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Water Stressor Workshop
and the Decision Center for a Desert City
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ November 2-3, 2006
Project Goals: 1) Investigate
the scientific basis for multiple stressors on the Phoenix
Metropolitan area water supply, and devise a preliminary ranking
of stressors. The water supply of central Arizona is vulnerable to numerous dynamic stressors including limited amount of rainfall, population growth, and its reliance on external sources. A number of researchers have tracked how change in climate influences the supply of water resources in the region (Miller, 1997). Likewise researchers have also tracked how groundwater pollution, enforcement of water rights agreements, and changing residential, commercial, and recreational water use patterns might affect availability of water resources in the future. Academic researchers and water managers have expended a considerable effort to elucidate the vulnerability of central Arizona’s water resources to a variety of stressors; it is our goal to begin to integrate their varied skills and knowledge bases to gain a broader picture of potential stressors on the regional water system. We propose to: 1) survey the available literature and create a preliminary ranking of importance and imminence of potential stressors on central Arizona water resources, and 2) convene a meeting of local and regional scholars and practitioners with expertise in the aforementioned areas to refine our preliminary ranking through a deliberative decision making process. Our project is designed to synthesize the extensive research from diverse fields on current and potential stressors to the Phoenix area’s water supply and suggest areas in which further research is needed. The stress on water resources in central Arizona is driven by both supply and demand. The supply driven stressors include limited precipitation and periodic drought leading to reduction of the amount of fresh water available for use (Carter and Morehouse, 2003). Possible alteration of hydrological cycles and rise in temperature due to long term climate change could exert additional stress in the supply of water resources in the region. Water rights disputes about the Colorado River can also be considered potential stressors on regional water supply. Uncertainties on the demand side include the possible effects of population growth, and changing domestic, industrial, recreational, and agricultural use of water. Possible technological improvements to water treatment and efficiency could moderate stressors on both the supply and demand sides of the equation. Extensive research has been conducted examining each of these concerns separately; our research will integrate this knowledge base. The CSPO team is developing a white paper on the current knowledge of stressors in the Phoenix area's water supply and predictions about future changes. Based on this research, we will create a a preliminary ranking of stressors on the system, which will be vetted by the workshop participants. The information and opinions solicited through the workshop process will be compiled, analyzed, and used in subsequent steps of this project. We anticipate that workshop participants will identify gaps in the current research portfolio and generate novel research questions. If you have any questions that are not answered on this website, please contact: Mark Neff (mark.neff@asu.edu)
This activity is linked to the CSPO project on Science Policy and Research on Climate.
References: Carter R.H. and B.J. Morehouse, 2003. Climate and Urban Water Providers in Arizona: An Analysis of Vulnerability, Perceptions, and Climate Information Use. CLIMAS Report Series CL 1_03. Miller, K., 1997. Climate Variability, Climate Change, and Western Water. Report to the Western Water Review Advisory Commission. NTIS, Springfield, Virginia.
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