WWA Activities Relating to Hydrology

The Streamflow Forecast Workshop: Using & Improving the Tools Available at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center: Grand Junction, CO April 23, 2010
The goal of this workshop is to create a dialog between users and the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center (CBRFC) around a new online tool that delivers streamflow forecast information for rivers throughout the United States. The tool provides a user-friendly interface for people to access information collated and produced by the RFC. Participants at this workshop will have the opportunity to hear about the latest science relevant to the Colorado River, and will receive training in a computer lab setting on using the new RFC online resource. Participants will also be able to provide opinions and insight directly to the developers so the RFC can improve the tool prior to public release. There will be several exercises designed to glean further information from participants to help in the development of the new online resource. Workshop Sponsors: NWS CBRFC, WWA, Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS).

Reconciling Projections of Future Colorado River Streamflow: The goal of this project is to reconcile future Colorado River streamflow projections by evaluating the various methodologies and models being used in projections and to understand why different modeling approaches produce varying flow reduction amounts. The second component of this project entails identifying a common subset of appropriate climate scenarios and models in development of future projections of streamflow; and using these scenarios and models to generate a consistent suite of Colorado River streamflow projections by the mid to late 21st century. Results will directly apply to the needs of water planners across the western U.S., and similar mid-latitude continental regions where water resources are heavily dependent on snowmelt runoff from mountainous headwater areas. Nick Graham (HRC), Dan Cayan (CAP), Dennis Lettenmaier, Andy Wood (CIG), Robert Webb, Brad Udall, (WWA) Martin Hoerling (NOAA-WWA), Jonathan Overpeck, Holly Hartman (CLIMAS).

WWA and NOAA comment on EIS for Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lakes Powell and Mead. For more information on the EIS see: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies.html

Appendix U: Climate Technical Work Group Report, Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lakes Powell and Mead

South Platte Regional Assessment Tool (SPRAT)
Draining the northeast quadrant of Colorado, the South Platte River Basin covers approximately 20 percent of the state and houses roughly 70 percent of its population, including the Denver-Metro area and Front Range cities to the north. SPRAT models the movement and allocation of water throughout the Basin, allowing users to make relative comparisons of the water supply and demand impacts associated with various population growth, climate/hydrologic, and agricultural land-use scenarios, and by allowing the merits of various water management alternatives (adaptations) and infrastructure changes to be similarly compared. Chris Goemans, Colorado State University.

Reservoir Management Decision Calendar
Graphically depicts the annual decisions of reservoir operators based on whether they relate to planning, operations or may be affected by climate and weather forecasts .Andrea Ray, ESRL, NOAA, Robert Webb, NOAA.

TreeFlow: Tree-ring reconstructions of streamflow for Colorado
Provides information about how tree rings are used to extend hydrologic records, and provides access to 20 reconstructions of streamflow gagaes across Colorado. For more information, also see the WWA Tree-ring reconstructions of streamflow pages. Connie Woodhouse, University of AZ, Jeff Lukas, INSTAAR, Robert Web, NOAA