Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Water Resources
[ Program Mission | Faculty | Education | Facilities & Equipment | Research ]
Visit the Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Water Resources group web site.
The discipline of Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Water Resources focuses on water, air and land systems, with emphasis on the science and engineering applications of environmental transport processes and sustainable resource management.
Program Mission [ Return to top ]
- Educate scientists and engineers through a stimulating and diverse educational experience in the areas of fluid mechanics, hydrology, and water resources to serve the needs of industry, research and government organizations, and academia.
- Create new knowledge through research in the areas of
- Turbulent entrainment, transport, and mixing processes in natural and engineered environments;
- Terrestrial and atmospheric water and energy balances and fluxes;
- Decision support systems promoting holistic, equitable, and sustainable use of water resources;
- Innovative experimental, computational, and modeling techniques.
- Develop research results into new technologies and facilitate their transfer to engineering practice.
Faculty [ Return to top ]
Listing of Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Water Resources Faculty
Education [ Return to top ]
The Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Water Resources educational program provides students with fundamental knowledge required to solve complex real-world problems in environmental transport processes and sustainable resource management. In addition, the breadth of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech (ranked in the top five in the nation) offers excellent opportunities for multi-disciplinary learning.
Focus Areas
Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics: Courses address fluid transport and mixing processes, open channel hydraulics, turbulence and its modeling, the fluid mechanics of stratified flows and sediment transport, natural flows in coastal waters, estuaries, lakes, and environmental boundary layers, and experimental and computational methods. Applications to water-related infrastructure and environmental processes include water supply, hydropower, drainage, flood control systems, contaminant and sediment resuspension, and disposal of wastewaters. Faculty advisors: Roberts, Sotiropoulos, Sturm, and Webster.
Hydrology and Water Resources: Hydrology courses consider stochastic methods, watershed hydrology, land-atmosphere interactions, and remote-sensing. Water Resources courses provide an exposition of modern simulation and optimization methods for dynamical systems, and the design of integrated data bases, modeling tools, and computer interfaces for water resources development, management, and conflict resolution. Applications include coupled hydrologic-atmospheric models, operational hydrometeorology, and river basin planning and management. Faculty Advisors: Georgakakos and Peters-Lidard.
Degree Programs
The program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Students can pursue M.S. degrees with or without a research thesis. Typically, the thesis option can be completed in 12 to 24 months, while the non-thesis option can be completed in 12 to 18 months. The Ph.D. Program requires completion of an approved program of study including major and minor course areas and a research thesis.
Degree programs can be individualized to satisfy particular interests and career goals by combining courses from the Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Water Resources Program with courses from other programs and Schools, including Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Computer Science, and Mathematics.
Student Opportunities
There are 30 to 40 graduate students enrolled in the program each year. Fellowships and Teaching and Research Assistantships are available to qualified applicants. The School strongly recommends an undergraduate GPA higher than 3.0/4, GRE Analytical and Quantitative sum greater than 1300, and requires a TOEFL score higher than 550. Students should have a strong background in engineering, physical science, and applied mathematics. Comprehensive introductory courses in each area of study provide a common basis of understanding among those with backgrounds in all areas of engineering and science.
