Western Water Assessment

What Western Water Assessment does

Western Water Assessment (WWA) is a university-based applied research program housed within the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The program addresses societal vulnerabilities to extreme weather and water-related natural hazards, with a geographic focus on the Intermountain West (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). Its work is organized around four service areas: accessing and using information; conducting new analysis or research; connecting and convening stakeholders; and training and capacity building.

The technical core consists of interactive web dashboards (Intermountain West Climate Dashboard, Utah Hazard Planning Dashboard, Rocky Mountains–High Plains Dashboard), experimental forecasting tools (Experimental Winter Precipitation Forecast, Current Wildfires and Smoke Forecast), curated datasets (High-Impact Events Database with ~160 events back to the mid-1800s and 20,000+ post-1950 events; Western Drought Perspective Tool), and synthesis publications including the Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science report. Engagement channels include monthly webinars, VCAPS community workshops, the Water Fellows Program, and a mailing list tied to the wwa.colorado.edu website.

WWA operates as one of NOAA's Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) programs. Primary funding flows through NOAA cooperative agreements with additional support from the Bureau of Reclamation, USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Centers, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Wyoming Office of the State Engineer, and other federal and state partners. There is no commercial product: tools, dashboards, reports, and workshops are delivered free of charge to government agencies, water utilities (e.g., Denver Water, Northern Water, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District), and community stakeholders. Day-to-day operations are led by Director and PI Ben Livneh (CU Boulder Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering) and Managing Director and PI Benét Duncan, supported by an integrated faculty, CIRES researcher, and UCAR-affiliated network spanning mountain hydrology, climate modeling, and decision science.

Name

Western Water Assessment

Legal name

Western Water Assessment

Website

https://wwa.colorado.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Western Water Assessment is a University of Colorado Boulder applied research program providing climate dashboards, forecasts, hazard databases, and community workshops to water managers and government agencies across the Intermountain West. It is funded primarily through NOAA's RISA program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate and Water Resource Research Services

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Resources, WASH & Integrated Water Management (BPADALAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Watershed/Source Water & Raw Water Quality Monitoring (intakes, reservoirs, groundwater) (EUANAJAH), Water Quality & Watershed/Hydrologic Modeling (SWMM/HEC-RAS, Flood/Runoff/Nutrient) (EUAHAKAF)

Keywords

• Climate research services
• Water resource assessment
• Drought early warning
• Hazard adaptation planning
• Applied climate science

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: WWA is a RISA (Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments) program, primarily funded through NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) grants and cooperative agreements. Additional funding comes from federal agencies including USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Bureau of Reclamation, and state agencies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Western Water Assessment is a university-based applied research program that produces interactive climate and water dashboards, experimental forecast tools, regional extremes databases, and synthesis reports, and convenes water managers, state and local agencies, and communities across Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming through VCAPS workshops and the Water Fellows Program. All offerings are publicly funded through NOAA RISA and partner agency grants and provided free of charge to stakeholders.

Product overview

Western Water Assessment (WWA) is a university-based applied research program (not a commercial product company) that provides a portfolio of climate and water resource tools, databases, publications, and community engagement services. The core offerings include interactive climate dashboards (Intermountain West Dashboard, Rocky Mountains–High Plains Dashboard, Utah Hazard Planning Dashboard), forecasting tools (Experimental Winter Precipitation Forecast, Current Wildfires and Smoke Forecast), data resources (High-Impact Events Database, Western Drought Perspective Tool), publications (Colorado River Basin State of the Science Report, snowpack monitoring handbook), and community programs (VCAPS Workshops, Water Fellows Program, monthly climate briefings). WWA operates four service areas: Accessing and Using Information, Conducting New Analysis or Research, Connecting and Convening, and Training and Capacity Building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Intermountain West Dashboard
• Western Drought Perspective Tool
• Experimental Winter Precipitation Forecast
• Utah Hazard Planning Dashboard
• Rocky Mountains–High Plains Dashboard
• High-Impact Events Database
• Current Wildfires and Smoke Forecast
• VCAPS Community Workshops
• Monthly Intermountain West Climate Briefings
• Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science Report
• Water Fellows Program
• Hazard Assessments
• Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West: A User Guide

