WWA Research and Projects
The Land Use Planning, Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation Connection: Challenges and Opportunities - A Review by Bobbie Klein and Douglas Kenney
Aurora Study :
Aurora Water has implemented a variety of demand management strategies in the past 4 years that collectively have produced a significant reduction in municipal water demand. Researchers from the Western Water Assessment (WWA) in cooperation with Aurora Water are conducting an analysis of Aurora Water’s billing database over the past eight years, focusing on the residential sector which showed the highest level of response, in an effort to provide insight into water use, consumption behavior, and effectiveness of watering restrictions. Researchers Douglas Kenney, NRLC, Bobbie Klein, CSTPR, Chris Goemans, CSU, Jessica Lowrey, WWA. (download publication)
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. Researcher Chris Goemans, CSU.
Front Range large water providers’ vulnerabilities and climate products needs. This on-going task seeks to identify water user needs for climate products (information and forecasts) in order to better match these needs to WWA and NOAA research, and to develop a dialogue between the water policy community and the research community. Researchers Ray and Lowrey.
2002 Drought
This site provides WWA publications addressing lessons learned from the 2002 drought as well as other information and resources. Researchers Douglas Kenney, NRLC, Bobbie Klein, CSTPR, Chris Goemans, CSU, Andrea Ray, Jessica Lowrey, WWA.
Current and Future Water Demand at a Major Front Range City. This task investigates the many forces that impact water demand for a major Denver suburb, Aurora Areas of study include how recent drought, climate variables, demographics, pricing, irrigation technology, in-home water meters and other variables affect water demand. A literature review on water demand is also included. Researchers Kenney, Klein, Goemans, Lowrey, Reidy (Aurora Water).
Colorado Meteorological Station Data long-term trends. In conjunction with the Colorado State Climatologist’s office, this study evaluates to what stations are suitable in Colorado for long-term precipitation and temperature trends. Researchers Wolter, Doesken (State Climatologist).
Colorado River Drought Analysis. This on-going project involves updated analysis from the 1995 Severe and Sustained Drought Study with special emphasis given to lessons learned from the 1999 – 2004 drought. Researchers Kenney, Ray, Pulwarty.
Estimating the impacts of complex climatic events: The economic costs of drought in Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. This study evaluates economic costs of drought in Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. In addition to developing impact assessment methodologies, this study will develop guidelines for impacts reporting at the state and local levels. This effort supplements a SARP funded proposal and will be a joint effort with the National Drought Mitigation Center. Researchers Pulwarty, Howe, Goemans.
Water Rights and Climate Change: The Impact of a Shifting Hydrograph on the Timing and Administration of Water Rights in the West: In many basins throughout the West, snowmelt is coming earlier than in historic times, prompting holders of prior appropriation water rights to demand water at an earlier calendar date than in the past. This is obviously problematic for those rights defined in terms of specific calendar dates (associated with historic patterns of use), and may be even more troublesome for rights defined more generally (e.g., such as an “irrigation season” right), as this can have the net effect of increasing the diversion season and, thus, the size of the right. This ongoing project (Summer 2007 to Summer 2008) will examine the extent to which this problem exists in Colorado and in a yet-to-be-determined Pacific Northwest state, where earlier runoff is much more pronounced than in the Rocky Mountain region. Researchers Kenney, NRLC, Klein, CSTPR, Goemans, CSU, Alvord, CIRES.
Native Communities & Climate Change: Legal and Policy Approaches to Protect Tribal Legal Rights: The WWA has contributed to this report, prepared primarily by the University of Colorado Law School (Natural Resources Law Center), examining a diversity of climate change impacts on tribes, as well as how tribes might address these issues through legal and policy measures. The study focuses on 4 regional case studies-Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Florida-to discuss how the effects of climate change impacts tribal resources, communities and activities differently in each of these areas, as well as legal and policy measures that tribes might employ to protect their legal rights in the absence of federal action. The penultimate draft of the report was released for review through a national database of American Indian Tribes in February 2007. Final publication is anticipated for summer 2007. Researchers Mark Squillace, NRLC, Sarah Krakoff, NRLC, Douglas Kenney, NRLC, Jon Hanna, NRLC, Christina Alvord, CIRES, Ethan Plaut, NRLC, Scott Gray, NRLC.
Grand Canyon Adaptive Management. This study develops forecasts of late-summer storms and associated sediment input into the Grand Canyon to support multi-stakeholder adaptive management experiments aimed at sustaining ecological, cultural and recreational activities. This work is in collaboration with the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. Researchers Jain, Pulwarty, Eischeid.
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. Researchers Andrea Ray, Robert Webb, John Wiener.
Hard Times on the Colorado River: Drought, Growth, and the Future of the Compact (2005)
Twenty-sixth annual conference at the Natural Resources Law Center in Boulder, Colorado from June 8-10, 2005
Water Availability Task Force. Provide technical support for Governor’s drought task force as needed. Researchers Wolter, Lowrey, Ray.
