SAHRA (Center for the Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas) is a science and technology center addressing interdisciplinary water management issues in semi-arid environments. It was established in 2000 through a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Through SAHRA, UNM Economics Professors David Brookshire, Janie Chermak and Kate Krause are collaborating with professors from several institutions, including the University of Arizona, which was awarded the initial $16 million grant to establish the center.
The idea behind SAHRA was to make advances in the understanding of semi-arid hydrology and to focus on practical problems of water resources policy, management, and operational decision-making.
“If SAHRA is successful, it will have a tangible impact on public policy,” said Brookshire. “It will provide a better set of tools for managing water in semi-arid climates and riparian areas. We see this work as a collaborative process among researchers, stakeholders and policy makers.
“We’d like for people to know what we’re doing, and we’re looking for feedback from those responsible for public policy. Interest in what we’re doing seems to be growing within the state.”
Three questions typically addressed by SAHRA research are: What is the impact of vegetation change on basin scale water balances? What are the costs and benefits of riparian restoration/preservation? Are water markets or water banking feasible?
An indication that SAHRA is on the right track is its success in gaining leveraged support. A new UNM collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) has led to more than $240,000 over three years for UNM professors Chermak, Brookshire and Kristine Grimsrud for the development of integrated water models and a socioeconomic institutional framework. Another collaboration by SAHRA-supported researchers from UNM, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University led to the recent awarding of a STAR Grant from the EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research for an economic valuation of ecological attributes for the San Pedro River region in Arizona and portions of the Rio Grande.
Brookshire is the PI and Chermak is a co-PI on this innovative project, which will link realistic policy scenarios with an integrated hydro-bio-economic model that includes alternative hydrologic, riparian, and bird profiles.
Additionally, SAHRA has been informed that NSF will provide renewed funding for a second five-year period, through 2010. The SAHRA research team includes physical scientists, behavioral scientists (including economists), educators, practicing engineers (from public agencies, private companies and national laboratories), legal experts and decision makers from 13 academic institutions and dozens of partner organizations.
The group is working to promote sustainable management of water resources in semi-arid regions, through stakeholder-driven interdisciplinary research, aggressive public outreach and strong education initiatives.
“Our work is truly a model of interdisciplinary research,” said Chermak. “We’ve been laying a lot of groundwork the first four years on how to get the data we need to answer questions concerning the socioeconomics of the project.
“We start with the concept of integrated modeling and why there is a need to do what we’re doing. We’re building and linking models and letting other researchers know what we need from them to do the economics. The models need to be linked to each other in a meaningful manner.”
“There’s a varied group of researchers involved who are thinking outside the box, which is good for students because they are able to experience the successful integration of disciplines and develop interdisciplinary skills,” said Brookshire. “Eventually, the students who are involved will go on to become integrated scientists, making them more marketable.”
At its third annual conference, held in Tucson in recently and designed for researchers working on the management of water resources, SAHRA members presented information on water resource management, including an overview of current activities in knowledge transfer and education and ways to extend successful activities in these two areas more widely across the southwestern United States. SAHRA-funded students also provided results of ongoing research through their poster presentations.
As part of a conference session titled “SAHRA Science: Improving Understanding of Semi-Arid Hydrology,” Brookshire spoke on the relationship of process studies in the San Pedro and Gila river basins, and Chermak discussed supply and demand issues related to water.
Other faculty from the UNM Economics Department who attended the conference included Grimsrud, Kate Krause and Jennifer Thacher, and graduate student Mary Ewers. Ewers presented a poster on her research and participated in a panel discussion on the SAHRA student experience.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Posted by kwentworth at January 15, 2004 03:57 PM