06/04/2026
The CASCADE study is officially in the field.
After years of planning, our team is installing IoT soil moisture sensors across three research sites in Boulder County, the first step in a three-year effort to understand how contour terracing and agroforestry shape water behavior in semi-arid landscapes.
Water availability is the primary constraint on what land can do here in the West. CASCADE was built around a simple but important question: how do rainwater harvesting techniques actually affect soil water dynamics, soil health, and forage over time?
Each site is instrumented at three depths, inside the basin, on the berm, and in the alley between terraces, with control plots alongside for a paired baseline. Once live, sensors will stream continuous data, building the foundation for broader research ahead.
This is a long-arc project. The network is live, the work is underway, and we're deeply grateful to our partners at the City of Boulder, Colorado State University, and Soil Signal, and to the landowners and supporters who made this launch possible.
More to come🌱
