Decision support experiments and evaluations using seasonal to ...

Case Study F:
Southeast Climate Consortium Capacity
Building, Tool Development
The Southeast Climate Consortium is a multidisciplinary,
multi-institutional team, with
members from Florida State University, University
of Florida, University of Miami, University
of Georgia, University of Auburn and
the University of Alabama-Huntsville. A major
part of the Southeast Climate Consortium’s
(SECC) effort is directed toward developing and
providing climate and resource management information
through AgClimate ,
a decision-support system (DSS)
introduced for use by Agricultural Extension,
agricultural producers, and resource managers
in the management of agriculture, forests, and
water resources. Two keys to SECC’s progress
in promoting the effective use of climate information
in agricultural sector decision making
are (1) iterative ongoing engagement with
stakeholders, from project initiation to decisionsupport
system completion and beyond (further
product refinement, development of ancillary
products, etc.) (Breuer et al., 2007; Cabrera et
al., 2007), and (2) co-developing a stakeholder
sense of decision-support ownership through
participatory research and modeling (Meinke
and Stone, 2005; Breuer et al., 2007; Cabrera
et al., 2007).
The SECC process has begun to build capacity
for the use of climate information with a rapid
assessment to understand stakeholder perceptions
and needs regarding application of climate
information that may have benefits (e.g., crop
yields, nitrogen pollution in water) (Cabrera et
al., 2006). Through a series of engagements,
such as focus groups, individual interviews,
research team meetings (including stakeholder
advisors), and prototype demonstrations, the
research team assesses which stakeholders are
most likely adopt the decision-support system
and communicate their experience with other
stakeholders (Roncoli et al., 2006), as well as
stakeholder requirements for decision support
(Cabrera et al., 2007). Among the stakeholder
requirements gleaned from more than six
years of stakeholder engagements, are: present
information in an uncomplicated way (often
deterministic), but allow the option to view
probabilistic information; provide information
Decision-Support Experiments and Evaluations using Seasonal to
Interannual Forecasts and Observational Data: A Focus on Water Resources
timed to allow users to take revised or preventative
actions; include an economic component
(because farmer survival, i.e. cost of practice
adoption, takes precedence over stewardship
concerns); and allow for confidential comparison
of model results with proprietary data.
The participatory modeling approach used in
the development of DyNoFlo, a whole-farm
decision-support system to decrease nitrogen
leaching while maintaining profitability under
variable climate conditions (Cabrera et al.,
2007), engaged federal agencies, individual
producers, cooperative extension specialists,
and consultants (who provided confidential
data for model verification). Cabrera et al.
(2007) report that the dialogue between these
players, as equals, was as important as the
scientific underpinning and accuracy of the
model in improving adoption. They emphasize
that the process, including validation (defined
as occurring when researchers and stakeholders
agree the model fits real or measured conditions
adequately) is a key factor in developing
stakeholder sense of ownership and desire
for further engagement and decision-support
system enhancement. These findings concur
with recent examples of the adoption of climate
data, predictions and information to improve
water supply model performance by Colorado
River Basin water managers (Woodhouse and
Lukas, 2006).
Case Study G:
The Potomac River Basin
Water wars, traditionally seen in the West, are
spreading to the Midwest, East, and South. The
Water wars,
traditionally seen
in the West, are
spreading to the
Midwest, East,
and South.
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