting resource for life.Dr.
• Karen MacClune – facilitator and climate change expert with the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition. MacClune will guide the discussions, seeking participants' ideas and thoughts throughout the process.

Water Managers are seeking your expertise in the Santa Fe Watershed's ecosystem, water supply, quality of life, agriculture and land use to help them prioritize future watershed management in light of projected changes in climate and water availability. The results of this workshop, together with parallel studies, will help determine the future path of the Santa Fe watershed over the next 40 years.

For more information contact Karen Torres, Santa Fe County Hydrogeologist at (505) 992-9871.