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Funded Projects
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Principal Investigator
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Title
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Year Initially Funded
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Sector
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Location
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Year Initially Funded:
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2011
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Sector (s)
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Water |
Location
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North Carolina Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) |
Annual Project Report:
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CharacklisAnnualRpt.pdf |
Portfolio-based Approaches to Managing Climate Uncertainty in Urban Water Planning
This project involves the development of tools and guidelines to support a modern paradigm for water supply planning under conditions of climatic uncertainty. It includes the coordination of a diverse "portfolio" of water-related "assets" including: supply infrastructure (e.g., reservoirs); conservation technologies (e.g., water reuse); transfers among different users (e.g., utilities, industries), and; demand management measures (e.g., pricing, usage restrictions). Diversification has long been a strategy for dealing with uncertainty in other industrial sectors, and while there is tacit acknowledgement that more diversified supply strategies could benefit urban water utilities, previous attempts at implementation have largely been unstructured and ad hoc. This work is focused on providing generalized and transferable approaches to coordinating a diverse portfolio of supply and demand management alternatives, and this knowledge has the potential to substantially improve urban water utilities' ability to cope with climatic uncertainty. It also includes considerations of a portfolio's impact on a utility's financial stability, an important factor as diversification may give rise to more volatile cost and revenue streams. The interdisciplinary research team (including an engineer, economist and systems specialist) is working in partnership with the four primary water utilities in the rapidly growing Research Triangle region of North Carolina. This work builds on existing projects and relationships with these utilities, each of which have been integrally involved in the formulation of the project's direction and objectives.
Principal Investigator (s): Characklis, Gregory (UNC Chapel Hill), Patrick M. Reed (PSU); Ronald C. Griffin (TAMU)
Publications (s): |
Year Initially Funded:
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2011
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Sector (s)
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Water |
Location
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Arizona-Sonora region of the U.S-Mexico border |
Annual Project Report:
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Managing Demand and Rethinking Supply: Adaptation, Conservation, and Planning in the Drought-prone Southwestern United States and Northwest Mexico
Adaptation in water management is a greatly revered yet poorly understood goal and concept. The U.S. suffers from an "adaptation deficit" (Jacobs et al. 2010), but there is little comprehensive research on how to advance adaptation. A recent assessment of the state of adaptation research finds that case studies of how adaptation is actually being delivered, and barriers to effective delivery (e.g., information, capacity, institutions), is a critical missing component of existing adaptation research (Arnell 2010). We propose to address this gap both theoretically and methodologically in the Arizona-Sonora region of the U.S-Mexico border. Our recent study of urban water vulnerability in southern Arizona (AZ) and northern Sonora has identified challenges for urban areas in the region (Wilder et al. 2010). In AZ, vulnerabilities include strong institutional capacity combined with relatively weak integration of climate science, and continued reliance on sole-source supply (e.g., Colorado River water), driving a regional focus on desalination of seawater as a regional water solution. In Sonora, our study found limited adaptive capacity in water management institutions—a lack of integration of climate science into water planning and operations, and a lack of emphasis on both adaptive planning and conservation, as well as low water security in poor neighborhoods lacking access to the water network. The key research questions guiding this project include what is the role of networks in governance and the implications for using climate knowledge; what are the most effective climate services to support efforts to adapt; and how can decision-support tools build institutional adaptive capacity. We will examine these questions using interactive stakeholder workshops, online surveys, semi-structured interviews, webinars, and annual scientist-stakeholder symposia. Project outputs will include stakeholder workshops, symposia, presentation of results at professional meetings, papers in peer-reviewed journals, workshop and symposia reports, annual webinars, quarterly production of the Border Climate Summary, a project website, and formal project evaluation.
Principal Investigator (s): Wilder, Marget (U AZ), Robert Varady; Gregg Garfin, et al.
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Year Initially Funded:
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2011
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Sector (s)
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Water |
Location
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Missouri River Basin |
Annual Project Report:
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Mehta2011Water.pdf |
Interannual to Decadal Climate Variability Information for Risk Assessment, Urban Water Policy, and Decision Support: Case Studies of Kansas City, Lincoln, and Great Falls Urban Areas within the Missouri River Basin
We propose to undertake a systematic assessment of the effects of interannual to decadal climate variability on water security in three urban areas in the Missouri River Basin (MRB): the Greater Kansas City area, Lincoln, NE, and Great Falls, MT. Based on these case studies, we will develop a broad-scale survey of vulnerability of water security of other urban areas in the MRB and elsewhere to climate variability for future in-depth assessments. The scientific objectives of proposed research are: (1) To identify quantitative and qualitative impacts and indicators of interannual and decadal climate variability on water supply and demand (thus water security) in the three selected urban areas; (2) To characterize the potential vulnerability of municipalities across the MRB to interannual and decadal climate variability, and to assess potential adaptive responses; (3) To calibrate a hydrologic model against observations of stream flow and ground water recharge for use in anticipating the impacts of various scenarios of future interannual and decadal climate variability in decision support systems; and (4) To identify ways in which information on interannual and decadal climate variability in the MRB can be incorporated into urban water policy, decision support, and management systems. These scientific objectives will be addressed under the hypothesis, based on our previous research, that decadal climate variability (DCV) phenomena are influential in urban water supply and possibly in demand also, and that it may be possible to use timely DCV information for risk reduction in urban water security if we understand how urban water security is affected by DCV and what DCV information is needed by urban water managers. The proposed research will be guided by advisors drawn from water agencies in the study areas.
