The Role of Climate Observations in Complex Water Policy Settings

Reliable hydroclimatic observations are critical for real-time water resource management as well as for sound policy-making and planning. By documenting the effects of natural variability and informing projections of the impacts of future climate change, high quality observations can contribute to a realistic understanding of the likely changes and inherent uncertainties surrounding future water availability and flooding risks. In addition, socioeconomic and ecological observations are every bit as important as physical system observations for the development of robust strategies for managing risks and achieving socially and environmentally desirable water management. Such comprehensive observations can achieve their promise only when coupled with decision-making processes that promote collaboration and transparency.

Water presents special management challenges because it is a source of both benefits and hazards and there are tensions between multiple interdependent users and interests who value the resource in different ways. Growing and shifting water demands, increasing public attention to environmental preservation, and limited or degraded water supplies have increased the complexity of water policy discussions and infrastructure planning processes. These processes have become exercises in balancing competing interests in which participants may use science information either to bolster competing visions -- or to elucidate common ground for problem-solving. It is important for members of the science community to understand the dynamics of such planning processes and the associated incentives for constructive or distorted use of science information in order to contribute most effectively to achieving the ultimate social goal of securing equitable and sustainable management of the nation’s water resources.

This talk will use case studies from the southeastern and western U.S. to examine the factors and processes that can lead to protracted disputes and sub-optimal use of science inputs, or to effective engagement of stakeholders and members of the science community in collaborative water planning. Insights drawn from these contrasting cases can inform science co-production efforts related to water and other climate-sensitive natural resources.