Course Offerings
Undergraduate
- Fluid Mechanics, CEE3040
- Hydraulic Engineering, CEE4200
- Hydrology, CEE4210
- Environmental Transport Processes, CEE4220
- Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Design, CEE4390
Graduate
- Physical Hydrology, CEE6221 (F)
- Hydrometeorology, CEE6222 (S)
- Probability & Statistics for Civil and Environmental Engineers, CEE6231 (F)
- Stochastic Hydrology, CEE6232 (F)
- Water Resource Management I, CEE6241 (S)
- Water Resource Management II, CEE6242 (S)
- Intermediate Fluid Mechanics, CEE6251 (F)
- Advanced Fluid Mechanics, CEE6252 (S)
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics, CEE6261 (F)
- Advanced Environmental Fluid Mechanics, CEE6262 (S)
- Open Channel Hydraulics, CEE6281 (F)
- Sediment Transport, CEE6282 (S)
- Hydraulic Transients in Fluid Systems, CEE6284 (S)
- Computational Fluid Mechanics, CEE6292 (F)
- Hydrodynamic Stability and Turbulence, CEE6293 (S)
Continuing Education - Short Courses
(Offered through the Georgia Water Resources Institute)
- Hydrologic Engineering for Dam Design
- River Hydraulics & Bridge Scour using HEC-RAS
- Water Hammer
- Decision Support for River Basin Planning and Management
- Turbulence Modeling for Engineering Applications
- River Water Quality Models
- Culvert Design
Facilities & Equipment [ Return to top ]
Laboratory
The Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory includes approximately 1300 square meters of floor space and a fully equipped machine shop for both fundamental and applied research. Permanent research equipment includes a large constant-head tank, a 4.3-m wide sediment scour flume, a 24-m long tilting flume, a recirculating flume for cohesive sediment resuspension, a recirculating salt-water flume, a density-stratified towing tank, a 24-m long wave tank. Teaching apparatus includes a horizontal flume, a wind tunnel, a jet-impact facility, a cavitation rig, and critical sphere velocity tanks. Laboratory measurement techniques and equipment include Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV), Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF), and three-dimensional visualization.
Computational
Computational resources are available within the program, on the Georgia Tech campus, and nationwide. The program resources include an Origin 2000 Server, with eight R10K 250 MHz CPUs, 3 Gbytes of main memory, 63 Gbytes of disk space and 0.7 Tbytes of unified user-transparent data migration space, an Origin 200 Server, with two R10K 180 MHz CPUs, 0.5 Gbyte of main memory and 47 Gbytes of disk space, six Sun or Silicon Graphics workstations, dozens of high-end, networked PCs and Macintoshes, and two Tektronix-Phaser color laser printers. To supplement the above, the Georgia Tech Office of Information Technology (OIT) High Performance Computing facilities are accessible and routinely used by the researchers in the program, including three Origin 2000 Servers with a total of over 32 processors, and several IBM RISC 6000 Systems. Finally, several faculty members have access to and use extensively supercomputer facilities nationwide.
Field
Field instrumentation includes pressure transducers and thermistors; a Campbell Scientific Energy Balance Bowen Ratio Flux Station along with a Meteorological Tower, including soil moisture probes, raingauge and dataloggers with a laptop. Additional equipment includes an ISCO portable water sampler with ultrasonic level sensor and raingage, a depth-integrating suspended sediment sampler, a bed sediment sampler, and current meters.
Remote Sensing
The satellite data acquisition facility at the Georgia Water Resources Institute consists of two receiving antennas, a computer that manages the acquisition of data and their visualization/archiving, and a facility where satellite images are stored. Data are received from geostationary as well as polar orbiting satellites in the visible, near-infrared, water vapor, and thermal infrared bands over North and South America.
Research [ Return to top ]
Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Engineering
Advanced Numerical Modeling of Bridge-Foundation Scour: The objective of this project is to develop an advanced CFD model capable of quantitatively accurate predictions of scour at bridge piers and abutments. Our numerical approach incorporates the latest advancements in numerical and turbulence modeling for complex, unsteady-in-the-mean, 3-D flows with a Lagrangian-Eulerian methodology for simulating sediment transport. The model will be used to elucidate the complex mechanisms that induce scour in the field, evaluate bridge designs for scour susceptibility, and propose and assess the performance of physics-based scour countermeasures. Principal Investigator (PI): Sotiropoulos. Sponsor: National Science Foundation, CAREER award.
Bridge Abutment Scour in Compound Channels: In this study, a methodology is being developed for estimating bridge abutment scour that takes into account the redistribution of discharge in the bridge contraction, abutment shape, sediment size, and tailwater depth. Experiments in compound channels are conducted in a laboratory flume with a cross-section consisting of a wide floodplain adjacent to a main channel. The embankment length, discharge, sediment size, and abutment shape are varied, and the resulting equilibrium scour depths, scour hole contours, water surface profiles, and velocity profiles are measured. The independent variables in the proposed scour formula are evaluated at the approach channel cross-section and can be obtained from a one-dimensional water surface profile computer program such as WSPRO. PI: Sturm. Sponsors: Federal Highway Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation.
