Mountain regions are experiencing climate change with severe consequences for
ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them, necessitating place-based
adaptation. This thesis examines community vulnerability to changing mountain snowpack
through a mixed-methods case study of McBride and Dunster in the upper Robson Valley,
British Columbia, Canada. This thesis is distinct from other mountain climate change studies in
that it explores the interactions among multiple environmental and societal forces that influence
sensitivity to environmental changes and the capacity to adapt. Local lived experiences were
gathered through one focus group and 32 semi-structured interviews with a total of 37 residents
and analyzed alongside community documents and plans, local news, and quantitative data on
snowpack and streamflow. Latent content analysis revealed that residents are sensitive to
decreases in mountain snowpack due to their reliance on melt run-off for freshwater. Low water
availability has impacted food security, wildfire suppression, and human health and well-being.
Local capacity to adapt has been undermined by the centralization of government services and
resulting exodus of residents, and their knowledge and skills. Despite a long history of coping
with fluctuations in weather, recent changes, including low precipitation years related to the
Southern El Niño Oscillation and heat waves, are considered by many residents to be outside
tolerable ranges. Supporting adaptation is rooted in increasing local social capital and cohesion
by re-directing financial and human resources, and decision-making power back to northern
communities.
