This Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 award considers one of the most important problems facing the Western US, the problem of current (and future) water provision under climate change coupled with increasing urbanization and demand for water. The proposal focuses on the interactions between climate change, water rights issues and water availability within Utah. The research examines the fundamental interactions and dynamic feedbacks among hydroclimate and the ecological and human aspects of urban and montane landscapes. The project brings together research universities, colleges, business, government and the residents of Utah to address key issues related to ecosystems research, education, and workforce development in the state.
Intellectual Merit This RII project targets the issue of water supply and management under future climate change within Utah. iUTAH builds the human capital, data, and supporting infrastructure to tackle this demanding task. Integrated, multi-disciplinary research teams will be created to identify how physical systems and human systems interact together to affect water supply, demand and management. Investments in instrumentation, data collection and professional expertise, support the modeling of alternative water futures for Utah; and the development of water management, conservation and treatment technologies. The integration of physical observational data and social science survey data and models will lead efforts to inform policy makers, resource managers and the citizenry of Utah about possible water futures. Visualization tools and citizen engagement will be used to create two way feedbacks between researchers and other groups. This research will help to identify future vulnerabilities and adaptation technologies related to water provision in a rapidly growing state.
Broader Impacts iUTAH develops a full suite of formal and informal educational activities to engage a wide number of constituents. Activities span K-12 students and teachers; undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty; citizen science and industry and federal government. Efforts are geographically broad and recognize rural and urban participation. There is broad engagement of many underrepresented groups in STEM such as women, Native Americans and Hispanic populations. The iUTAH team is partnering with two museums and citizen science programs. There is significant interaction between research and education and the activities directly strengthen areas noted as important within the state Science and Technology Plan.
