Project Grant 2207036

The National Science Foundation awarded a $498,012 Project Grant to Stanford University under the Engineering (47.041) federal grant program. The grant supports research to develop new adaptive management strategies for water supply planning that address uncertainty in climate trends, multi-year oscillations, and annual variability. Specifically, the university will design approaches to decompose precipitation uncertainty into different timescales and quantify opportunities to reduce uncertainty. Researchers will integrate this uncertainty characterization into stochastic models of water resource systems to assess potential adaptive strategies. This may include flexibility in timing, sizing, modularity, and operations of water infrastructure. Applying the approach to river basins in sub-Saharan Africa, the project aims to build theory on how different patterns of precipitation variability affect adaptive approaches to water infrastructure planning, design, and operations. Additionally, Stanford will partner with water planners and create new educational materials in water resources management. Georgetown University is serving as a sub-awardee, leading an objective to characterize uncertainty in climate model precipitation projections in ways relevant for adaptation planning and identify potential for reducing uncertainty over time. The three-year grant period runs from May 1, 2023 through April 30, 2026.