Bureau of Reclamation

Description

In the Western United States, the recent Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study predicts the gap between water supply and demand will grow ever larger in the coming decades (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2012). When demands for water approach exceed available supplies, competition intensifies among various interests, and scarcity becomes a potential source of conflict (Morrison, Postel, & Gleick, 1996). To mitigate conflict it is necessary to have a mechanism to not only understand and allocate available resources, but also foster cooperation amongst stakeholders (Garrick, Jacobs, & Garfin, 2008). This cooperation is particularly critical in rural areas with limited resources. One mechanism for cooperation is through watershed groups, which if provided the right tools can be powerful mechanisms for improved management of water resources (Muñoz-Erickson et al., 2010). At this time, however, there is little research on the best collaborative processes and tools for water planning within the watershed partnership framework.This project will result in the development of a Decision Support System (DSS) to support researchers, policy makers and water managers with a model to support future water resource planning and watershed management efforts. To create a DSS and investigate process design for watershed planning, the following five primary tasks are proposed by the Recipient: 1) determination of water management needs and objectives; 2) estimation of water supply and demand and creation of water supply and management strategies and alternatives; 3) development of metrics to determine if water management objectives are being met; 4) creation of a decision support system based on stakeholder input and elements from tasks 1-3 and;5) evaluation of the both the DSS and the process to create the DSS and dissemination of findings. Tasks 6 and 7 are being added through this continuation and are for: 6)Assessment of existing engagement techniques for their efficacy among different stakeholder groups, 7)Development of a framework for translating science to water management and planning for agricultural water use, focused on the most effective process for engaging with and learning from agricultural stakeholders to connect them to the broader watershed community.

Who can apply

• Others

Contact

Shawna Thompson <br/>Grants Officer <br/>Phone 7022938570
smthompson@usbr.gov