Resilience of Headwater Systems and Headwater Dependent Systems: Characterization and Data Needs Across the Transect of the Americas

Abstract:

Headwaters across the world provide water supply to downstream users. In headwaters, water storage in the form of glaciers, snowpack, wetlands and groundwater in watersheds at high elevations (i.e., the headwaters) is a key resilience component for reliability of water supply. Climate change will greatly affect water storage, thus threatening long-term water security. We are developing assessment of headwaters across a latitudinal transect from Canada to southern Chile (the Transect of the Americas) to create capacity to understand adaptation in headwater-dependent systems to water storage change in headwaters. We have identified four dominant headwater storage types: 1) glaciers, 2) seasonal snowpack, and rain and snowmelt storage held in 3) wetlands and 4) groundwater. Our network of interdisciplinary scientists is focused on socio-ecological systems (SES) and working to characterize headwater systems and the subsequent headwater dependent systems downstream. This poster will review our characterization of SES sites along the transect and highlight research questions and data needs across the transect. We will also highlight ways of communication across the network under limitations due to Covid-19, and how some of the Covid-19 experiences and adaptations parallel climate change adaptation in the different countries involved in the project.