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Tallapoosa River Irises

The Integrated Watershed Projects at Auburn University

 

In March of 2008, the Auburn University Water Resources Center funded two highly unique watershed projects intended to identify and develop integrative tools to serve as models for addressing surface and groundwater quantity and quality issues in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Alabama and the southeastern United States.  The tools under development have the capacity to describe the watershed-based hydrology of Piedmont and Coastal Plain watersheds, and to evaluate economic and ecological impacts (as well as policy ramifications) associated with changes in flow conditions.  These tools (or models) will evaluate changes in flow due to climatic variation, extractions of water for human use, and a variety of other scenarios.

The Auburn University Water Resources Center recognizes that removal of water from a watershed for particular uses may have both positive and negative economic aspects on a region.  Further, removals may have positive, neutral, or negative effects on the biotic integrity of streams and riparian areas. Therefore, evaluation of the multifaceted consequences of changes in flow regimes require and are best served by integrated assessment. To that end, the evaluation of changes in hydrology are being integrated and closely linked with watershed economics and ecology in a manner that transcends traditional disciplinary lines. Not only are researchers from a variety of disciplines working at the same scale, they are interacting closely with outreach specialists and are participating in public education efforts intended to engage communities in managing their watersheds.

Two sub-basins were selected as the foci for these projects: one within the Tallapoosa River Basin (Piedmont) and the second within the Wolf Bay Basin (Coastal) near the city of Mobile, AL. Basins were selected in both the Coastal Plain and Piedmont to insure that key differences in hydrology within the State would be included in the modeling efforts. In the Tallapoosa River Basin, researchers are working to bridge the gap between science, people, and policy in an effort to provide sustainable watershed management. 

Their specific objectives are:

  1. To compile existing biophysical and socioeconomic data for the Saugahatchee and Chewacla Creek watersheds, assess trends and current conditions, and identify science and policy gaps;
  2. To strategically collect biophysical and socioeconomic data in the Saugahatchee and Chewacla watersheds for improved calibration of watershed and other models;
  3. To develop alternative scenarios of land use, landscape design, socioeconomics, and policy; conduct a comprehensive analysis of hydrologic, ecologic, and economic implications of these alternatives; and identify alternatives scenarios that optimize watershed management;
  4. To disseminate the current and alternative scenarios via an outreach program in ways that municipal officials, policy makers, extension agents and the general public can understand, adapt and practically apply; and
  5. To regularly produce scholarly publications and other forms of outreach that convey research results to professional and general audiences, and to expand the project by securing additional funding through national and regional sources;

In the Wolf Bay Basin, researchers are examining the impacts of human activity and climate change on water resources and ecosystem health in order to establish a Coastal Diagnostic and Forecast System (CDFS) for integrated assessment of the watershed. 

Their specific objectives are:

  1. To reconstruct and characterize historical and current patterns of land use/land cover, water use, climate and hurricanes in the Wolf Bay Basin in the past 30 years and to project changes in land use/land cover and water use under various development scenarios over the next 30 years;
  2. To collect and measure several key environmental variables associated with surface and groundwater quantity and quality, and ecosystem (riparian, wetland and stream) health for use in establishing empirical relationships between water quantity and quality to land use/land cover changes, and for calibrating and validating hydrological and ecosystem models;
  3. To develop an integrated model—the Coastal Diagnostic and Forecast System (CDFS)—linking models of land use, water use, water quality, watershed hydrology, groundwater, river and estuary hydrodynamics and ecosystems (upland, riparian, wetland and stream);
  4. To conduct an integrated assessment with CDFS for evaluating and predicting how changing human and climate impacts influence surface and groundwater quantity and quality, and further affect the ecological sustainability of water resources and economic well-being of inhabitants and visitors to the Wolf Bay Basin; and
  5. To establish feedback mechanisms from the ecosystem services and function studies to socio-economic drivers, linked specifically with economic and public policy drivers

The mission of the AU Water Resources Center is to enhance economic well-being and quality of life by ensuring the quality and availability of ample quantities of surface and groundwater.  Gaps between science and policy often hinder the development of comprehensive water policy plans.  Moreover, the general public is often unaware of the water issues at stake and does not understand the consequences of its collective behavior on water use, current policy or alternative policy, or have a clear understanding of rational (best) water management practices.  It is our hope the current watershed projects will provide a mechanism for integration and education that will allow communities to sustainably meet the needs of a variety of water users, while protecting the integrity of their abundant and valuable natural resources.

For additional information concerning the integrated watershed projects or the AU Water Resources Center, please visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/water.