Humans, Water, and Climate: Mapping Ecohydrologic Pathways to Resilience

Freshwater systems sit at the intersection of climate, environment, and society. Addressing their challenges requires approaches that combine rigorous science with real-world decision-making. My research investigates how human activity and hydroclimate variability shape water systems. I use data-driven approaches grounded in hydrologic theory and co-produced with water managers to address both applied and fundamental questions. I highlight ongoing work in arid southern California. This project integrates ecohydrologic and surface energy balance frameworks into a conceptual model that guides geospatial analyses aligned with community climate adaptation priorities. Findings show the water demands of urban greening across scales and the sensitivity of urban water deliveries to rising temperatures. They illustrate how climate and land use jointly shape human-mediated ecohydrologic processes and how co-production reshapes both the questions asked and the form of knowledge produced. More broadly, applied, decision-driven contexts expose gaps in fundamental understanding. What dimensions of coupled human - water systems are omitted by existing theories and data sources? What questions remain unasked, what dynamics underexplored, and why? Linking theory, data science, and community engagement can generate use-inspired insights into ecohydrologic dynamics while also advancing new questions and methods for navigating uncertainty in a changing world.

Speaker: Morgan Levy, UC San Diego