2019 AGU Fall Meeting

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual fall meeting will be held 9 – 13 December 2019 in Moscone Center, San Francisco. The Fall Meeting is the largest international Earth and space science meeting in the world, with speakers from around the globe presenting and facilitating discussion on cross-disciplinary geophysical topics, including atmospheric and ocean sciences; solid-Earth sciences; hydrologic sciences; and space sciences.

You might find us at one of these sessions:

Managing Multifunctional Watersheds for the 21st Century (GC052)

A changing climate and growing population will lead people to demand more and potentially different watershed services, including water resource regulation, energy generation, and geomorphic hazard reduction. Green solutions such as watershed restoration and improved agricultural practices have been shown to have important benefits for local livelihoods and biodiversity. These solutions are a corrective to grey infrastructure such as dams and levees that provide valuable services but may also produce major environmental externalities. However, alone these green solutions may not provide the magnitude of services required. We invite submissions showcasing both exemplary case studies and systematic cross-site analyses addressing key questions for an integrated and strategic  management of multifunctional watersheds:  (1) at what scales and contexts do green solutions provide tangible benefits to society; (2) and how can  combined  grey and green infrastructure portfolios be designed to maximize benefits for both nature and people?

Biophysical Processes of Rivers Under Extreme and Changing Conditions (EP006)

Rivers are naturally dynamic systems, characterized by a suite of biophysical processes that are regularly subject to exogenous factors. Under ranges of natural variability, the physics and biota of rivers are resilient to external changes. However, river basins globally are undergoing landscape-scale changes. These changes, which are associated with widespread land use, water management, and climate change, can fundamentally alter biophysical processes. This session focuses on the science and management of integrated biophysical processes in river systems undergoing changing variability, including greater and/or more frequent extremes. Topics may address questions such as: How do changing and extreme events (e.g. streamflow magnitude, frequency, timing, temperature) influence river processes or form and resultant ecosystem structure and function (e.g. habitat quality and availability, egg survival, food webs, algal blooms)? How should management and restoration of rivers be designed and prioritized to mitigate and/or be resilient to these large-scale changes?

Managing and Modeling Tradeoffs and Challenges of Environmental and Low Flows in the 21st Century. (H094)

Rivers are the main source of water, food and energy for billions of people, but the (mis-)management of this critical resource has deteriorated aquatic ecosystems globally. Quantifying how much flow is needed to maintain the ecological integrity of rivers, especially during low flow periods, has become a point of conflict and convergence, particularly in arid regions where most large rivers are regulated. Better managing tradeoffs between environmental flows and consumptive demands requires an improved understanding of watershed hydrology and the low flow characteristics of riverine systems, along with cascading effects on fluvial geomorphology, aquatic ecology, and social systems. This session invites contributions demonstrating recent advances in understanding and resolving competing water demands together with methodological advances on novel ways to define and simulate low flows. We invite contributions that bridge across scientific disciplines and that represent a diversity of regions around the world where water management conflicts are emerging.

Reservoir Sedimentation in Disturbed Landscapes: A Real Look at Lost Water Storage and Fish Passage Opportunities (EP033)

Aging infrastructure and loss of water storage capacity due to sedimentation will cause the social, economic, environmental, and political importance of reservoirs to increase progressively. Reservoirs provide flood control, water supply, and power generation but may hinder survival of anadromous fish. Sediment regimes in disturbed and contaminated landscapes, including the hydraulic mining-impacted Sierra Nevada, complicate efforts to restore storage capacity due to concern about contaminant mobilization. The best available science on mercury fate and transport can stimulate new discussion about sediment removal and maintenance activities. Measures to address sedimentation at reservoirs nearing total storage loss need to be identified and solutions evaluated, including installation of upstream traps, sediment pass-through, flushing or mechanical removal. Site-specific reservoir sedimentation surveys that account for unique sediment regimes of disturbed landscapes are needed to inform cost-benefit analysis of maintaining aging infrastructure at the expense of restoring volitional fish passage.

 

You are invited to submit an abstract for a presentation or poster to any of these sessions;  the abstract submission deadline is 31 July 2019 23:59 EDT/03:59 +1 GMT.