Colorado ski resorts spend 2.2 billion gallons of water per season making snow. France's snowmaking uses as much water as a town of 170,000 people. And every year, the natural snowpack they depend on arrives later and melts faster.
Here's the paradox: the industry that needs snow most is drawing down the very water systems that create it. And no amount of snowmaking efficiency will fix a broken water cycle.
the supplier you've never paid
Imagine your CFO delivers this report:
"We depend entirely on a single supplier. We've never contracted with them. We've never paid them. They're showing visible signs of failure. And we have no backup."
That supplier is the water cycle. And it's not just ski resorts—it's every water-dependent industry, municipality, and agricultural operation downstream.
The Colorado River provides water for 40 million people and irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland. Approximately 83% of Colorado's water comes from surface sources—streams and rivers fed primarily by snowpack and spring runoff. Since 2000, snowpack-to-streamflow predictions have been consistently wrong—always too optimistic.
The snow isn't just declining. The system that produces it is degrading.
the small water cycle (most people don't know exists)
Most people think rain comes from the ocean. It does—partially. But here's what the research shows:
Of the 720mm average rainfall hitting Earth's land annually:
- 310mm comes from the large (oceanic) water cycle
- 410mm comes from the small (local) water cycle
The small water cycle is the recirculation of moisture within a region—evaporation from vegetation and soils creating clouds that precipitate locally. It's why forests can exist thousands of miles from any ocean. It's why continental interiors aren't all deserts.
And we've been systematically destroying it.
Deforestation, agriculture, and development have reduced the vegetation that drives local evapotranspiration. Drained wetlands no longer hold water in the landscape. Degraded soils can't absorb rainfall. The result: water rushes to the ocean instead of cycling through the land.
Less local evapotranspiration → fewer local clouds → less local precipitation → drier conditions → less evapotranspiration.
It's a vicious cycle. And it's measurable.
three mechanisms you should know
1. the biotic pump
Forests don't just consume water—they drive atmospheric dynamics. The biotic pump theory, developed by Russian physicists Anastassia Makarieva and Victor Gorshkov, proposes that forests create low-pressure zones through evapotranspiration that pull moist air from the coast inland.
A mature oak tree transpires 400-600 liters of water per day under normal conditions. European forests transpire roughly half of average annual rainfall back into the atmosphere.
Forests make rain. Cut forests, lose rain.
2. bioprecipitation
Microbes—bacteria, fungi, algae—serve as nuclei around which rain clouds form. Biologically active landscapes generate cloud-forming microorganisms that become airborne.
The concentration of these "rainmaking" microbes increases with vegetation cover and healthy soils. Industrial agriculture and degraded landscapes produce fewer of them.
Healthy ecosystems seed their own clouds.
3. moisture recycling
Evapotranspiration from forests creates what researchers call "flying rivers"—atmospheric moisture flows that can travel thousands of kilometers. Tree restoration in the Amazon affects rainfall in Europe and Eastern Asia.
This isn't speculation. It's documented in peer-reviewed research. Nature Geoscience published findings showing that reforestation shifts regional water availability across continents.
Water cycles are global. Degradation anywhere affects precipitation everywhere.
proof: where water cycle restoration is working
the weather makers (sinai peninsula)
The Weather Makers Foundation is working to regreen the Sinai Peninsula through water cycle restoration. Their Bardawil & Sinai Initiative aims to restore the coastal-to-atmospheric water connection by dredging Lake Bardawil, creating fertile topsoil from sediments, and planting salt-tolerant vegetation.
The theory: once you have forests next to waterfront, you attract more clouds that enter the interior. Forests trigger precipitation. The restored water cycle impacts weather systems across the region. The full restoration is projected to span 20-40 years.
tamera water retention landscape (portugal)
In the Mediterranean drylands of Portugal's Alentejo region, Tamera built Water Retention Landscapes that hold rain where it falls. Their 154-hectare farm now has 29 interconnected lakes and retention spaces, increasing water bodies from 0.62 hectares to approximately 8.32 hectares.
Result: soil erosion reduced to near zero, springs reappearing, self-sufficiency in water and food, reduced vulnerability to droughts, floods, and water scarcity. In a region watching its neighbors dry up.
beaver dam analogs (colorado river basin)
Log and wood structures that replicate beaver dams force water up and out of stream beds onto the land, transforming surroundings into wetland.
Benefits:
- Slow spring runoff and recharge the soil sponge
- Force water into groundwater
- Delay water release until later in the season
- Ranchers report water lasting 6 weeks longer into dry season
- Water tables rising by as much as a meter
The National Forest Foundation is scaling these approaches across the Colorado River Basin. National Forests comprise less than 20% of land area but contribute more than 60% of Colorado River water.