Time Development of Bridge Abutment Scour: The objective of this investigation is to combine experimental results on bridge abutment scour in a laboratory compound channel with a 3D numerical model of the flowfield at various stages of scour hole development. The scour will be arrested at various stages of development and the flowfield will be measured in the scour hole using a 3D acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The results will be used in a 3D numerical model having an advanced turbulence closure and combined with a sediment transport relationship to develop a scour depth vs. time relationship. The goal of the study is to incorporate the effects of storm duration on maximum scour depths in small watersheds or for coastal storm surges for which equilibrium scour conditions often do not develop. PI’s: Sturm & Sotiropoulos.
Computational Study of Flow Structure and Mixing Characteristics in Static Helical Mixers: This project is aimed at developing a 3-D numerical model for simulating turbulent flows in static helical mixer configurations used in water treatment plants. Extensive parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of mixer geometry and flow Reynolds number on the structure of the mean flow and turbulence fields. Lagrangian particle tracking and tools from dynamical systems are employed to elucidate the role of large-scale flow structures on mixing efficiency and identify strategies for enhancing mixing. PI: Sotiropoulos. Collaborator: Armirtharajah, Environmental Engineering Program.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Methods for Environmentally-Friendly Hydropower Installations: The impetus for this project is the hydropower industry’s pressing needs for high-efficiency, environmentally-friendly installations. We are developing CFD models for simulating three-dimensional, single- and two-phase, turbulent flows in forebay and tailrace river reaches, intakes, draft tubes, and other power plant subsystems. The numerical models are employed by hydropower utilities, hydro turbine manufacturers, and industry consultants to provide engineering solutions to a variety of water-quality and fish-mortality problems associated with power plant operation. PI: Sotiropoulos; Sponsors: US Department of Energy, Oakridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, Voith Hydro Inc.
Instabilities of Sidewall Boundary Layers and Stirring due to Chaotic Advection in Confined Swirling Flows with Vortex Breakdown: This project is a numerical investigation of the three-dimensional structure of confined swirling flows with vortex breakdown. Our objective is twofold: i) to study the onset of three-dimensional instabilities within the centrifugally unstable Stewartson-type boundary layer along the cylinder wall; and ii) to explore the chaotic dynamics of the flow inside the wall boundary layers and in the interior of the on-axis vortex breakdown bubbles. The understanding to be gained from this work could lead to innovative strategies for controlling instabilities in swirling boundary layers as well as for enhancing stirring due to chaotic advection in low Reynolds number flows. Collaborative experiments are underway to further illuminate the physics of chaotic advection and the sidewall instability. PI: Sotiropoulos. Collaborator: Webster
Numerical Algorithms for Simulating 3-D Shear Flows with Advanced Turbulence Models: We are developing techniques for solving the 3-D, unsteady, RANS equations in conjunction with near-wall, non-isotropic turbulence closure models. Extensive validation studies are carried out for a broad range of complex, 3-D, steady and unsteady in-the-mean, turbulent flows to assess and refine the predictive capabilities of various turbulence models. Our work in numerical algorithms focuses on: time-accurate methods for incompressible flows; domain decomposition techniques; strongly-coupled multigrid algorithms and pre-conditioning strategies for convergence acceleration. PI: Sotiropoulos.
Effects of Sediment on Channel and Floodplain Storage and Resultant Flooding in Urban Streams: Rapid urbanization contributes large quantities of sediment to receiving streams due to poorly controlled runoff from construction sites. In addition, increases in impervious area cause higher peak discharges and volume of runoff that alter the sediment equilibrium of receiving streams. This study is an investigation of the relative contributions of bank erosion and watershed sediment yield to the measured sediment load of an urban creek over the past 30 years of intense development of the watershed. In addition, the contribution of changes in channel and floodplain storage caused by changes in sediment loads to flooding problems will be studied. A combination of field data and watershed modeling of sediment production will be used to achieve the objectives of the study. PI: Sturm. Sponsor: Georgia Water Resources Institute.
