The Western Water Assessment - Colorado Mesa UniversityThe Western Water Assessment Using Climate...

The Western Water Assessment

Using Climate and Water Expertise to Support Stakeholders in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Eric Gordon, Program Manager

Upper Colorado River Basin Water Forum

October 31, 2001

Outline

• About WWA

• About NOAA’s RISA Program

• Recent Successes in the UCRB

• Current Research Efforts in the UCRB

• Intermountain West Climate Summary

• Contact Information

About WWA

Mission:

To identify and characterize regional vulnerabilities to climate variability and change and to develop information, products, and processes to assist decisionmakers throughout the Intermountain West.

About WWA

• Founded in 1999

• Part of Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU-Boulder

• Core funding from NOAA; additional funds from a variety of sources

• Co-production of knowledge from researcher-stakeholder interactions

• Covering Colorado, Wyoming & Utah

Who is the Western Water Assessment?

• Core office staff

• Research team @ CU, USU, UWyo

• Affiliated collaborators

What is the RISA Program?

Decision Support for the Colorado River Basin & Headwaters

Ecological Vulnerabilities, Impacts, & Adaptation

Emerging Initiatives & Adaptation Strategies to Inform Climate Services

Research Themes

WWA Core Competencies

• Incorporating climate variability and change into water resource planning

• Coupled climate and hydrologic modeling

• Evaluation of downscaled climate model output

• Impacts of forest disturbance on water resources

• Analysis of policy and governance issues in the CRB

• Assessing stakeholder needs for climate information

• Evaluating the effectiveness of decision support tools for water managers

Recent Successes in the UCRB

• Dust-on-Snow Impacts to CO River Supplies

• Appendices N and U, Shortage Sharing EIS

• Bark Beetle Impacts on Water Quality

Recent Successes in the UCRB

• Climate Change in Colorado

• Paleohydrology

http://treeflow.info

• Reconciling Projections of CO River Flows

Ongoing and Upcoming Research

• Drivers of Snowmelt and Runoff Patterns

• Coupled Climate Change-Hydrology Modeling

• Beetles, Water, and Change

Ongoing and Upcoming Research

• Evaluating CBRFC Flow Forecasts

• Lessons Learned from Australia’s Drought Experiences

• Tribal Climate Preparedness

Intermountain West Climate Summary

To subscribe:

Email wwa@noaa.gov

Contact Information

For more information:http://wwa.colorado.edu

Eric Gordon, Program Manageresgordon@colorado.edu303-497-4947