Dear Friends:

Carpe Diem West is a network of experts, advocates, decision makers, and scientists who are addressing the profound impacts the growing climate crisis is having on water in the American West. A critical need that the Carpe Diem West Network has identified is practical training on how to manage water and energy resources in an era of uncertain and changing climate.

We know that climate change affects all aspects of water and energy: the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater, the demand for energy, the efficiency of renewable energy sources - it touches everything. We also know that water and energy managers trying to address the impacts of climate change on western water resources are faced with three major challenges:

1) Managers are faced with an overload of available tools, but little understanding of which tools are most useful in addressing their particular set of challenges. 

2) Most of these tools focus on pieces of the overall picture - not on the interconnection between those pieces, or on the process of building comprehensive water management responses to address long-term uncertainty. 

3) Water resources and energy management are rarely addressed together in management planning.

In response to these challenges, we created the Carpe Diem West Academy. This unique portal provides a compendium of information and tools, presents them in an easy-to-use format, and provides helpful frames of reference. Recently launched is the Academy's online learning community which includes a discussion forum, blog feature, search functions, feedback mechanisms, and user profiles. Sign up for an account by clicking on the login button on the top left hand corner of the home page and join the conversation today. 

We hope you the site is useful in building an online community of support and resources for yourself and other western water mangers.  Sign up here to receive updates on upcoming webinars and new website features.

Regards,