Quantifiable outcome

• WWA supported $30,000 in adaptation grants to three Wyoming communities in 2023
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWA is housed within CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder. CIRES is a joint institute between CU Boulder and NOAA, providing the institutional framework for WWA's research operations.
• NOAA RISA Program (Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWA is one of RISA programs funded by NOAA's Climate Program Office. The RISA network connects WWA with other regional climate assessment programs across the US.
• NIDIS (National Integrated Drought Information System)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWA collaborates with NIDIS on drought early warning systems, including evaluation of the Upper Colorado River Basin DEWS and ongoing drought assessment work.
• US Bureau of ReclamationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReclamation partners with WWA on water resources research including extreme precipitation estimation, Colorado River Basin studies, and trans-boundary hydrologic data extension projects.
• Colorado Water Conservation BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWCB is a key partner on climate synthesis reports including the 2014 and 2024 Climate Change in Colorado updates and the Colorado River Basin State of the Science report.
• NC CASC (North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNC CASC is co-led by a 9-university consortium including CU Boulder. WWA collaborates on climate change research and scenarios for the North Central region.
• Denver WatermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDenver Water collaborates with WWA on wildfire-resilient water systems projects and participates in the Water Utilities Climate Alliance (WUCA) tabletop exercises.
• Weber Basin Water Conservancy DistrictmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWBWCD partnered with WWA on the Weber Basin Climate Sensitivity Analysis project to explore climate change impacts on the Weber River water supply.
• CLIMAS (Climate Assessment for the Southwest)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWA collaborates with CLIMAS (University of Arizona) on sustained climate assessment in the U.S. Southwest region and shared climate services initiatives.
• CNAP (California-Nevada Climate Applications Program)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWWA collaborates with CNAP on sustained climate assessment efforts across the Southwest region including shared webinars and climate services research.
• The Nature ConservancymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTNC collaborates with WWA on landscape-scale climate vulnerability assessments including the Gunnison Basin assessment and climate scenarios development.
• University of WyomingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUW is a key partner in WWA activities in Wyoming, including the Adapting to Change in Wyoming grant program and collaborative research with UW faculty.
• University of UtahmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUU is a partner in WWA's Utah-focused work, including hazard planning and climate assessment activities across the state.
• NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC)coreTechnology or IntegrationCBRFC works with WWA on incorporating research findings into streamflow forecasting operations and improving representation of perturbations (dust, beetle kill) in forecast models.
• Northern WatermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorthern Water participates in WWA's multi-objective decision support projects and Front Range water management planning initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI): Colorado-based nonprofit convening climate scientists and stakeholders across scales. Shares WWA's applied climate science and convening mission in the Intermountain West, particularly around water resources, and competes for some of the same philanthropic and federal convening dollars.
• Desert Research Institute (DRI): Nevada-based applied environmental research institute delivering climate, hydrology, and water quality science for the Western U.S. Operates in an adjacent but partially overlapping applied water/climate research space and would be a natural peer for joint federal projects.

Broad incumbents

• National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): NOAA-led federal program coordinating drought monitoring, forecasting, and early warning across the entire U.S. WWA collaborates with NIDIS on Upper Colorado River Basin DEWS evaluation; serves as both a funder/partner and a higher-level umbrella program that consolidates regional work like WWA's.

Direct peers

• Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Research Consortium (CIG): NOAA RISA program providing climate science for the Pacific Northwest with comparable co-production, regional assessment, and stakeholder-driven applied research model. Operates as a sibling regional climate assessment program covering an adjacent geography.
• CLIMAS - Climate Assessment for the Southwest: Sister NOAA RISA program housed at the University of Arizona that conducts sustained, stakeholder-driven climate assessment in the U.S. Southwest. Listed as a Major collaborator on WWA's network and shares the same community-led RISA mission, federal funding channel (NOAA CPO), and applied research delivery model.
• California-Nevada Climate Applications Program (CNAP): NOAA RISA program serving California and Nevada with applied climate science and stakeholder engagement. Listed as a Minor partner of WWA; structurally identical (RISA funding, regional focus, climate services for water managers), making it the most directly comparable peer.
• North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC): USGS Climate Adaptation Science Center hosted at CU Boulder that collaborates with WWA on the Rocky Mountains–High Plains Dashboard and climate scenarios. Operates as a closely aligned federal climate-adaptation research program serving a contiguous region with shared institutional ties.

Others

• CIRES - Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences: Joint NOAA/CU Boulder institute that is the institutional home and parent organization of WWA. While not a peer in the competitive sense, it provides shared scientific infrastructure, administrative support, and NOAA funding channel without which WWA could not operate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/wwanews.bsky.social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/western-water-assessment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Western Water Assessment