Abstract:
Hydropower owner/operators are facing increasingly difficult decisions balancing the needs of power production with that of grid services, water supply, flood control, environmental management, and others. These decisions increasingly require consideration and coordination with other assets at the watershed to basin scale. Informed decision-making for multi-use watersheds in an era of changing climate demands the development of an interconnected system of systems, or an Intelligent System, that comprehensively connects people and information at varying spatial scales across the data-to-decision spectrum. Specifically, we envision the concept of Intelligent Watersheds (IWs) that facilitate information flows through networked technology (sensors, databases, analytics), shared community platforms (data portals, community models), and coordinated communication between decision makers. Toward this vision we are developing a roadmap for the Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office to guide the development and implementation of IWs. This roadmap will formalize the concept of IWs, establish measures of intelligence, prioritize research and development efforts, and explore the implementation of IWs within the context of human-managed systems, with a particular focus on addressing the needs of underserved communities. A multi-stage stakeholder engagement process is being used to identify informational and decision-making needs, vet approaches for assessing watershed intelligence, and evaluate barriers to implementing IWs. I will use this opportunity to communicate findings to date and to solicit further input and participation.
Bio:
Dr. Vincent Tidwell is a Chief Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has over 30 years of experience conducting and managing research on basic and applied projects in water resource management, collaborative modeling and the energy-water nexus. He has over 80 journal publications and book chapters. He served on Governor Richardson’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Water and co-authored chapters in the 2014 and 2018 National Climate Assessment (NCA). Dr. Tidwell has also served as an adjunct professor at New Mexico Tech, the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico.
