User Assessment of Large Front Range Water Providers

Researcher

Andrea Ray, NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center

Description

On the Colorado Front Range, a number of “large-scale” water providers are keystones of water management because they are responsible for managing a large percentage of the water used, and supply a large percentage of water users. Population growth and changes in supply due to climate variability and change are among the top challenges these providers face. To meet these challenges, water providers are developing creative ways to manage their water supply and mitigate potential shortages. Key issues include conjunctive management of ground and surface water, securing more supplies from regional sources or conservation, the potential for transbasin diversions, water quality, and drought planning.

Within this context, the goal of this project is to learn more about the sensitivity of these large-scale water providers to climate and their needs for climate information. To do this, a user study will be conducted to identify critical Front Range water problems that are sensitive to climate variability and change, document current use of climate and weather products, and identify potentially useful climate and weather products including tree-ring and other paleoclimate data. This study will analyze publicly available documents such as operating plans, meeting minutes, and consulting reports. We will also conduct interviews with operating and planning personnel from large water providers, , and knowledgeable individuals and organizations concerned about Front Range water issues, including environmental groups, regional and state organizations, and current information-providers, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Colorado Climate Center.

To view a presentation on this project click here.

Length

1 Year

Outcomes

1. An assessment of critical water problems for large water providers in the Front Range, and how these relate to climate variability and change;
2. An assessment of the climate sensitivity and vulnerability of the organizations, and their potential use of climate products, including an assessment of which of these might be appropriate partners for experiments to develop climate services;
3. A decision calendar for large scale and municipal water management decisions in the Front Range;
4. An assessment of forecasts and other products that might be useful in this region, and recommendations on how to raise the level of use of climate information among users in this sector;
5. Developmnt of a dialogue between these managers and WWA researchers through a workshop, and identification of potential partners for new work.

Related Work

1. SPRAT: This project will help define issues of interest to these water managers to assess in the SPRAT model, and appropriate decision rules for SPRAT analysis.
2. Municipal Drought: Collaborate with Klein’s study of municipal response to drought.
3. Water Supply: Collaborate with Goemans’ study of available water supply and evaluation of forecasting for these large-scale water managers.
4. Experimental climate services: Collaborate with the Webb project on experimental climate services, by respond to the needs of these users and to develop new products based on the common needs. Based on the workshops and interviews, we will identify products of interest to this sector, and, if available, work with the Webb project to disseminate products and information on a regular basis.
5. Future projects: Work with other WWA projects to develop and tailor research products to be appropriate for this sector, and to develop applied research projects to respond to the needs of these users.