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Vulnerability of Water Resources to Global Climate Change in the Agricultural Midwest Ecological, Economic and Regulatory Aspects

EPA Grant Number: R824804
Title: Vulnerability of Water Resources to Global Climate Change in the Agricultural Midwest Ecological, Economic and Regulatory Aspects
Investigators: Eheart, J. Wayland , Herricks, Edwin E.
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
EPA Project Officer: Winner, Darrell
Project Period: October 1, 1995 through September 1, 1998 (Extended to September 30, 1998)
Project Amount: $380,000
RFA: Regional Hydrologic Vulnerability to Global Climate Change (1995)
Research Category: Global Climate Change , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration

Description:

Water resources systems in the agricultural midwest are vulnerable to global climate change. The purpose of this project is to measure their sensitivity to climate change by an integrated determination of ecological, economic, and regulatory effects and the assessment of interlinkages among those effects to determine overall system vulnerability. The project will focus on the potential increase in water consumption from agricultural irrigation in the Midwestern US, and its impact on aquatic ecosystems when coupled with decreased precipitation and/or increased precipitation variability.

Water withdrawals are predicted using crop yield modeling to find the irrigation rates that will maximize farm incomes under various climate change scenarios. Ecosystem effects are measured using the change in habitat availability and the effect of habitat alteration on fish communities in Midwestern streams.

The project will consider implications of these effects on existing regulations (e.g., those involving statistically defined low flows) and new regulations (e.g., those governing water withdrawals). The research takes advantage of existing models and the past research of the principal investigators.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 14 publications for this project

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 3 journal articles for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

water, watershed, global climate, vulnerability, socio-economic, hydrology, climate models, midwest, Region 5, , Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water, Air, Geographic Area, Scientific Discipline, RFA, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Water & Watershed, exploratory research environmental biology, climate change, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecological Indicators, Ecological Effects - Human Health, EPA Region, Hydrology, Watersheds, Chemical Mixtures - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecosystem Protection, precipitation patterns, risk assessment, toxic environmental contaminants, alternative urbanization scenarios, drinking water supplies, Global Climate Change, hydrologic models, precipitation, socioeconomic indicators, watershed, crop production, farming, habitat diversity, climatic models, fish habitat, land use, policy making, farm income, toxics, economic models, environmental monitoring, Region 5, climate models, agricultural watershed, availability of water resources, climate variability, land and water resources, Midwestern agriculture, urban growth, water resources, streamflow sensitivity

Progress and Final Reports:
1998 Progress Report
Final Report

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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