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NOAA Climate and Societal Interactions Project

MANAGING DEMAND, RETHINKING SUPPLY
Adaptation, Conservation, and Planning in the Drought-prone Southwestern United States and Northwest Mexico

administered by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona
supported by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Program Office

Introduction

Adaptation in water management is a greatly revered yet poorly understood goal and concept.

Assessments of the state of adaptation research suggest that there are a lack of studies that show how adaptation is actually being delivered and what the barriers to effective delivery are.

We propose to address this gap both theoretically and methodologically in the Arizona-Sonora region of the U.S.-Mexico
border.

The NOAA Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI) research project launch marks the beginning of a two year interdisciplinary assessment of adaptation strategies in the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico.

The CSI research project builds off of findings from our research with the NOAA-SARP project "Moving Forward: Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change, Drought and Water Demand in the Urbanizing Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico." more >

The CSI project focuses on building adaptive capacity for water management in the transboundary region; understanding the role of climate information within governance networks; developing innovations in communicating climate science; and pilot development of a set of metrics for assessing adaptive capacity in arid and border regions.

The study sites include; Tucson; Ambos Nogales; Hermosillo; and the Delta/Upper Gulf of California.

News Items

New Study of the Border Region Takes a Look at Water
an interview with Project PIs Margaret Wilder, Robert Varady, and Gregg Garfin
Arizona Illustrated | May 10, 2012

New Report Puts Hard Facts in the Hands of Water Policymakers
interviews with Robert Varady and Margaret Wilder
Tucson Weekly | May 3, 2012

See also:

Water Vulnerability Plagues US Border Region
Western Farm Press | April 23, 2012

Water Vulnerability in U.S. Border Region
Homeland Security News Wire | April 18, 2012

Team Identifies Water Vulnerability in Border Region
UA News | April 16, 2012

UA Leads Binational Climate Change Study
UANews | October 13, 2011


Publications

List of Project Publications | June 2012 (pdf)


FACT SHEETS

Introduction and Summary | November 2011 (pdf)

Summary Fact Sheet | July 2012 (English pdf) (Spanish pdf)


REPORTS AND BOOKS

Casebook from NOAA-SARP Study
Moving Forward from Vulnerability to Adaptation | March 2012 (pdf 25.7 MB -- see individual chapters on project website)


JOURNAL ARTICLES

Garfin, G.M., P. Romero Lankao, R. G. Varady. 2012 (in press online). Editorial: Rethinking integrated assessments and management projects in the Americas. Special issue of Environmental Science and Policy. (doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2011.12.010)

Gerlak, A. and M. Wilder. 2012. Exploring the textured landscape of water insecurity and the human right to water. Environment, 54:2, 4-17. (article permalink)

McEvoy, J., and M. Wilder. 2012. Discourse and desalination: Potential impacts of proposed climate change adaptation interventions in the Arizona–Sonora border region. Global Environmental Change, 22:2, 353-363. (doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.11.001)

Pineda-Pablos, N., C. A. Scott, M. Wilder, A. Salazar-Adams, Rolando Díaz- Caravantes, L. Brito, C. Watts, J. L. Moreno, L. Oroz, and C. Neri, 2012. Hermosillo, ciudad sin agua para crecer: Vulnerabilidad hídrica y retos frente al cambio climático. In Moving Forward from Vulnerability to Adaptation: Climate Change, Drought, and Water Demand in the Urbanizing Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico, M. Wilder, C. Scott, N. Pineda, R. Varady, and G. Garfin, eds. Tucson: Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona. (pdf)

Romero-Lankao, P., M. Borbor-Cordova, R. Abrutsky, G. Günther, E. Behrenz, and L. Dawidowsky. 2012 (in press online). ADAPTE: A tale of diverse teams coming together to do issue-driven interdisciplinary research. Special issue of Environmental Science and Policy. (doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2011.12.003)

Scott, C.A., R.G. Varady, F. Meza, E. Montaña, G.B. de Raga, B. Luckman, and C. Martius. 2012. Science policy dialogues for water security: Addressing vulnerability and adaptation to global change in the Americas. Environment, 54:3, 30-42. (article permalink)

Varady, R.G., C.A. Scott, M. Wilder, B. Morehouse, N. Pineda Pablos, and G.M. Garfin, 2012 (in press online). Transboundary adaptive management to reduce climate-change vulnerability in the western U.S.–Mexico border region. Special issue of Environmental Science and Policy. (doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.006)


POSTERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Managing Demand and Rethinkng Supply (ppt)
Presentation by Margaret Wilder, PI
Project Launch Workshop | October 2011 | Tucson, Arizona

Building Adaptive Capacity for Water Management in the U.S.-Mexico Border (ppt)
Presentation by Margaret Wilder (on behalf of several co-authors)
IHD Planet Under Pressure Conference | March 2012 | London, U.K.

New Directions in Adaptive Capacity and Resilience in Arid Regions (pdf)
Poster by JCorreia, SKelly, HBruckner, SMarley, MWilder, GGarfin, MVásquez-León, and RVarady
Adaptation Futures Confererence | May 2012 | Tucson, Arizona

Project Team

Lead Agency

The University of Arizona (USA)


Principal Investigator

Margaret Wilder, Associate Professor, Center for Latin American Studies and School of Geography and Development, and Associate Research Professor, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
mwilder@u.arizona.edu


Co-Principal Investigators

Robert G. Varady, Deputy Director and Research Professor, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
rvarady@u.arizona.edu

Gregg M. Garfin, Deputy Director for Science Translation and Outreach, Institute of the Environment, and Assistant Specialist and Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
gmgarfin@u.arizona.edu


University of Arizona Investigators

Diane Austin, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology
Karl Flessa, Department of Geosciences
George Frisvold, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Laura López-Hoffman, School of Natural Resources and the Environment/ Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
Christopher Scott, School of Geography and Development / Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
Marcela Vásquez-León, Center for Latin American Studies / Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology
Gigi Owen, Climate Assessment for the Southwest, Insitute of the Environment


Collaborators

Luís Brito-Castillo, Northwest Center for Biological Research (Mexico)
Francisco Lara Valencia, Arizona State Universtiy
Maria Carmen Lemos, University of Michigan
Bradfield Lyon, International Research Institute for Climate and Society
Laura Norman, U.S. Geological Survey
Nicolás Pineda, El Colegio de Sonora (Mexico)
Patricia Romero-Lankao, National Center for Atmospheric Research


UA Graduate Student Researchers

Heide Bruckner, School of Geography and Development
Joel Correia, Center for Latin American Studies
Sarah Kelly, School of Geography and Development
Sasha Marley, School of Anthropology

Conducted by
The University of Arizona (UA)	Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy	Climate Assessment for the Southwest
	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraton (NOAA)