COMMUNITY-BASED DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN ARIZONA: A MODEL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

Stefanie WoodwardMentor: Dr. Barron Orr

Thank You

Dr. Barron Orr Dr. Mike Crimmins Graham County Master Watershed

Stewards The Climate and Natural Resources

Working Group, Cooperative Extension at UA

Problem Statement

We’ve past the point where mitigation alone can deter climate change- adaptation is necessary!

In AZ and many other dryland regions, this means increasing frequency and intensity of drought

Drought: a sustained, natural reduction in precipitation that results in negative impacts to the environment and human activities

So how do we cope? What institutions and tools are needed to support community level adaptation and drought preparedness?

Approach/Methods

Necessary components to adaptation Map flows of information

and decision-making processes

The experiment: test, from a stakeholder’s perspective, the feasibility of using a web-based tool (Arizona DroughtWatch) designed to address local drought impacts, to enhance and encourage community based climate change adaptation

AZ Institutional Model

?

Governor & AZ Department of

Water Resources

Arizona DroughtWatchhttp://azdroughtwatch.org

•User created reports input geographic information about drought impacts

•User created reports input geographic information about drought impacts

AZ DroughtWatch Usability Study: Test Approach Most systems testing is about “debugging” “Usability” is another systems test, but from the

perspective of the end-user Role in community preparedness and

responsiveness to drought Factors impeding adoption Difficult with Arizona DroughtWatch because the

system only works with multiple users across multiple dates where data have been entered

Solution: Generated four independent use cases (i.e. rancher, water manager, agricultural producer) with data from 4 time periods.

What we learned

Explained the system to an informed new user Discovered what worked and didn’t, but most

important, what was most needed by the user.

Surprises were good Web-site redesign Potential to transfer the DroughtWatch model

to developing nations facing similar challenges in community preparedness and adaptation to drought

The Role of AZ DroughtWatch in Drought Preparedness Connects stakeholders

to each other and to institutions Community

engagement and Citizen Science

Timely information about drought, impacts, and opportunities to respond

Integrates local knowledge Arizona’s Statewide Drought Preparedness Plan

Conclusions

Arizona DroughtWatch links local people to high-level decision makers Two-way flow of information

It links key institutions, improving both preparedness and our potential to respond to drought

It provides timely and critical insights from a variety of sectors about drought impacts

Could this model be transferred to developing nations? Satellite radio network as substitute for web-

based tool

Thanks Again!

Special thanks to Barron Orr, Mike Crimmins, Stewart Marsh, Aaryn Ollson,

Yuta Torrey, Alys Thomas, Kristin Wisneski, Lila Burgos and the many

others who have helped me with this project!