Without beaver dams, snowpack rages out faster. Rainwater rushes downstream with no impediments to collect and distribute it.
what this means for ski resorts
Ski resorts sit at headwaters—the most strategic position possible for watershed impact. They're not just consumers of snow and water. They could be producers of it.
The shift:
| Traditional Approach | Water Cycle Approach |
|---|---|
| Snowmaking efficiency | Watershed restoration |
| Reactive cost center | Proactive investment |
| Draw from system | Regenerate system |
| Adapt to decline | Reverse decline |
what resorts could fund
Riparian restoration — Install beaver dam analogs in degraded streams. Restore wetlands damaged by construction. Reconnect floodplains to streams.
Vegetation management — Plant native species to increase evapotranspiration. Manage forests for water yield as well as fire risk. Create biodiverse landscapes that support bioprecipitation.
Water retention — Design landscaping to slow, spread, and sink water. Restore natural drainage patterns. Create water retention features.
Regional collaboration — Partner with downstream water users who benefit from watershed health. Join watershed collaboratives. Co-invest in headwaters protection.
already happening (partially)
Some resorts are moving this direction:
- Arapahoe Basin achieved carbon neutrality and developed snowmaking systems to maintain in-stream flows and protect fisheries
- Telluride restored approximately 16 hectares of wetlands after 1980s construction destroyed over 28 hectares, considered among the most successful wetland restorations in the U.S.
- Sugar Bowl is restoring Van Norden Meadow—485 acres of high-elevation wetland ecosystem serving as a carbon sink and water reservoir for the South Yuba River watershed
- Taos Ski Valley became the first B-Corp certified ski resort and aided watershed restorations
But these are isolated projects. What's missing is systematic investment in the water cycle as infrastructure.
the investment case
This isn't charity. It's infrastructure investment with measurable returns:
| Benefit | Mechanism |
|---|---|
| Reduced water costs | Less need for artificial snowmaking |
| Extended natural season | More precipitation, longer snowpack |
| Risk reduction | Resilience against water scarcity |
| Carbon credits | Ecosystem restoration generates offsets |
| Ecosystem service value | Watershed protection has quantifiable worth |
| Reputation/ESG | Genuine environmental leadership |
Denver Water's "From Forests to Faucets" program has invested nearly $96 million, treated over 120,000 acres, and planted more than 1.4 million trees—because they understand that healthy forests = reliable water supply.
The question is whether ski resorts, municipalities, and water-dependent industries will make the same connection before the water cycle degrades further.
natural capital as the asset class
What we're describing is natural capital investment—funding the ecosystem stocks that generate the services everyone depends on.
The 15 ecosystem types that underpin water cycles:
- Inland wetlands → Water retention, flood control, groundwater recharge
- Rivers & lakes → Freshwater provision, moisture recycling
- Temperate forests → Evapotranspiration, biotic pump, bioprecipitation
- Alpine systems → Snowpack storage, water tower function
These aren't abstract environmental goods. They're the literal infrastructure that produces snow and water.
where ensurance fits
Ensurance is the mechanism for funding natural capital protection—proactively, continuously, permanently.
| Insurance | Ensurance |
|---|---|
| Pays after damage | Funds before damage |
| Compensates for loss | Prevents loss |
| Transfers risk | Reduces risk |
| One-time payout | Continuous stewardship |
For water cycle restoration, ensurance means:
General ensurance (coins) — ERC-20 tokens like $ENSURE that fund ecosystem protection across the protocol. Trading and holding them channels value toward natural capital stewardship. Multiple coins can exist for different purposes or agents.
Specific ensurance (certificates) — ERC-1155 tokens tied to specific watersheds, wetlands, and forests. Certificate holders fund ongoing protection of particular natural assets with traceable, verifiable outcomes.
Ensurance agents — AI-powered accounts that can monitor watershed health, execute stewardship payments, and respond to changing conditions automatically.
the ask for ski resorts
This isn't a donation request. It's a strategic investment opportunity:
- Value natural capital — Quantify the ecosystem services your water supply depends on using the RealValue framework
- Fund upstream protection — Purchase ensurance certificates tied to watersheds that feed your operations
- Join ensurance syndicates — Pool resources with other resorts and downstream users for regional watershed protection
- Integrate stewardship — Use proceeds from certificate sales and trading to fund ongoing restoration work
The resorts that figure this out first won't just adapt to declining snowpack—they'll help reverse it.
the bottom line
Snowmaking is a symptom treatment. Watershed restoration is a cure.
The water cycle that produces snow is degraded but not broken. Forests can be restored. Wetlands can be rebuilt. The biotic pump can be repaired. But it requires investment in the natural infrastructure that conventional economics ignores.
Ensurance provides the mechanism. The question is whether the industries that depend on snow will recognize that their future depends on ecosystems they've never paid for—before it's too late.
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