Water and Ecosystems Management

Ecosystems Management: Water

Integrated Assessments for Water Supply and Water Quality Issues

Global water supply and water quality problems are addressed more efficiently by adopting an integrated, watershed-based perspective. The RTI Water and Ecosystems Management Center is at the forefront of efforts to examine water supply and water quality issues in the U.S. and around the world. We follow a multidisciplinary approach to solving water resource problems by combining our expertise in hydrology, ecology, engineering, and information technology.

Focus Areas

  • Adaptive water quality management
  • Integrated watershed management
  • Sustainability and water supply assurance
  • Demand-side management
  • International sanitation and hygiene
  • Technology evaluation

Capabilities

  • Modeling and decision support tool development
    • Watershed Flow and ALLocation (WaterFALL™) Model
    • Nutrient loading, fate, and transport (SPARROW)
    • Hydrodynamic (HSPF, SWAT)
    • Pathogen source-receptor (multivariate linear regression)
    • Groundwater (MODFLOW, etc.)
  • Watershed-based TMDL development
  • Ecological flow determination
  • Water supply vulnerability analysis
  • Water quality trading
  • Economic impact assessment and ecosystems services valuation
  • Wetlands delineation and mapping
  • Geospatial applications
  • Data management (WQX, STORET, ADB, NARS)
  • Outreach, communications, and training

Projects

  • Integrative model of climate change and water resources in Latin America (Inter-American Development Bank)
  • Long-term vulnerability of water supplies in the southeastern United States (electric utility company)
  • Development of pathogen TMDLs for Lake Michigan beaches (EPA Region 5)
  • Economic impacts of dam removal in the Klamath River Basin (DoI, Bureau of Reclamation)
  • Support for the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) program (U.S. EPA)
  • Water resources assessment and management policy review in Yemen (World Bank)
  • Vulnerability of agricultural commodities to water shortages in the Snake River Basin (food and beverage company)
  • Preparation of the National Coastal Condition Report (NCCR) series (U.S. EPA)
  • Evaluation of water demand-side management and conservation options (Abu Dhabi, Executive Affairs Authority)
  • Southeast isolated wetlands identification and mapping

Current Research Papers, Publications, and Reports

Related Research


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Related Content

Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Latin America

Hydrologist Fekadu Moreda, PhD, economist Katherine Heller, and GIS specialist Jay Rineer confer over maps of critical watersheds for a project helping Latin American countries respond to climate change.

For the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), RTI is developing an integrated modeling system that evaluates the potential impacts of global climate change on water availability across Latin America.

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