PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Meghna Babbar-Sebens, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Snehasis Mukhopadhyay, Associate Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
COLLABORATOR: Dr. Edna Loehman, Emeritus Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University.
Abstract
The alteration of the natural hydrologic cycle due to human activities -- such as deforestation, artificial agricultural drainage systems, urbanization, and residential development has resulted in loss of multiple ecosystem services (e.g. flood attenuation and water quality control) that were previously provided naturally by various landscape features in river basins and watersheds. Re-naturalization of the hydrologic cycle in degraded watersheds has been proposed to replace lost storage on floodplains with upland storage. At the same time, agronomic practices recommended by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service can improve water quality and habitat. This research focuses on the design of a distributed upland storage system, with design involving the selection of sites, scales, structural changes, and agronomic practices for agricultural landscapes in a degraded watershed. We will use the Eagle Creek Watershed (HUC 11 watershed) for development and demonstration of design methods. Because there are a large number of alternative sites, scales, and mitigation methods, and because there are multiple criteria for selection of locations and methods, design is complex. Quantifiable criteria for selection include downstream flood volume, cost of mitigation, loss of habitat, etc. As in any decision problem, there are also unquantifiable criteria such as inconvenience and loss of productivity and control for private land holders. Because upland re-naturalization must occur on private land, there must be voluntary agreement for any mitigation measures. To address both complexity and acceptability to land holders, our research will integrate computational tools (GIS, simulation, optimization algorithms, etc.) for quantified criteria with community participation to address un-quantified criteria. Specific objectives are: 1) Develop a simulation-visualization framework for stakeholders to assess mitigation alternatives under conditions of climate change. 2) Develop and investigate interactive, multi-objective, and stochastic optimization approaches for including single and multiple stakeholders' participation to generate preferred alternatives that reflect non-quantitative and local criteria. 3) Compare efficacy of the interactive approach with non-interactive optimization through stakeholder assessment. Though we demonstrate the usefulness of the approach for Eagle Creek Watershed, IN, it can, however, be applicable to many other areas and problems.
The alteration of the natural hydrologic cycle due to human activities -- such as deforestation, artificial agricultural drainage systems, urbanization, and residential development -- has resulted in loss of multiple ecosystem services (e.g. flood attenuation and water quality control) that were previously provided naturally by various upstream (or upland) landscape features in river basins and watersheds. This research focused on the restoration of the hydrologic cycle in small watersheds, by designing a system of multiple and distributed upland storage systems all across the landscape. The design process is complex and challenging since it involves selection of multiple sites, multiple scales, structural changes, multiple agronomic practices for agricultural landscapes, and community involvement. To address the complexity of the design process and the acceptability of proposed designs by landowners and local community, the research developed and integrated computational tools (GIS, simulation, interactive optimization algorithms, etc.) with community participation within the design process. Eagle Creek Watershed (10 miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis, IN) was used for development and demonstration of design methods, leading to a significant local impact via community outreach. Intellectual Merits: Multiple studies were conducted to assess how effective wetland ecosystems would be as potential solutions to increase the capacity of watersheds to store runoff upstream, and thereby, decrease risk of downstream flooding in a changing climate. Studies also investigates how these ecosystems and other conservation practices could be designed on a land scape for the best flow and water quality benefits, and at minimum costs. The research on the design of practices embodied a profound new approach for including community interaction in the design process via the development of transformative concepts for search and design algorithms that provide more robust, transparent, and comprehensive means for supporting environmental planning and management processes. An innovative human-computer interaction and optimization framework (WRESTORE; http://wrestore.iupui.edu/) that dynamically interacts with individual stakeholder to recommend solutions desirable to stakeholders, while also supporting user’s own cognitive learning, was built in this research. Broader Impacts: The interdisciplinary nature of this research integrated knowledge from hydrologic sciences, environmental engineering, computer science, economics, and decision science, and also supported collaborative research between students in Earth Sciences, Computer Sciences, and Civil and Construction Engineering across two universities. Research findings were/are being published in interdisciplinary journals relevant to fields of Water Resources and Ecological Engineering, Computer Science, Cognitive Psychology, and Natural Resources Economics. This research project also provided research opportunities to ten undergraduate and graduate students in Earth Science and Computer Science at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, and six undergraduate and graduate students in Civil and Construction Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University. Seven of these students were women.
