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Evaluating The Use of Models for Projecting Future Water Flow in the Southeast

Project Information

Project Timeline: July 2013. This project has been completed.
Principal Investigator(s):
Jonathan Kennen, Ph.D., USGS, New Jersey Water Science Center
Stacy Nelson, Ph.D., Center for Geospatial Analytics, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University
Implements Science Theme: 3: Impacts of climate change on water resources

Key Points

  • Considered global change as a driver of flow alteration
  • Gathered current hydrologic modeling efforts relevant to Southeast resource managers
  • Created a database of who, where, and what for flow-ecology science

Overview

The flow of water in natural bodies of water can change over time, both in amount and speed of water. Often human activity is the cause of flow alteration. But, the effects of flow alteration on aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. This project addressed the Ecohydrology Priority Science Need of the SECSC FY2012 Annual Science Work Plan. We made an inventory of current work and knowledge gaps in flow-ecology science.

We completed an evaluation of hydrologic modeling efforts in the Southeast region. This included all states of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA). We focused on work studying how global change is impacting flow and ecosystems. This project shows who is doing what, where, and how in hydrological modeling for global change impact studies in the Southeast.