An Overview of Interdisciplinary Research at Notre Dame Addressing “Grand Challenges” in the Midwest and Great Lakes Region

The Midwest and Great Lakes region face a number of “Grand Challenges” associated with climate, land use, agriculture, and water resources infrastructure. These include sustainability of agricultural systems and related impacts to food security and the regional economy; sustainability of Great Lakes water levels; changing storm statistics and impacts to stormwater management and flooding; water quality in rivers and downstream receiving water bodies related to non-point source pollution on agricultural lands and combined sewer overflows in urban areas; urban impacts related to aging infrastructure and climate change, and ecosystem management and restoration. In the context of water management, groundwater resources are poorly understood in comparison with surface water resources, and regional-scale simulation models are needed to address questions of sustainability both in terms of supply and water quality. Interdisciplinary research at the University of Notre Dame is attempting to address these research challenges via 1) integrated macro-scale groundwater and surface water modeling to address issues related to sustainable water supply, ecosystem restoration, and agricultural impacts; 2) development of high-resolution regional climate models dynamically coupled to the Great Lakes to address urban impacts, changing storm statistics and to quantify precipitation and evaporation over the Great Lakes; 3) and integrated macro-scale hydrology and water quality modeling to assess the large-scale performance of innovative land management BMPs on agricultural land (such as the two-stage ditch, cover crops, and dynamic drainage control) intended to improve water quality.