The Columbia Lake focal area was added in Year 5 (2023-24) of Kootenay Connect Priority Places. The highlights from Year 6 (2024-25) are below.
Year 6 Highlights (2024-25)
As climate disruption continues and intensifies (IPCC 2021), warming temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns are projected to have profound impacts on the habitats of the corridor over the coming decades. The potential for increasing drought, shifts from savanna and mixed forest to grassland/steppe ecosystems in the valley bottoms, decreasing snowpacks and increasing wildfire activity will increase the importance of riparian habitats for connectivity within the corridor. This assessment has therefore focused on the lower elevations of the Trench and the Rocky Mountains, increasing wildfire activity, and the potential for changes in the flows of the major river systems.
