Water Research Consortium U.S. Department of Energy Grant Award Number DE-FG02-05ER64132 Final Technical Report For Period Beginning: 15 September 2005 And Ending: 31 December 2009 Report Date: 16 March 2010

Abstract

This report summarizes the activities of the INRA Water Research Consortium (IWRC) for the period beginning September 15, 2005 and ending December 16, 2010. This report compares accomplishments to project objectives, documents the activities associated with this project, and lists products developed during the course of the project. RationaleArid western regions are especially susceptible to impacts of water shortages. In our naturally water-limited area, drought affects both water quantity and water quality. Understanding the complex interaction of anthropogenic and natural factors that affect the water cycle, and the resultant impacts on water resources within our geographically dispersed region, requires expertise in many disciplines, including agriculture, climatology, chemistry, geography, geology, hydrology, engineering, ecology, economics, forestry, sociology, environmental science, and watershed management. Water shortages associated with wide-spread drought conditions impact energy supplies, municipal and agricultural water supplies, recreational activities, and ecological needs of fish and wildlife.INRA member institutions are tasked with training the next generation of professionals who will tackle these complex problems. Future workers will need both depth of understanding created by earning graduate degrees in areas such as climatology, hydrology, or ecology; and breadth of understanding created by exposure to all of the pertinent social and scientific disciplines along with the issues confronted by policy makers. A similar INRA model has already achieved success in the subsurface sciences. Public BenefitThe public will benefit from the enhanced understanding, the multi-disciplinary training of our next generation of professionals, as well as from the establishment of the INRA Constellation of Experimental Watersheds (ICEWATER) network. The ICEWATER network facilitates study of these topics in a regional context such that integrated assessments can be brought to bear on regional water resource management issues. The ICEWATER network fosters the holistic understanding of water resources in the intermountain region through the following activities aimed at stimulating synthesis and integration across multiple experimental watershed and aquifer sites.Through this program, a regional Scientific Needs Assessment has been performed, and a Research Plan and an Education Plan have been developed based on the issues brought forth in the Scientific Needs Assessment. Twenty-One research projects have been conducted, and in integrated cyber-infrastructure, known as the ICEWATER Network and ICEWATER Central Website. The ICEWATER Network and ICEWATER Central Website continue to be developed although the project has concluded. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science) Program provided the "backbone" for the Hydrologic Information System that has been developed, and these efforts continue to be integrated. F. Year 4-5 Accomplishments 3-A. P...