CNH-RCN: A Research Network for the Resilience of Headwater Systems and Water Availability for Downstream Communities Across the Americas

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

Worldwide, human communities rely on water storage from glaciers, snowpack, and groundwater in watersheds at high elevations, called headwater stream watersheds. Water supply amount and variability from headwater watersheds to downstream communities are predicted to shift with environmental change. These shifts threaten long-term water security related to domestic water use, agriculture, and energy production. Foundational science is needed to understand how water storage in headwaters will change and how downstream communities will adapt to those changes. This award will study how headwater dependent systems water storage changes by coupling knowledge of watershed hydrology, climatology and downstream human development in multiple watersheds across a latitudinal transect across North and South America. This research coordination network will focus on three dominant headwater storage types from Canada to southern Chile: 1) glaciers; 2) seasonal snowpack; and 3) rain-fed. This network includes coordination of researchers and practitioners who can translate the new knowledge into practical strategies. The project will provide education and training opportunities for university students and participants. This research coordination network award will catalyze innovative research to advance the understanding of: 1) hydro-climatic processes that influence headwater storage; 2) the socio-economic context and processes for adaptation to changing headwater supplies; 3) ecosystem service delivery and value from headwater watersheds to downstream human systems; 4) effects of human and natural drivers of change on downstream communities; and 5) integrative modeling capacity for evaluating adaptation scenarios. US and international participants with diverse research expertise, regional knowledge, and access to data and field sites will explore connections within and between systems along the transect and opportunities for building research collaboration and intellectual capacity through education activities. This project will couple advances in the study of stable isotopes in atmospheric and terrestrial freshwater and modeling of water balance processes across headwater types with a deeper understanding of socio-economic development in downstream communities, and create an integrated evaluation of social and ecological system processes for science-based interventions toward climate adaptation. The project will launch a broad effort to synthesize lessons learned by universities with interdisciplinary social-environmental programs and invite participants to join our network. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.