Researchers note the diversity of experiences and heterogeneity of ecological, economic, and social factors throughout the High Plains, dispelling the myth that this vast landscape is monotonous. Hazards such as drought characterize this linked social-ecological system, creating longstanding concerns about its resilience and adaptive capacity. Adaptive capacity (the system’s ability to cope with unexpected changes without losing options for the future) and vulnerability (the degree to which a system will suffer harm from a hazard) are negatively correlated; vulnerable systems show low adaptive capacity. Common factors influencing vulnerability and adaptive capacity on the High Plains include adoption of technology, access to information, existing infrastructure, institutional processes, and social capital. This study addresses the question of how perceptions of these and other factors impact rural stakeholders’ ability and willingness to make decisions that protect options for the future. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with landowners working across three counties on the High Plains of Colorado highlighted the diversity of experiences, attitudes, and approaches to agricultural production while eliciting commonly held values and broadly recognized changes in the region, exposing vulnerabilities and illuminating potential places to build adaptive capacity.
Results/Conclusions
Landowners ranged in age from 28 to 68, and their varied agricultural operations ranged in size from 960 acres to 51,500 acres. Despite demographic differences, several major themes emerged from the interviews. Most emphasized the importance of their longevity in, and experience with, the system. For example, they connected multigenerational memory with an ability to minimize vulnerability to decadal droughts. Landowners discussed ecological themes at the individual, local, and regional levels and social themes at the household, community, and institutional levels. Some themes crossed spatial boundaries. For example, individual farmers and ranchers expressed fear of “the well running dry” at multiple spatial scales. This theme encompassed declining availability of groundwater for households and cattle herds, hauling water from one place in the system to another, and selling the system’s water to the burgeoning Front Range cities instead of using it to irrigate crops. This suggests a highly connected problem. Finding the “right” scale at which to manage this problem does not appear possible. Instead, this problem, and others like it, will require working across boundaries to adapt to changing conditions.