Willamette Water 2100
Oregon State University (OSU), the University of Oregon (UO), and Portland State University (PSU) are collaborating on a comprehensive, highly integrated examination of hydrological, ecological, and human factors affecting water scarcity in the Willamette River Basin (WRB). The team is applying Envision, a computing framework developed at OSU, to evaluate how climate change, population growth, and economic growth will alter the availability and the use of water in the WRB. Envision provides a computing environment in which state-of-the-art hydrological, ecological, and economic models will interact synergistically. The team has the following objectives:
- Identify and quantify the linkages and feedbacks among human, hydrologic and, ecologic dimensions of the water system.
- Make projections about where and when human activities and climate change will impact future water scarcities.
- Create “alternative scenarios” where one or more policy levers or other interventions have been introduced into the model, and evaluate how these affect future water scarcities (relative to the reference case scenario). By asking “what if?” questions in this way, policy analysis can provide the public and policymakers with a better understanding of options to prevent, mitigate, or adapt to water scarcities.
- Create a transferable method of projecting where climate change and human activities will impact future water scarcities in other regions and where those scarcities would exert the strongest impact on society.