HR: 16:30h
AN: H54C-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management in Arid/Semi-arid Regions: Data, Modeling, and Assessment
AU: Gupta, H
EM: Hoshin.Gupta@hwr.arizona.edu
AF: Univeristy of Arizona, Department of Hydrology & Water Resources 845 N Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: * Liu, Y
EM: yqliu@hwr.arizona.edu
AF: Univeristy of Arizona, Department of Hydrology & Water Resources 845 N Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Wagener, T
EM: thorsten@engr.psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering 226B Sackett Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Durcik, M
EM: mdurcik@hwr.arizona.edu
AF: Univeristy of Arizona, Department of Hydrology & Water Resources 845 N Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Duffy, C
EM: cxd11@psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering 226B Sackett Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Springer, E
EM: everetts@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS J495 , Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AB: Water resources in arid and semi-arid regions are highly sensitive to climate variability and change. As the demand for water continues to increase due to economic and population growth, planning and management of available water resources under climate uncertainties becomes increasingly critical in order to achieve basin-scale water sustainability (i.e., to ensure a long-term balance between supply and demand of water).The tremendous complexity of the interactions between the natural hydrologic system and the human environment means that modeling is the only available mechanism for properly integrating new knowledge into the decision-making process. Basin-scale integrated models have the potential to allow us to study the feedback processes between the physical and human systems (including institutional, engineering, and behavioral components); and an integrated assessment of the potential second- and higher-order effects of political and management decisions can aid in the selection of a rational water-resources policy. Data and information, especially hydrological and water-use data, are critical to the integrated modeling and assessment for water resources management of any region. To this end we are in the process of developing a multi-resolution integrated modeling and assessment framework for the south-western USA, which can be used to generate simulations of the probable effects of human actions while taking into account the uncertainties brought about by future climatic variability and change. Data are being collected (including the development of a hydro-geospatial database) and used in support of the modeling and assessment activities. This paper will present a blueprint of the modeling framework, describe achievements so far and discuss the science questions which still require answers with a particular emphasis on issues related to dry regions.
DE: 1807 Climate impacts
DE: 1879 Watershed
DE: 1880 Water management (6334)
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
DE: 6319 Institutions
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005