Human impacts of water infrastructure on watershed ecosystems and the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the coterminous US
Principal Investigators:
John L. Sabo, Laura C. Bowling, and Gerrit H. Schoups
The goal of the proposed working group is twofold: 1) to measure the ecological footprint of
freshwater infrastructure in the US (e.g., dams, irrigated agriculture, growing urban centers),
and 2) to identify sustainable solutions to potential water shortages given climate change and
rapid growth of major US urban areas. The underlying approach includes synthesis of
numerous publicly available datasets describing surface and groundwater hydrology, human
population growth, agriculture, economics and ecology. The approach also includes a novel
analysis... more
The goal of the proposed working group is twofold: 1) to measure the ecological footprint of
freshwater infrastructure in the US (e.g., dams, irrigated agriculture, growing urban centers),
and 2) to identify sustainable solutions to potential water shortages given climate change and
rapid growth of major US urban areas. The underlying approach includes synthesis of
numerous publicly available datasets describing surface and groundwater hydrology, human
population growth, agriculture, economics and ecology. The approach also includes a novel
analysis in which we will apply macroscale hydrologic models and IPCC climate forecasts to
provide sustainable solutions to water shortages that consider water for cities, farms and
biodiversity. The group hopes to publish 2‐3 high impact papers prior to the 25th anniversary of
Cadillac Desert: The American West and its disappearing water (Reisner 1986, Penguin Press) in
2011. The activities will culminate in a final workshop in which noted popular press authors
and policy makers are invited to write an op‐ed piece to be submitted to the NY Times. This
popular press article will comment on the state of US freshwater infrastructure then (based on
Cadillac Desert) and now (based on our scientific work), and propose a policy platform for
freshwater sustainability in the US.
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Participants and Meetings
Activity | Dates | Further Information |
---|---|---|
Working Group | 27th—29th June 2011 | Participant List |
Working Group | 8th—9th October 2011 | Participant List |
Working Group | 10th—13th December 2011 | Participant List |
Working Group | 20th—23rd June 2012 | Participant List |
Working Group | 9th—11th April 2013 | Participant List |
Participant Contact Information
Laura C. Bowling | bowling@purdue.edu | Purdue University |
John S. Kominoski | jkominos@fiu.edu | University of Georgia |
Jennifer Roath | jroath@purdue.edu | Purdue University |
John L. Sabo | john.l.sabo@asu.edu | Arizona State University |
Gerrit H. Schoups | gerrit.schoups@gmail.com | Delft University of Technology |
Tushar Sinha | tsinha@ncsu.edu | North Carolina State University |
Sankur Arumugam | Sankar_Arumugam@ncsu.edu | North Carolina State University |
Noah Diffenbaugh | diffenbaugh@stanford.edu | Stanford University |
Caitlin Dyckman | cdyckma@clemson.edu | Clemson University |
William L. Graf | grafw@gwm.sc.edu | University of South Carolina |
Michael Hanemann | Michael.Hanemann@asu.edu | Arizona State University |
Kenneth E. Kunkel | kekunkel@ncsu.edu | Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) |
Robert Lang | robert.lang@unlv.edu | University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
Brian Richter | brichter@tnc.org | The Nature Conservancy |
Stuart Sweeney | sweeney@geog.ucsb.edu | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Laura O. Taylor | laura_taylor@ncsu.edu | North Carolina State University |
Wesley W. Wallender | wwwallender@ucdavis.edu | University of California, Davis |
Products: Publications, Reports, Datasets, Presentations, Visualizations
Type | Products of NCEAS Research |
---|---|
Journal Article | Graf, William L.; Wohl, Ellen E.; Sinha, Tushar; Sabo, John L. 2010. Sedimentation and sustainability of western American reservoirs. Water Resources Research. Vol: 46. Pages 1-13. (Online version) |
Journal Article | Sabo, John L.; Sinha, Tushar; Bowling, Laura C.; Schoups, Gerrit H.; Wallender, Wesley W.; Campana, Michael E.; Cherkauer, Kieth A.; Fuller, Pam L.; Graf, William L.; Hopmans, Jan W.; Kominoski, John S.; Taylor, Carissa; Trimble, Stanley W.; Webb, Robert H.; Wohl, Ellen E. 2010. Climate Change and Water in Southwestern North America Special Feature: Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert. Vol: 107. Pages 21263-21269. (Online version) |
"Human impacts of water infrastructure on watershed ecosystems and the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the coterminous US" is project ID: 12444