Richard Lawford

Humans transforming the Global Water System

Fresh water figures prominently in the machinery of the Earth system and is key to understanding the full scope of global change. Greenhouse warming with a potentially accelerated hydrologic cycle is already a well-articulated science issue, with strong policy implications. A broad array of other anthropogenic factors—widespread land cover change, engineering of river channels, irrigation and other consumptive losses, aquatic habitat disappearance, and pollution—also influences the water system in direct and important ways. A rich history of site-specific research demonstrates the clear impact of such factors on local environments. Evidence now shows that humans are rapidly intervening in the basic character of the water cycle over much broader domains. The collective significance of these many transformations on both the Earth system and human society remains fundamentally unknown [Framing Committee of the GWSP, 2004].

Toward global drought early warning capability: Expanding international cooperation for the development of a framework for monitoring and forecasting

Drought is a global problem that has far-reaching impacts, especially on vulnerable populations in developing regions. This paper highlights the need for a Global Drought Early Warning System (GDEWS), the elements that constitute its underlying framework (GDEWF), and the recent progress made toward its development. Many countries lack drought monitoring systems, as well as the capacity to respond via appropriate political, institutional, and technological frameworks, and these have inhibited the development of integrated drought management plans or early warning systems. The GDEWS will provide a source of drought tools and products via the GDEWF for countries and regions to develop tailored drought early warning systems for their own users. A key goal of a GDEWS is to maximize the lead time for early warning, allowing drought managers and disaster coordinators more time to put mitigation measures in place to reduce the vulnerability to drought. To address this, the GDEWF will take both a top-down approach...

Present and future of the water-energy-food nexus and the role of the community of practice

The paper discusses an integrated approach to the management of three primary resources: water, energy, and food (WEF), as these increasingly represent the greatest global risks because they are expected to be highly impacted by climate change, demographics, aging infrastructure, and other challenges in the twenty-first century. As background, the WEF nexus is defined; significant historical developments of nexus thinking noted; and important connections to systems-science theory presented. An interdisciplinary WEF nexus platform is defined and proposed to support scholarship and to be a bridge between science, policy, and the general community of stakeholders. The interdisciplinary nexus platform is then differentiated from more common discipline-specific approaches. A review of the WEF nexus history, important benchmarks, and the foundation in system-science theory are presented. The paper concludes with a call for a WEF nexus community of practice (NCoP) to promote and enable an integrative approach to develop and employ tools with the purpose of strengthening sustainable food security, increasing energy production, and bridging water supply gaps that have arisen in demands for both food and energy. The transdisciplinary platform created by the NCoP will carry strong societal impact while addressing the scarcity and sustainable management of these primary resources.

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals from a Water Perspective

Efforts to meet human water needs only at local scales may cause negative environmental externality and stress on the water system at regional and global scales. Hence, assessing SDG targets requires a broad and in-depth knowledge of the global to local dynamics of water availability and use. Further, Interconnection and trade-offs between different SDG targets may lead to sub-optimal or even adverse outcome if the set of actions are not properly pre-designed considering such interlinkages. Thus scientific research and evidence have a role to play in facilitating the implementation of SDGs through assessments and policy engagement from global to local scales. The paper addresses some of these challenges related to implementation and monitoring the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals from a water perspective, based on the key findings of a conference organised in 2015 with the focus on three essential aspects of SDGs- indicators, interlinkages and implementation. The paper discusses that indicators should not be too simple but ultimately deliver sustainability measures. The paper finds that remote sensing and earth observation technologies can play a key role in supporting the monitoring of water targets. It also recognises that implementing SDGs is a societal process of development, and there is need to link how SDGs relate to public benefits and communicate this to the broader public.

GEWEX Contributions to Large-Scale Hydrometeorology

Abstract This paper describes how the articles in this special issue support the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) priorities with a specific focus on the advancement of hydrometeorological sciences. It explores how hydrometeorological research has been used to improve process understanding and forecast models, provide datasets for model validation, and support water resource applications. In particular, in this collection of papers, the water balance is considered at both global and watershed scales. In this process the limitations of reanalysis products and inputs to hydrologic models are identified. Some of these limitations arise from the lack of understanding of orographic processes and the best way to incorporate them into models. Several modeling studies reported in this special issue address different aspects of the role of topography in land–atmosphere interaction over mountain systems including the mountains in Asia and North America. Other land processes are considered as well in...

U.S. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CEOP

Abstract The Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP) is an international project that was first proposed by the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) in 1997 and was formally launched in 2001. Since that time it has been adopted by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), which views it as an essential part of its strategy for developing global datasets to evaluate global climate models, and by the Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership (IGOS-P), which views it as the first element of its global water cycle theme. The United States has been an active partner in all phases of CEOP. In particular, the United States has taken the lead in contributing data from a number of reference sites, providing data processing, and archiving capabilities and related research activities through the GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP). Other U.S. programs and agencies are providing components including model and data assimilation output, satellite data, and other services. The U.S. scienc...

Towards an Understanding of Synergies and Trade-offs between Water, Energy and Food SDG Targets

Achieving the targets set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will require committed efforts by nations and organizations over the coming decade. To determine which actions work most harmoniously within funding, infrastructure development, and implementation of three closely aligned goals, we conducted an assessment to identify where the greatest synergies may occur and where conflicting resource needs create trade-offs that may threaten SDG success. The SDGs each have several targets that need to be realized for the goal to be reached. In the present study, we developed a methodology where each target of the SDG 2 (food), 6 (water) and 7 (energy) was analyzed for its input requirements, infrastructure needs, and the risks and benefits for the provision of ecosystem services. Then the targets were compared pairwise and a total score of interaction was calculated to determine different levels of synergies and trade-offs for every pair. In some cases targets were mutually supportive, in other cases there were no interactions among the targets, and for some areas the targets were in conflict with each other. For example, targets 2.5, 6.5 and 7.a have no conflicts with other targets and have different levels of synergies with most of the other targets. On the contrary, various targets of SDG 2, and especially the target 2.b, are in slight conflict with other targets by potentially overusing resources needed by other targets or threatening ecosystem services. Our approach confirms the general belief that SDG 6 (water) has the highest number of potential synergies (a total of 124). Thus, achieving the water targets will make it continuously easier to achieve other targets. While the results may need to be adapted for a specific locality or country, overall they provide an improved understanding of the interactions between the targets. The value of the study lies in the quantitative methodology as it can be used as a replicable analysis for any level of work on SDG implementation.

The International Water Cycle Workshop

Scientists from Japan, Europe, and the United States met at the International Water Cycle Workshop, in Seattle, Washington, last summer. The goals of this workshop were to review a draft implementation of the water cycle component to the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), and to develop a companion “water cycle road map” that would provide specific actions and timetables for its implementation. This meeting was an outcome of the 10th U.S.-Japan Workshop on Global Change, Climate and Water, held in Irvine, California, in January 2003, and the Group of Eight (G-8) Earth Observing Summits I and II. The meeting was timed to align with the G-8 GEOSS Implementation Plan expert review period (15 July to 25 August 2004).