Grantee Research Project Results

2010 Progress Report: Impact of Climate Change and Variability on the Nation's Water Quality andEcosystem State

EPA Grant Number: R834187
Title: Impact of Climate Change and Variability on the Nation's Water Quality andEcosystem State
Investigators: Vörösmarty, Charles J. , Poff, N. LeRoy , Wollheim, Wil
Current Investigators: Vörösmarty, Charles J. , Clements, William , Poff, N. LeRoy , Wollheim, Wil , Fekete, Balazs , Green, Mark , Gettel, Gretchen M.
Institution: City College of the City University of New York , Colorado State University , University of New Hampshire
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2012 (Extended to September 30, 2014)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2009 through September 30,2010
Project Amount: $799,554
RFA: Consequences of Global Change for Water Quality (2008) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Climate Change , Watersheds , Aquatic Ecosystems , Water

Objective:

The primary aim of this project is to develop a national-scale, multi-constituent biogeochemistry model by using new and existing modules to compare regional sensitivities of water quality and aquatic ecosystem habitat to climate change and variability forced by regional, downscaled GCM ensemble outputs (North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program; NARCCAP). The objectives of this study are 3-fold:

To expand an existing modeling framework to integrate state-of-the-art regional climate projections (NARCCAP) with hydrology and aquatic process models, in order to assess how strongly projected climate change and variability propagate through the Nation's waterways and thus alter the emergence, distribution, severity, and timing of water quality problems.
To evaluate the extent to which selected attributes of aquatic ecosystem state are made vulnerable to projected regional climate change across the conterminous United States.
To present to agency planners a blueprint for systematic monitoring of the Nation's vulnerable and impaired waterways.

Progress Summary:

Key Progress and accomplishments are as follows:

Integration of FrAMES and UNH/CUNY data archives
Parallelizing FrAMES architecture increasing efficiency of model runs
Improvements to re-gridded river network including utilizing higher resolution elevation data
Upgrading wetlands database
Acquisition and processing of NARCCAP data
Development of wastewater treatment facility database for entire conterminous US
Developed capacity to route temperature, nitrogen and carbon in FrAMES
Improvements in dentrification and respiration component of FrAMES

Future Activities:

Planned Activities for reporting period 2010 - 2011 include the following:

Data:: Continue to stage contemporary time series for baseline runs; Preprocess NARCCAP ensemble outputs; Expand contemporary water engineering statistics as needed; Stage relevant cal/val data (USGS, EMAP, NAWQA); Configure future land use, engineering, pollutant load scenarios
Modules:: Run hydrologic variability model simulations; Continue development of enhanced carbon dynamics model (land-to-aquatic); Construct habitat/ecosystem state model and indicators; Run, validate, analyze future scenarios
Product Distribution and Outreach: Establish dedicated project web site; Populate website with key input/output data sets; Prepare/execute mid-project consultation with management experts

Journal Articles on this Report : 5 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views
Other project views:	All 69 publications	13 publications in selected types	All 12 journal articles

Publications
Type	Citation	Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Alexander RB, Bohlke JK, Boyer EW, David MB, Harvey JW, Mulholland PJ, Seitzinger SP, Tobias CR, Tonitto C, Wollheim WM. Dynamic modeling of nitrogen losses in river networks unravels the coupled effects of hydrological and biogeochemical processes. Biogeochemistry 2009;93(1-2):91-116.	R834187 (2010) R834187 (2011) R834187 (2012) R834187 (2013) R834187 (Final) R833261 (2008) R833261 (2009) R833261 (2010) R833261 (Final)	Full-text: Springer-Full Text HTML Exit Abstract: Springer-Abstract Exit Other: Springer-Full Text PDF Exit
Journal Article	Beaulieu JJ, Tank JL, Hamilton SK, Wollheim WM, Hall Jr. RO, Mulholland PJ, Peterson BJ, Ashkenas LR, Cooper LW, Dahm CN, Dodds WK, Grimm NB, Johnson SL, McDowell WH, Poole GC, Valett HM, Arango CP, Bernot MJ, Burgin AJ, Crenshaw CL, Helton AM, Johnson LT, O'Brien JM, Potter JD, Sheibley RW, Sobota DJ, Thomas SM. Nitrous oxide emission from denitrification in stream and river networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011;108(1):214-219.	R834187 (2010) R834187 (2011) R834187 (2012) R834187 (2013) R834187 (Final) R833261 (2010) R833261 (Final)	Full-text from PubMed Abstract from PubMed Associated PubMed link Full-text: PNAS-Full Text HTML Exit Abstract: PNAS-Abstract Exit Other: PNAS-Full Text PDF Exit
Journal Article	Green MB, Wollheim WM, Basu NB, Gettel G, Rao PS, Morse N, Stewart R. Effective denitrification scales predictably with water residence time across diverse systems. Nature Precedings 2009;3520.1.	R834187 (2010) R834187 (2011) R834187 (2012) R834187 (2013) R834187 (Final) R833261 (2009) R833261 (2010) R833261 (Final)	Full-text: Nature Precedings-Full Text HTML Exit Abstract: Nature Precedings-Abstract Exit Other: Research Gate-Abstract & Full Text PDF Exit
Journal Article	Harrison JA, Maranger RJ, Alexander RB, Giblin AE, Jacinthe P-A, Mayorga E, Seitzinger SP, Sobota DJ, Wollheim WM. The regional and global significance of nitrogen removal in lakes and reservoirs. Biogeochemistry 2009;93(1-2):143-157.	R834187 (2010) R834187 (2011) R834187 (2012) R834187 (2013) R834187 (Final) R833261 (2008) R833261 (2009) R833261 (2010) R833261 (Final)	Abstract: Springer-Abstract Exit Other: USGS-Abstract
Journal Article	Helton AM, Poole GC, Meyer JL, Wollheim WM, Peterson BJ, Mulholland PJ, Bernhardt ES, Stanford JA, Arango C, Ashkenas LR, Cooper LW, Dodds WK, Gregory SV, Hall Jr. RO, Hamilton SK, Johnson SL, McDowell WH, Potter JD, Tank JL, Thomas SM, Valett HM, Webster JR, Zeglin L. Thinking outside the channel: modeling nitrogen cycling in networked river ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2011;9(4):229-238.	R834187 (2010) R834187 (2011) R834187 (2012) R834187 (2013) R834187 (Final) R833261 (2010) R833261 (Final)	Full-text: ResearchGate-Full Text PDF Exit Abstract: ESA-Abstract Exit Other: U.S. Forest Service-Full Text PDF Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

regionalization, climate change/variability, hydrology, aquatic habitat, indicators, water quality, risk assessment, climate models, RFA, Air, climate change, environmental monitoring, water resources, watershed, modeling

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

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.