Document Type

Article

Author ORCID Identifier

David E. Rosenberg https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-2907

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

Volume

150

Issue

7

Publisher

American Society of Civil Engineers

Publication Date

4-26-2024

Journal Article Version

Version of Record

First Page

1

Last Page

9

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

This work had the purpose to provoke discussion about more adaptive reservoir operations. This work created online collaborative modeling environments by using web spreadsheets (Google Sheets) during a video conference session. In each session, up to 6 collaborators immersed in water user roles. Then the collaborators consumed, saved, and traded water in response to their available water, other choices, and real-time discussion of choices. The collaboration was an alternative to prior offline or high-performance computing efforts that programmed water allocation rules to try to satisfy forecasted water demands across hydrologic scenarios. The collaboration also differed from prior efforts that excluded stakeholders, extracted data from participants, had a lead modeler or facilitation team mediate participant interactions with a model, or built a model then presented findings at the project end. In model sessions, collaborators improved more adaptive operations rather than separately developed and tested competing alternatives. 26 Colorado River managers and experts demonstrated use for a combined Lake Powell-Lake Mead water bank. The author used discussion and feedback to synthesize 10 lessons. For example, model to provoke discussion and insights rather than propose a solution, solicit feedback early, allow trades to increase flexibility, and recognize limits of model acceptability and adoption. To generate more actionable insights, next steps are engage multiple groups within the same model session and explore more management alternatives.

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