SNAPP: Assessing the water quantity benefits that flow from source water protection

Source water protection programs, historically focused on water quality concerns, are increasingly looking to land stewardship to address risks of too little or too much water. Specifically, they are often looking to maintain or improve baseflows, improve groundwater recharge, and reduce flood risk. In many cases, these programs are responding to observed or anticipated hydrologic shifts resulting from climate change and land degradation. The extent to which source water protection activities like protection, restoration, and best management practices can produce meaningful impacts on water quantity and consequently build resiliency is, however, relatively unexplored, and the significance of existing empirical evidence has rarely been translated into formats that are accessible and useful to practitioners. The driving question that our proposed working group will address is: to what extent, and under what circumstances, can source water protection activities be expected to produce meaningful baseflow, groundwater recharge, and flood impacts, both under current and future climate conditions? The proposed work is distinguished by a focus on ‘meaningful impacts’ from the perspective of different beneficiary groups: downstream (typically urban) communities and major water users, upstream (typically rural) communities, and native aquatic ecosystems and communities. We will produce outputs targeted at decision makers and funders who are critical drivers of source water protection programs, and at on-the-ground practitioners who are charged with designing and implementing such programs. By bringing together world-class scientists and highly regarded beneficiary experts, we will bridge technical knowledge and practical application to produce outputs aimed at helping source water protection programs set informed water quantity objectives and in doing so develop more effective programs and ultimately achieve greater success.

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