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Understanding and Projecting Changes in Climate, Hydrology, and Ecology in the Great Basin for the Next 30 Years

Wildflowers blooming in Schell Creek Range

Schell Creek Range, NV. Credit: Deanna Stever, USFS

Project Summary

Principal Investigator(s):

  • Alexandra Lutz (Desert Research Institute)

Cooperator/Partner(s):

  • Rosemary Carroll (Desert Research Institute)
  • Guoping Tang (Desert Research Institute)
  • James Thomas (USGS Kansas Water Science Center)
  • Joseph F. Leising (Southern Nevada Water Authority)
  • Keely Brooks (Southern Nevada Water Authority)
  • Michael Dettinger (USGS Water Resources Mission Area)

Fiscal Year: 2013

Start Date: 08/31/2013

End Date: 09/29/2014

Project Overview 

Summary:  

This project links climate, hydrological, and ecological changes over the next 30 years in a Great Basin watershed. In recent years, climate variability on annual and decadal time scales has been recognized as greater than commonly perceived with increasing impacts on ecosystems and available water resources. Changes in vegetation distribution, composition and productivity resulting from climate change affect plant water use, which in turn can alter stream flow, groundwater and eventually available water resources. To better understand these links, project researchers implemented two computer-based numeric models in the Cleve Creek watershed in the Schell Creek Range, east of Ely, Nevada. The application of the two models to study the hydrologic and ecological processes in the watershed allowed us to look forward in time over a range of possible scenarios to predict future water availability under simulated climate variability. Ultimately, the models can provide an array of outcomes that can help water resource managers identify threats and opportunities posed by climate variations during the next thirty years.