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Observations <br />In Colorado, the tourism industry brings near $8.5 billion annually into the state's <br />economy and employs more than two hundred thousand people (State of Colorado, <br />2003), many of whom comprise the population of resort communities. Data collected <br />during interviews allow classification of observed impacts into three general categories: <br />direct drought impacts, secondary significant hazards related to drought, and other factors <br />affecting resort communities. The latter category presents a cumulative effect of a group <br />of factors affecting economies, where drought was identified as one of several factors. <br />The tourism industry in Colorado is extensive and complex. Thus, a number of elements <br />affect drought impacts, including summer versus winter activities, proximity to the <br />Denver metropolitan area, regional variation in drought severity, and the dependence of <br />many resort communities on tourism. During the drought of 2002, tourism in Colorado <br />was hit especially hard; every person interviewed identified significant direct and indirect <br />impacts. These ranged from being expressly a result of the drought, low reservoir levels <br />for example, to secondary impacts resulting from the public perception of drought based <br />on the severe wildfires that occurred in several locations around the state during summer <br />2002. In fact, in most cases, the secondary drought impacts (wildfires, grasshoppers, <br />bark beetles) were bigger than the drought event itself. <br />Direct Drought Impacts <br />Similar to those impacts reported by the State of Colorado (2003), those interviewed. <br />mainly identified impacts on agriculture and summer tourism, especially water- related <br />activities, such as rafting, fishing, and reservoir use. During the summer 2002, the water <br />recreation industry was the most affected of all tourism and recreation industries. The <br />extremely low levels of many reservoirs and rivers throughout Colorado presented a <br />major challenge for this sector. In addition to economic impacts, there were clear social <br />and. environmental drought impacts. Examples mentioned included depression resulted <br />from drought- stressed natural surroundings, low stream flows, reduced water level in <br />reservoirs, tree mortality and poor ground water quality. Figure 3 shows difference in <br />water level in the Green Mountain reservoir between. 2002 and 2003, as an illustration of <br />how severely low the water levels were in 2002. <br />rel <br />