Erosion Characteristics of Natural and Consolidated Dredged Sediments in Providence River: The objective of this study is to develop quantitative methods for predicting erosion rates of Providence River dredged sediments as a function of the shear stresses they will experience at possible open-ocean disposal and confined-disposal cell locations. Erosion rates and critical shear stress of the cohesive sediments as a function of depth in the sediment sample will be measured and related to sediment properties in order to develop an algorithm that will be incorporated into numerical models to determine potential erosion from the placement locations. PI’s: Sturm, Amirtharajah, Environmental Engineering Program, & Santamarina, Geosystems Program. Sponsor: New England District Corps of Engineers.
Management of Sediment in Urban Waterways: Past land-disturbance activities due to urbanization in Dekalb County, Georgia have led to instability of Peachtree Creek caused by bank erosion and transport/deposition of large quantities of sand. Dredging of the sand has been proposed, and the objective of the study is to evaluate the short and long-term effects of the dredging on the sediment regime of the stream, flooding, and future stream stability. Field data on sediment load upstream and downstream of the dredged reach will be collected, and a numerical model will be developed to predict future consequences of the dredging. PI: Sturm. Collaborator: University of Georgia. Sponsor: Dekalb County.
Water Quality Modeling of Lake West Point: West Point Reservoir, on the Chattahoochee River downstream of metro Atlanta, is subject to algal production and blooms due to excessive nutrient loadings that need to be evaluated and controlled. The 2D hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2 is being calibrated and applied to West Point Reservoir with the goal of assisting Georgia EPD in developing total Maximum Daily Loadings (TMDL's) of nutrients in order to meet water quality standards in the reservoir. The effect of using different temporal scales for model inputs is being investigated, and the impact of reduced phosphorus loading on reservoir water quality will be evaluated over a multi-year period. PI: Sturm.
Mathematical Modeling of Wastewater Dispersion in Coastal Waters: Mathematical models are being developed to predict dispersion from ocean outfalls in coastal waters. These models are unique in that they directly use the extensive current and density stratification data now available from modern oceanographic instrumentation. Recent applications include Oahu, Hawaii, The Dominican Republic, and Cartagena, Colombia. PI: Roberts. Sponsor: Mamala Bay Study Commission.
Initial Mixing Characteristics of Pollutant Discharges: In this research, a unique three-dimensional imaging system is being developed to investigate turbulent mixing of pollutant discharges. A laser-scanning system is combined with a high-speed video camera to obtain laser-induced fluorescence images. The system is being applied to various complex flows to investigate the mixing zones of wastewater discharges into stratified waters such as estuaries and coastal waters. PI: Roberts. Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Turbulence Collapse in Stratified Shear Flows: The motivation of this study is to understand the attenuating influence of stable density stratification on shear-driven turbulence. Density-stratified shear flows occur in many contexts including the wake of submarines and ocean outfalls. The project includes detailed measurements using optical-based techniques of the turbulent characteristics, including instantaneous and mean velocity, turbulent stresses, and turbulent scalar fluxes. In addition, the important terms in the turbulent kinetic energy budget such as shear production, buoyant production and dissipation are measured in order to quantify the attenuation and collapse. PI: Webster.
Measurement of Instantaneous Velocity and Tracer Concentration Distributions in Turbulent Flows: Simultaneous measurements of instantaneous velocity and concentration fields are performed using digital particle tracking velocimetry (DPTV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) in a turbulent round jet. The measurements of mean velocity, turbulent stresses, mean concentration, concentration variance, and turbulent flux of tracer all collapse onto self-similar profiles in the far field of the jet. The measurements showed excellent agreement with previous point velocity and concentration measurements. It is concluded that the system is an effective means of measuring the velocity and concentration distributions and turbulent characteristics. PI’s: Webster & Roberts. Sponsor: Office of Naval Research (ONR) & Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Optimal Sensor Design and Processing Algorithms for Navigation through Turbulent Odor Plumes Based on an Analysis of Information Content: The objective of this proposal is to fully characterize velocity and concentration distributions in turbulent plumes, as well as their potential interactions, and to construct a permanent database containing this information (the virtual plume). We will perform these studies across a range of flow conditions to ascertain if signal features differ in their information content in different flows. In addition, we are optimizing in situ sensor performance, examine the impact of time dependence in sensor response, and optimize geometry of sensory arrays. Finally, we assess the performance of various types of processing algorithms by using simulations where the virtual plume is replayed to various algorithms, and to examine the performance of these algorithms with respect to each other as well as against live animals evaluated under similar flow conditions. PI’s: Webster & Roberts. Collaborators: Schools of Biology and Chemistry, and Tokyo Institute of Technology, Sponsor: Office of Naval Research (ONR) & Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Hydrology and Water Resources