Principal Investigator (s): Mehta, Vikram (Center for Research on the Changing Earth System); Norman Rosenberg, Cody L. Knutson, Jesse Aber, Montana Governor's Drought Advisory Committee, Doug Kluck
Publications (s): |
Year Initially Funded:
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2011
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Sector (s)
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Water |
Location
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Annual Project Report:
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StackSimpson.pdf |
Climate Variability, Urban Floods, and Stakeholder Capabilities: Linking Severe Weather Impacts to Community Users with Modeling and Visualization
The proposed study will be the fourth in an ongoing program to investigate unresolved issues pertaining to storm water adaptation. The overarching purpose of this program is to promote stakeholder-driven adaptation of vulnerable storm water management systems and related water resources, by demonstrating, implementing, and disseminating a quantified, locals cale, and actionable protocol for maintaining historical risk levels in communities facing significant impacts from climate change.
Principal Investigator (s): Stack, Latham; Simpson, Michael
Publications (s): |
Year Initially Funded:
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2011
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Sector (s)
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Water |
Location
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Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and Tulsa |
Annual Project Report:
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Meo_Spring2012.pdf |
Climate Variability, Urban Floods, and Stakeholder Capabilities: Linking Severe Weather Impacts to Community Users with Modeling and Visualization
Urban floods have long been problematic hazards for cities to respond to effectively. Current and future climate variability can be expected to place additional burdens on cities to design and develop workable flood hazard mitigation actions as well as sustainable infrastructure plans. This proposal addresses the challenge for urban communities to properly anticipate and plan for flood events by engaging a selected group in a two-year project that will identify and characterize potential flood hazards, model the potential impacts associated with specific flood events, and develop computer visualization techniques that will enable local planners and decision makers to better understand the ramifications of current and potential future flood hazards in their region. The research team will work closely with the six-state NOAA Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) RISA. While the SCIPP is oriented more toward multi-hazard planning and management, this proposal is designed to focus more specifically on urban flood-hazard management by working with the SCIPP Stakeholder Services Committee, five test cities in the region, and their respective local focus groups. The proposed research will be conducted in three tasks. The first task will be based on the SCIPP team's characterization of extreme events and the development of an accessible database. The SCIPP data archive includes extreme events, including municipal floods, beginning in 1950 to the present. SCIPP climate assessments and projections for the years 2020, 2050, and 2100 will be used by the research team. The second task will be the conduct of urban case studies in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and Tulsa that will be analyzed for detailed flood-hazard mitigation and organizational changes. Local focus groups will be recruited for each city. An initial survey questionnaire will be distributed to the focus groups to establish baseline conditions. The research team will detail the institutional and organizational structures and strategies undertaken in each of the five cities to gauge the capacity of local governments to plan for and respond to flood events. The third task will include the development of flood model scenarios in each of the study sites based on climate histories and climate change projections. Computer visualizations will be created to help local stakeholders prepare appropriate mitigation and/or adaptation strategies including the design of sustainable public works. Next, the practicality and value of the project visualizations to the focus groups will be evaluated. A second survey questionnaire whose findings will be compared to the first one will be distributed. The computer visualizations, which will be presented to the case study cities for their use, may be developed and expanded by the SCIPP team for application elsewhere.
Principal Investigator (s): Meo, Mark (U of Ok); John S. Greene, Yang Hong, Baxter Vieux
Publications (s): |
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About SARP
Sectoral Applications Research Program (SARP) - addresses the needs of a specific stakeholder or set of stakeholders within key socioeconomic sectors (e.g., water resources, agriculture, health, etc.) grappling with pressing climate-related issues. Learn more...
Program Brochure
Nancy Beller-Simms
Program Manager, Sectoral Applications Research Program
Phone: (301) 734-1205
Fax: (301) 713-0518
nancy.beller-simms@noaa.gov
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