Staff:
Purkey, D.
;
Forni, L.
;
Joyce, B.
;
Sieber, J.
Date: 2011-ongoing
Research Area(s):
Water Resources
Description: SEI is collaborating with the University of California–Davis to link an agricultural production model based on water valuation for irrigation water, SWAP (State Wide Agricultural Production Model), with SEI's WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning System). The model is used for an economic assessment of climate change for the entire Central Valley in California under three land changes scenarios of agricultural land based on population growth projections. The outcome of this work is a series of climate change and population projections to 2100.
More information
Staff:
Purkey, D.
;
Fencl, A.
;
RAND Corporation; Hazen and Sawyer
Date: 2010-ongoing
Client/Funder: Water Research Foundation
Research Area(s):
Water Resources
Description: Climate change adds a layer of complexity to the already substantial challenges facing water utility managers. As future conditions become increasingly uncertain, decision processes responding to these changes are necessarily evolving away from a deterministic prediction-based paradigm to one based on vulnerability identification and adaptation planning. SEI is developing a risk assessment and management framework for water utilities to help them learn about potential climate impacts and how these affect decision-making and planning. The framework will be piloted for the New York City water supply system and with the Colorado Springs Utilities in 2011.
Staff:
Purkey, D.
;
Joyce, B.
;
Sieber, J.
;
Heaps, C.
;
National Center for Atmospheric Research; Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Date: 2010-ongoing
Client/Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); California Energy Commission (CEC)
Research Area(s):
Water Resources
;
Energy Modeling
Description: This project continues to link SEI's Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) and Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) systems to build an integrated platform to explore water and energy interactions and feedbacks. In California, it is estimated that nearly 20% of all energy is associated with moving, lifting, treating, and using water. For this project, SEI has partnered with the state Department of Water Resources, which is responsible for guiding California's water future; the California Energy Commission, the coordinating agency to address climate change and reduce greenhouse emissions; and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E),which provides natural gas and electric service to millions in northern and central California. We will link water management options, such as reuse, reservoir re-operation, demand-side management, land use changes, etc., as represented in the WEAP portion of the tool, to models of the electric utility serving the water utilities, as represented in LEAP. In addition to a new decision support tool, the results of this case study will be used to develop a final report on the Northern California's water future and its implications for energy demands.
External Link
Staff:
Purkey, D.
;
Forni, L.
;
University of California–Davis
Date: 2010-ongoing
Client/Funder: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Research Area(s):
Water Resources
Description: SEI, in collaboration with University of California–Davis, is developing a link between the WEAP application for the Sacramento Basin, San Joaquin Valley and the Tulare Lake hydrology and SWAP, the State Wide Agricultural Production model for the Central Valley. The study dynamically simulates the relationships between water supply and land use management decisions under a number of climate change scenarios.
Staff:
Purkey, D.
;
Sieber, J.
;
Kemp-Benedict, E.
;
Joyce, B.
;
Huber-Lee, A.
Date: 2009-ongoing
Client/Funder: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Area(s):
Water Resources
Description: SEI worked with academic partners to link an economic optimization model, MYWAS, developed for a key region of the Middle East to a WEAP application of the same geography. MYWAS stands for "Multi-Year Water Allocation System" and was written in GAMS, the General Algebraic Modeling System. This project included making major modifications to WEAP.
