Interdisciplinary Modeling of Water Resources' Climate Sensitivity in the Walker River Basin

In the western United States, projected reductions in snow water storage are anticipated to cause shifts in the timing and magnitude of streamflow. Basins in this region tend to be water-limited and rely on both surface water and groundwater to support agricultural demand. In order to be relevant for future water resource management planning, models in this type of situation must be able to capture coupled surface-groundwater interactions as well as account for the impacts of water rights, economic decision-making, and infrastructure. The Walker River Basin in California and Nevada presents a valuable case study for water resource management planning, as it experiences variable snowpack dynamics in the uplands, high agricultural water demands in its largest valleys, and instream flow requirements at the watershed’s terminus to maintain ecological, economic, and cultural values in Walker Lake. We present a decision support tool for the Walker River Basin that merges four separate models simulating upland streamflows, agricultural water allocations, surface-groundwater interactions, and agricultural economics. With this tool, we explore how economics, water rights, infrastructure, and sustainability decisions interact to affect this watershed’s vulnerability to a changing climate.