Overview of Science Team Activities

1. Overview of Science Team Activities Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Goals: • Make Idaho a regional and national leader in the area of climate change research. • Leverage common research activities between universities, state and federal agencies, and the private sector. • Coordinate and cooperate with other regional groups and activities. • Stimulate new discoveries in climate change research in semi-arid and arid environments. • Make use of Idaho’s existing, long-term Environmental Observatories: managed Snake River Plain and the relatively unmanaged Salmon River Basin, and others…

2. Overarching Themes Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Climate is a driver of complex changes in natural and human systems. • Changes in Hydrology could be significant in managed and unmanaged ecosystems. • Ecological Changes are already occurring in both managed and unmanaged systems. • Social Sciences Research is needed to determine the potential impacts on human and natural systems.

3. Team Objectives Water Resources in a Changing Climate Strategic Plan for Idaho EPSCoR Water Resources in a Changing Climate project http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/epscor/Web%20Pictures/IDSP_Jul_2010.pdf

4. Overview of Activities Water Resources in a Changing Climate Major Projects Completion of Downscalingof climate model output Deployment of field equipment and instrumentation Improvements in hydrologic modeling of the Snake and Salmon Basins Modeling Impacts of climate change on Society Preservation of Legacy Datasets from the Salmon Basin Studies of Ecological Change in both the Snake and Salmon Basins Building a Foundation in Cyber-Infrastructure Connect Research with Education

5. Future Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate Our Vision for the Long-Term is evolving…

6. Future Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate New Hires starting in Year 2 Arturo Leon Kelly Cobourn Jae Ryu John Abatzoglou Tim Frazier

7. Future Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate New Hires starting in Year 3 Arturo Leon Kelly Cobourn Jae Ryu John Abatzoglou Tim Frazier Kathleen Lohse Marie-Anne deGraaf

8. Future Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate Planned Hires starting in Year 4 and 5 Arturo Leon Kelly Cobourn Jae Ryu John Abatzoglou Tim Frazier Water Policy Kathleen Lohse Ecosystem Services Soil Scientist Marie-Anne deGraaf

9. Future Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate Entrainment of Other Faculty (including senior and startup augmentations) Arturo Leon Kelly Cobourn Jae Ryu Paul Gessler LevanElbakidse John Abatzoglou Jim McNamara Tim Frazier WenchaoXu Lejo Flores Water Policy Kathleen Lohse Nancy Glenn Ecosystem Services Gary Johnson Bryce Contor Tim Link Soil Scientist Alex Fremier Marie-Anne deGraaf Bruce Finney Glenn Thackery

10. Long-Term Vision Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Interdisciplinary Teams studying Complex Issues related to Environmental Change. • Defined more by Common Research Questions at Idaho’s Long-term Environmental Observatories rather than by the three original Sub-disciplines.

11. Future Plans – Short-term (Years 3 -5) Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Short-term goals (Years 3 – 5) • Hydrologic Modeling in the Snake and Salmon • State-of-the-art calibration and validation • Coupling of groundwater; potential mitigation of change • Complementary studies sets stage for future studies • Legacy datasets from the Salmon River • Date back to 1970s • Will be utilize in new studies of long-term change • Data will reside within LTER cyber-infrastructure • Complex Interactions in Managed and Unmanaged Systems • Surface water – ground water – soil moisture – plant health – crops – invasive species • Water – fire – erosion – insects – riparian health – ecosystem services (fisheries, timber, …) • New studies on the Impacts of Climate Change on the Snake • Econometric analysis and modeling under various future scenarios • Connections to state and federal agencies • Connections to industry and the State’s economy

12. Future Plans – Long-term (= Sustainability) Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Examples of Large-scale Planning Efforts for Future Funding • Involvement in PNW NOAA RISA (with Mote at OSU) • Development of the “Salmon Basin Summit” group • Inclusion in the DOI Regional Climate Science Center • Continued involvement in NEON (with Montana) • WATERS testbed funded for Dry Creek and Reynolds Creek Experiment Watershed • Multiple proposals for NSF Water Sustainability and Climate program • USDA Coordinate Agriculture Program (proposal with WA and OR) • NASA Global Climate Change Education proposal (recently funded)

13. Future Plans – Long-term (= Sustainability) Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Western Tri-State Consortium • NSF RII Track 2 (with NV and NM) • Emphasizes integration of Cyberinfrastructure with Research and Education • Entering Year 2 • Increased connectivity (infrastructure improvements) • Model and Data Interoperability (common standards) • Education and Cyber-learning materials • NSF RII C2 • Very competitive (only 5 awarded) • Broaden Institutional Participation • Increase connectivity to colleges • Connect Track 1 research for learning, discovery, and economic development • Leverage networking to high schools

14. Summary Water Resources in a Changing Climate • Objectives and benchmarks for Year 2 have largely been met by the Science Team. • The Science Team has grown significantly. • Our vision of our Team is evolving… • Research Questions involving Ecological Complexity • Building upon on Idaho’s Long-term Environmental Observatories • On-track to meet Year 3 Objectives and Benchmarks as outlined in our Strategic Plan. • Poised to increase funding in Research, Education, and Cyber-infrastructure. • Increase external collaborations regionally and beyond