Navigating the Water-Energy Governance Landscape and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in the Northern Patagonia Region of Argentina

Water scientists often find themselves interacting with decision-makers with varying levels of technical background. The sustainable management of water resources is complex by nature, and future conditions are highly uncertain, requiring modeling approaches capable of accommodating a variety of par...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Laura Forni, Marisa Escobar, Pablo Cello, Marta Marizza, Gustavo Nadal, Leonidas Girardin, Fernando Losano, Lisandro Bucciarelli, Charles Young, David Purkey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
Series:Water
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/6/794
Description
Summary:Water scientists often find themselves interacting with decision-makers with varying levels of technical background. The sustainable management of water resources is complex by nature, and future conditions are highly uncertain, requiring modeling approaches capable of accommodating a variety of parameters and scenarios. Technical findings from these analyses need to be positioned and conducted within the governance institutions to ensure decision-makers utilize them. This paper examines the water resource challenges for a large basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina and utilizes the Robust Decision Support (RDS) framework to evaluate trade-offs and strategies in a participatory process that included researchers and decision-makers. Integrated water resources models using simulation modeling and decision space visualization show significant climate change impacts, which are augmented with irrigated agriculture expansion and increasing hydropower production.
ISSN:2073-4441