Published: April 19, 2018

Please join CWEST for a Distinguished Seminar by Dr. Jack Schmidt on Wednesday, April 25th, 11am-12pm in SEEC’s Sievers Room S228, located at 4001 Discovery Drive.

Dr. Jack SchmidtDr. Schmidt is the Janet Quinney Lawson Chair in Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. He is a professor of Watershed Sciences and former Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (2011-2014). He has over 100 publications spanning peer reviewed science journals, scientific reports for the federal government, and peer reviewed books and book chapters. He holds a PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Among numerous other awards, Dr. Schmidt notably won the National Park Service Director’s Award for Natural Resource Research and the U. S. Geological Survey’s STAR Award. He was also co-awarded the Department of the Interior Partners in Conservation Award for his activities associated with implementing a controlled flood pulse into the Colorado River delta in Mexico (2013).

We are extremely honored to host Dr. Schmidt for a seminar. Please share the seminar announcemnt flyer. His talk is title and his abstract are below. 

Environmental Management of the Colorado River and Its Tributaries: Science, Values, and Public Policy

Geophysical science significantly contributed information to the critical decisions of the early and middle twentieth century regarding water supply allocation and development of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Today’s decisions about the Colorado River’s future are of two types – those that concern allocation of a decreasing water supply that meets the needs of a growing population and those that concern environmental management of the river segments that intervene between reservoirs. Can these two types of decisions be jointly addressed? Geophysical science, including climate science, plays a large role in addressing water supply issues, and the geophysical and biological sciences are important foundations to programs that address endangered species and landscape rehabilitation issues, including those addressed by several adaptive management programs. Although the linkage between geophysical science and water supply decision-making is straightforward, the application of the natural sciences to adaptive management of rivers is challenged by the competing values of the many stakeholders who participate in these programs. This is the case, for example, in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program where some of the desired future conditions that guide the program are mutually exclusive. Moving forward, natural scientists have the opportunity to provide alternative strategies that prioritize where in the watershed lie the greatest opportunities in ecosystem rehabilitation, because the geography of runoff generation and water use creates rehabilitation opportunities in some parts of the watershed and severely limits opportunities elsewhere. The science community can help lead the way towards a sustainable future by identifying strategies that optimize ecosystem rehabilitation while also meeting water supply needs.

 

This CWEST Seminars is held in conjunction with the Hydrology and Water Resources seminar series. Refreshments will be served at 10:45am.