Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Rivers
Main Focus
This dissertation deals with advanced deterministic state-of-the art engineering methodologies to evaluate impacts, risks, and uncertainties associated with future climates on already overexploited and stressed shared river systems and develop mitigating water-management and engineering alternatives for countries to work together to aid in solving climate-related water resources problems affecting their shared water resources.
Part One
o Using the latest hydrologic state-of-the-art techniques (energy budget snowmelt analysis, gridded climate reanalysis forcing function, fully gridded basin runoff parameters, etc.) to calibrate existing rainfall-snow-accumulation, snowmelt, and runoff relationships for the transboundary Jhelum River in India and Pakistan as a case study.
Part Two
o Apply future climate scenarios to calibrated watershed and evaluate potential adverse impacts of future hydrology on the overall river basin water supply, frequency and intensity of floods, and frequency and intensity of droughts.
Part Three
o Evaluating operational changes and conservation techniques to existing water resources infrastructure (dams and reservoirs) and potential new infrastructure to help mitigate adverse climate impacts.
Past Technical Analyses Using as Basis for Dissertation:
o Panama Canal Climate Modelling– Technical analysis for USACE/Panama-Canal-Authority that evaluated impacts of future climate change on Panama Canal Operations using CMIP5 General Climate Models’ Forcing Functions.
o Indus River Basin Hydrologic Forecasting – Technical analysis for USACE-U.S. State Department-Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency to develop a snowmelt-monsoonal flood-forecasting simulation model for the Indus River Basin.
o Afghanistan/Pakistan Water Resources Cooperation – Technical support for USACE-USAID-U.S. State Department in mentoring Afghanistan’s engineers on co-managing the joint Kabul River, which originates in Pakistan, flows into Afghanistan, then back into Pakistan.
o Brazil’s National Water Agency – Technical analysis to Brazil’s National Water Agency to evaluate changes in reservoir systems operations from hydropower generation to flood control using complex reservoir simulation/optimization modelling.