Quantifying the Relationship Between Remotely-Sensed and Modeled Soil Moisture: The focus of this research is to assess, and attempt to understand and predict, the relationship between remotely-sensed and modeled soil moisture. The assessment requires a rigorous inter-comparison of soil moisture predictions made by several fundamentally different Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer Schemes (SVATS) models and remotely-sensed passive microwave soil moisture observations collected during field experiments at several different scale, climate, and seasonal regimes. PI: Peters-Lidard. Collaborators: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Practical Parallel Computing Strategies with Application to Air Quality and Cross-Media Models: The objective of this project is to investigate "practical parallel modeling" of environmental issues using the growing computational power made available by networks of workstations and servers with high performance microprocessors. To demonstrate these techniques, a sophisticated surface and sub-surface hydrological model has been coupled with a non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model, considering efficient domain decomposition, temporal and spatial scale disparity, model communication and I/O. PI: Peters-Lidard. Collaborator: MCNC-North Carolina Supercomputing Center. Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Parallel Coupled PBL-Hydrology Modeling Techniques for Assimilating Remote Sensing Data into a Mesoscale Meteorology Model: This project involves coupling a sophisticated surface and sub-surface hydrological model with a non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model in order to improve the representation of the land-boundary in both models. In addition, remotely-sensed precipitation and radiation data is assimilated into the coupled model system to improve predictability of both the land surface and the planetary boundary layer (PBL). PI: Peters-Lidard. Collaborator: MCNC-North Carolina Supercomputing Center. Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Rainfall Estimation Using Remote and On-site Sensors: This project aims at characterizing the value of satellite data in estimating rainfall for operational applications. The remote sensing methodology makes use of neural networks and distinguishes between convective and stratiform rainfall areas. Estimation accuracy and reliability are assessed through comparisons with contemporaneous radar images and ground stations. Data from NASA’s TRMM satellite are also used to improve model calibration and testing. Application areas include the southeastern U.S. and Equatorial Africa. . PI: Georgakakos. Sponsor: United States Geological Survey & Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Use of Satellite Information in Modeling Runoff, Erosion, and Non-point Source Pollution for Large Watersheds: This project focuses on assessing the value of using satellite sensed weather and land cover/land use for the management of large watersheds (>1000 km2). The project includes four major components: (1) estimation of rain using satellite images, (2) runoff modeling using distributed watershed models, (3) erosion modeling and sediment transport, and (4) modeling of non point source pollution loads. Case studies will be conducted for the Southeastern US and the Lake Victoria Basin. PI: Georgakakos. Sponsor: United States Geological Survey & World Bank.
Lake Victoria Water Resources Planning and Management: This project focuses on developing a decision support system to explore various planning and management scenarios in the Lake Victoria Basin, in the upper reaches of the Nile River. Lake Victoria’s drainage basin is shared by Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, while the lake itself falls within Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The decision support system integrates conventional and remotely-sensed (satellite) data, geographic information systems, various models (for rainfall estimation, rainfall-runoff, agricultural planning, hydropower scheduling, and lake regulation), computer technology, and meaningful user-model interfaces. These elements are interlinked in a consistent fashion to assess the implications of alternative development actions such as the potential benefits of irrigated agricultural developments, the associated hydropower tradeoffs, and the effects of various lake regulation strategies. The Lake Victoria decision support system is intended to provide the lake stakeholders with the understanding necessary to develop shared-vision water resources management strategies to be ratified by political and legal processes and to be implemented within a cooperative management framework. In this effort Georgia Tech and the Georgia Water Resources Institute is collaborating with several agencies including departments of water development, ministries of water, hydrometeorological services, agricultural research stations, and power utilities. Training and technology transfer is an essential project component. PI: Georgakakos. Sponsor: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Water Resources Planning and Management for the Nile Basin: The Nile Basin is home for 250 million people spread into ten different countries. For all these countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritreia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo), the river is life itself, helping to grow crops, sustain livestock, and power economic development. However, the time when the river could generously meet each country’s water needs independently of all the rest is coming to an end, and the need for basin-wide management is becoming clear. The Georgia Water Resources Institute has been developing a state-of-the-science decision support system that encompasses the river reaches of the White, Blue, and Main Nile branches, along with the existing and proposed water conservation and development projects. The Nile decision support system (Nile-DSS) includes models for inflow forecasting, river and reservoir routing, and reservoir control, and runs on personal computers under a user-friendly, graphical interface. The purpose of the Nile-DSS is to facilitate the Nile Basin Stakeholders in setting forth equitable and lasting water use agreements. PI: Georgakakos & H. Yao, Senior Research Fellow. Sponsor: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Bank, Other International Aid Organizations.
