Grantee Research Project Results
Vulnerability of Water Resources to Global Climate Change in the Agricultural Midwest Ecological, Economic and Regulatory Aspects
EPA Grant Number: R824804Title: Vulnerability of Water Resources to Global Climate Change in the Agricultural Midwest Ecological, Economic and Regulatory Aspects
Investigators: Eheart, J. Wayland , Herricks, Edwin E.
Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: October 1, 1995 through September 1, 1998 (Extended to September 30, 1998)
Project Amount: $380,000
RFA: Regional Hydrologic Vulnerability to Global Climate Change (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Water , Climate Change
Description:
Water resources systems in the agricultural midwest are vulnerable to global climate change. The purpose of this project is to measure their sensitivity to climate change by an integrated determination of ecological, economic, and regulatory effects and the assessment of interlinkages among those effects to determine overall system vulnerability. The project will focus on the potential increase in water consumption from agricultural irrigation in the Midwestern US, and its impact on aquatic ecosystems when coupled with decreased precipitation and/or increased precipitation variability.
Water withdrawals are predicted using crop yield modeling to find the irrigation rates that will maximize farm incomes under various climate change scenarios. Ecosystem effects are measured using the change in habitat availability and the effect of habitat alteration on fish communities in Midwestern streams.
The project will consider implications of these effects on existing regulations (e.g., those involving statistically defined low flows) and new regulations (e.g., those governing water withdrawals). The research takes advantage of existing models and the past research of the principal investigators.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 14 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 3 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
water, watershed, global climate, vulnerability, socio-economic, hydrology, climate models, midwest, Region 5,, RFA, Air, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Geographic Area, Water, Ecological Indicators, Ecological Risk Assessment, EPA Region, Ecosystem Protection, Watersheds, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, exploratory research environmental biology, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecological Effects - Human Health, Hydrology, climate change, Chemical Mixtures - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water & Watershed, precipitation, socioeconomic indicators, toxic environmental contaminants, hydrologic models, precipitation patterns, Global Climate Change, economic models, policy making, risk assessment, environmental monitoring, climate models, climate variability, drinking water supplies, fish habitat, land and water resources, alternative urbanization scenarios, farm income, habitat diversity, regulatory effects, urban growth, Region 5, availability of water resources, climatic models, farming, land use, Midwestern agriculture, toxics, streamflow sensitivity, agricultural watershed, crop production, water resourcesProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.