Developing tools and scenarios for water system operations and allocations under a wide range of climate scenarios and time horizons in California
Laurel Larsen, Professor
Geography
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
California supplies water to nearly 40 million people, sustains the most productive agricultural region in the US, and supports a rich diversity of freshwater species. However, persistent drought, extreme floods, and widespread environmental degradation are exposing significant vulnerabilities in the state’s water management system. Furthermore, decisions over how water is allocated rely on models that consider a limited range of climate and operational scenarios, are inaccessible to the public, and contain deeply embedded inequities. Building a resilient water future requires new water planning tools that advance sustainable, inclusive, and equitable water stewardship.
To meet this need, a new program involving academic institutions, state agencies, and community partners has been launched to develop a user-driven framework for water planning that leverages existing models used to operate California’s major water supply systems. The project will produce a library of alternative, user-informed scenarios of water system operations under a wide range of climate futures and time horizons and build a foundation for collaborative decision making to advance equitable, sustainable, and climate-resilient water stewardship in California.
Role: We are seeking motivated students willing to work collaboratively with a diverse team offering expertise in modeling, coding, water resources planning, hydrology, and ecology to participate in scenario modeling, data processing and visualization, contributing to the development of a resilient and equitable water future for California. For this position, expected tasks include:
- Preparing input datasets (climate, hydrologic) for compatibility with the statewide water operations model
- Analyzing datasets to determine how climate change perturbs parameters used within that model
- Preparing model input and output datasets for public dissemination, using principles and practices of open science
- Preparing metadata and model documentation
- Performing simple manipulations of code to run the water operations model and/or pre- and post-processing routines
- Participating in team meetings and stakeholder focus groups
The estimated workload is from 8 to 12 hours/week but can vary commensurately with the desired academic credit and availability. Students are expected to meet weekly with project supervisors and are also encouraged to meet independently among each other for effective research collaboration. They will be working under the supervision of Prof. Larsen, Associate Professor, Geography and Civil Engineering. and Prof. Grantham of the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Dept., with the assistance of project scientist Dino Bellugi.
Learning outcomes include:
- Achieving an improved understanding of hydrological systems and water resource planning and allocation in particular
- Gaining hands-on experience with state-of-the-art models for water management under a variety of conditions and desired outcomes
- Improving data processing and visualization skills, including time series analyses
- Understanding the impacts of climate and land-use changes on water resources, as well as the changing needs of California population, agriculture, ecology and communities
Qualifications: We seek a student who is experienced in general modeling, coding, and data processing. Additional desired (but not required) qualifications include familiarity with best practices in open, reproducible science, including version control software. Exposure to coursework or applied experience in water resource planning and/or hydrology is another plus.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Dino Bellugi, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
Mathematical and Physical Sciences