Water Resources Research in the West: Striving for Sustainability
Presenter
Dr.
Andrea
Brookfield
Kansas
Geological
Survey
University
of
Kansas
Abstract
Water
availability
in
the
American
West
is
at
a
breaking
point.
After
many
years
of
drought,
states
are
being
forced
to
reduce
water
use
in
an
effort
to
sustain
the
resource,
in
some
cases,
through
this
decade.
With
dry
streambeds,
steep
declines
in
aquifer
levels,
harmful
algal
blooms,
and
interstate
water
right
conflicts,
Kansas’
water
issues
exemplify
the
difficulties
and
complexities
involved
in
striving
for
sustainability.
This
makes
water
resources
research
in
Kansas
relevant
to
the
American
West
and
many
other
parts
of
the
world
experiencing
water
stress.
Here,
research
applying
quantitative
tools
to
understand
the
sources,
sinks,
and
management
of
surface
and
subsurface
water
resources
across
a
variety
of
spatial
scales
in
Kansas
will
be
presented.
These
tools,
ranging
from
computationally
frugal
statistical
methods
to
complex
numerical
models,
demonstrate
innovative
approaches
towards
addressing
the
challenge
of
sustainability
in
water
resources.