Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Y-BASIN Station at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs, CO

October 28, 2025

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) and Colorado partners and stakeholders gathered on October 6, 2025 to mark a significant step forward in regional climate and water resilience. The group celebrated the installation of a new hydrometeorological station on the Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Steamboat Springs campus with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new CMC Y-BASIN station. Pictured (left to right): Andy Rossi (UYWCD), Sonya Macys (Routt County Commissioner), Mike Camblin (CWCB), Michelle Stewart (Western Resilience Center), JC Norling (CMC), Marty Ralph (CW3E), John Lawrence (CMC), Meghan Lukens (CO State Representative), and Amy Moyer (CRD). Photo credit: Scott Kimmey (CMC).

This marks the 7th station in the Yampa Basin Atmosphere and Soil Moisture Integrated Network (Y-BASIN), a collaborative effort between UC San Diego’s CW3E, Western Resilience Center (formerly Yampa Valley Sustainability Council), Colorado Mountain College, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, Colorado River District, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. By next year, 9 stations will be installed toward the goal of having 30 spanning the Yampa River Basin, from the headwaters near the Town of Yampa to Fortification Creek west of Craig.

CW3E staff and a local volunteer working on CMC Y-BASIN station install. Photo credit: Nathan Stewart (CMC).

As climate extremes intensify hydrologic variability, the Y-BASIN network will support water-management decision-making by integrating soil-moisture data with snowmelt and precipitation observations. With a growing period of record and expanding network, this data will help scientists and managers better understand how dry soils influence runoff and water yield from spring snow melt, which will in turn improve decision-making for natural resource management. The network will support adaptive planning and long-term resilience under increasingly variable climate conditions.

Each Y-BASIN station is equipped with six soil moisture and temperature sensors buried at depths of 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, and 100 cm, allowing continuous profiling of subsurface moisture conditions. The stations also include surface meteorological sensors measuring wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure and temperature, relative humidity, snow depth, and fuel moisture and temperature. The first Y-BASIN station was installed near Stagecoach Reservoir in 2022 with support from Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District. Between 2023-2024, the network added five additional stations, one in the Trout Creek Basin, one in the lower Elk River watershed, one along the Yampa River at Carpenter Ranch near Hayden, and one in the Elkhead Creek drainage. A sixth station, known as Red Creek, was installed south of Steamboat Lake in August 2025. The newest addition of the Y-BASIN station installed at CMC Steamboat Springs Campus.

Jacob Morgan (CW3E) and other attendees at the poster session following the ribbon-cutting ceremony at CMC Steamboat Springs campus. Photo credit: Aimee Kimmey (CMC).

The newest station at CMC is the first to be sited within Steamboat city limits. It fills an important data gap in the local watershed while providing rich educational and technical training opportunities for students. The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured remarks from speakers representing all partner organizations, and state and local governments. Speakers included CMC Vice President and Campus Dean JC Norling; CW3E Director Marty Ralph; Western Resilience Center Executive Director Michelle Stewart; Colorado State Representative Meghan Lukens; Routt County Commissioner Sonja Macys; UYWCD General Manager Andy Rossi; CWCB Board Yampa-White Basin Representative Mike Camblin; CRD Chief of Strategy Amy Moyer, and CMC Dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences John Lawrence. Following the formal program and ribbon-cutting, attendees had the opportunity to tour the station, engage with the representatives from partner organizations, and learn more about the data collection and analysis through a poster session. Additional coverage of the event and speakers was provided by Steamboat Radio and the Steamboat Pilot.

The Center looks forward to continuing its collaboration with Colorado partners to expand observational capacity, advance scientific understanding, and support data-informed water management across the state.

Attendees gather for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new CMC Y-BASIN station. Photo credit: Scott Kimmey (CMC).