Evaluating Need for Adaptation for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District Reservoirs
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates over 500 reservoirs in the U.S.,
the majority of which are 50 years old. As the agency looks to the future, it is crucial
for it to understand which reservoirs continue to meet design and operational goals.
This report examines the Corps’ reservoir policy and historic operations to assess
the reservoirs’ need for adaptation, focusing on the Wilmington District in Southeastern
U.S. Four metrics are developed using Corps data and documentation. The metrics are
synthesized via a model that presents 5 Wilmington reservoirs as a system. The model
helps visualize concepts of operational flexibility and thresholds of adaptation,
though reliable estimates of the latter could not be gleaned from Corps documentation.
The report concludes that the agency's wide discretion is at odds with the establishment
of thresholds for adaptation. This disincentive may undermine the Corps' ability to
prepare for climate challenges of the 21st century.
Type
Master's projectSubject
Climate adaptationWater resources
Reservoir management
Water infrastructure
Federal water policy
Quantitative analysis
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11912Citation
Tchamkina, Mary (2016). Evaluating Need for Adaptation for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District
Reservoirs. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11912.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info