Climate and Hydrologic Forecasts for Operational Water Resources Management: A Demonstration Project: This project aims at demonstrating the value of climate and hydrologic forecasts and integrated forecast-control systems in the context of a highly managed reservoir system. The proposed assessment will be conducted for a portion of the TVA system which serves multiple uses including flood protection, recreation, fish habitat preservation, provision of timely cooling water and thermal compliance for a steam plant, and hydro and fossil power generation. The methodology includes the use of (a) information provided by Global Circulation Models (GCMs) relative to precipitation and temperature, (b) procedures for downscaling GCM results to catchment scale, (c) a distributed hydrologic watershed model to estimate surface and subsurface inflows to the channel network, (d) a management model to identify release policies addressing all short and long term objectives of the TVA system, and (e) an integrated forecast-control system to conduct extensive assessments aiming at assessing the utility of GCM and hydrologic forecasts in multipurpose reservoir management. PI: Georgakakos & Yao, Senior Research Fellow. Sponsors: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate and Global Change Program.
Operational Decision Support System for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin: This project aims at developing an integrated modeling system to assist the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida in managing the water quantity and quality of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. Major system components include: rainfall estimation using satellite, radar, and conventional stations; watershed modeling; river and reservoir routing; hydropower scheduling; agricultural planning; water quality modeling; aquifer flow modeling; and combined surface/groundwater optimization. The system will have a nested structure and will be suitable for planning applications (pertaining to weekly and seasonal time scales) and operational applications (pertaining to hourly time steps). PI’s: Georgakakos & Sotiropoulos.
Decision Support System for Southeastern U.S. River Basins: The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) river basins are shared by the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida and are expected to serve several water uses including agricultural, municipal, and industrial water supply, hydropower, navigation, flood control, recreation, ecosystem protection, and fishery management. As a result of a dispute over water allocation, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the agency responsible for the operation of all federal reservoirs in the two basins) agreed to seek resolution of the water resources issues through a comprehensive study and negotiation process. The purpose of this project is to assist/facilitate the resolution of the tri-state water dispute, by developing a state of the art river basin planning and management system that can explore interesting water allocation scenarios and provide the knowledge base necessary to support the tri-state negotiation process. The project has a significant technology transfer component through hands-on training workshops and short courses. PI: Georgakakos & H. Yao, Senior Research Fellow. Sponsor: United States Geological Survey, State of Georgia & Private Citizen Groups.
Climate Variability and Change: National Water Resources Assessment: Climate variability and change pose both challenges and opportunities for our nation. To be better prepared, the United States has developed a national assessment process to identify and analyze the potential consequences of climate variability and change. The "Global Change Research Act of 1990" (P.L. 101-606) states that the Federal government "shall prepare and submit to the President and the Congress an assessment which (a) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the Program and discusses the scientific uncertainties associated with such findings, (b) analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and (c) analyzes current trends in global change, both human-inducted and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years." The Georgia Water Resources Institute (GWRI) is coordinating the assessment process, which involves a broad spectrum of research institutions. GWRI’s research focus in this project is (a) to assess the consequences of potential climate changes on the management of river basins such as the American River Basin in California, the Des Moines River Basin in Iowa, and the ACF River Basin in Georgia, and (b) to assess the expected changes in regional soil moisture and crop yield over the continental U.S. under various global climate change scenarios. PI: Georgakakos. Sponsor: United States Geological Survey.