Tree-ring reconstructions of
streamflow for the Rio Grande basin
Albuquerque, NM - November
2, 2007
This workshop was the first stage of a NOAA-funded
project to expand and improve the usability of tree-ring reconstructions
for drought planning and water management in the Rio Grande basin.
Along with the three conveners (Lukas, Woodhouse, and Bathke),
there were 23 workshop participants, representing a broad array
of water management and stakeholder interests in the Rio Grande
basin (see participant
list).
Connie and I presented a version
of our main instructional presentation (PDF), including a
section highlighting existing tree-ring streamflow
reconstructions for the Rio Grande headwaters region in Colorado.
This was followed by presentations by several participants on
applications of the tree-ring data:
- Karen MacClune, S.S. Papadopulos and Associates
- Application
of tree-ring data to water planning and management (PDF)
- on the use of a PDSI reconstruction to generate hydrologic
traces to run in the URGWOM model for the middle Rio Grande
- Charlie Ester, Salt River Project
- Application
of tree-ring research results - Salt River Project (PDF)
- on the use of drought sequences of streamflow reconstructions
to test the robustness of operating rules)
- Claudia Borchert, City of Santa Fe
- on the management context for the application of soon-to-be-developed
streamflow reconstructions for the Santa Fe River
- Ben Harding, Hydrosphere Resource Consultants
- Paleo is
so old. Is it obsolete? (PDF) - on the limitations
of GCM models in capturing interannual variability and the need
for paleohydrologic data)
The workshop concluded with a discussion of the
opportunities to reconstruct particular gages in the middle Rio
Grande, a demonstration of online data analysis and presentation
tools similar to ones that will be developed for this project,
and a final period of open discussion. This discussion, and the
questions and discussion throughout the presentations, reflected
a high degree of interest in the tree-ring reconstructions among
the participants, and a general appreciation that considering
data beyond the observed flow record will be necessary for future
management of the Rio Grande.
The next stages of the project will include the
following:
The workshop participants identified several gages
that they wanted to see reconstructed, including the Rio Grande
at Otowi Bridge, Rio Chama near La Puente, Rio Puerco (gage TBD),
and Canadian River (gage TBD). One constraint is that the gage
records need to be "naturalized" (corrected for depletions
and diversions) and have at least 50 years of overlap with the
tree-ring records. Staff from the NM Interstate Stream Commission
have offered to assist us in locating or generating naturalized
streamflow records.
We encourage the workshop participants, and other
water managers and stakeholders in the basin, to contact us if
they have additional gages to be reconstructed, or interest in
additional products or resources.
(Update: see the report
on the followup workshop in May 2008 for the results and products
of the Rio Grande project.)
Jeff
Lukas, University of Colorado & WWA
for the Rio Grande project team:
Connie
Woodhouse, University of Arizona
Brad Udall, Western
Water Assessment, University of Colorado
Deborah Bathke, University of Nebraska
Gregg Garfin,
CLIMAS, University of Arizona
David Meko, University
of Arizona
Ramzi Touchan,
University of Arizona
Holly Hartmann, University
of Arizona
TreeFlow Workshops
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