213: Neptune & Company - Integrated Modeling for the Colorado River Basin

Lauren Foster, Environmental Manager with Neptune & Company, joins us to talk about her integrated modeling efforts to better forecast and predict water flows in the Colorado River Basin. By changing the resolution and including a variety of new groundwater inputs, Neptune's integrated modeling approach can address critical gaps between generalized global climate models and more specific water flow forecasting models. In particular, by modeling a smaller scale of 100 meters opposed to 1000 meters, Neptune is able to isolate and better model water conditions as they actually exist in the high mountain headwater areas where most of the water for the Colorado River originates. Initial results show that these high evergreen forest systems are disproportionately impacted by increases in temperature which results in more precipitation leaving the system through evapotranspiration and less water flow. It is intended these more accurate outputs from integrated models can eventually be input into existing Colorado River water forecasting models to better guide water management and planning decisions. Very helpful technology!