Vishal Mehta
Senior Scientist
Davis, CA
vishal.mehta@sei-us.org
+1 (530) 753-3035 x3#
Vishal is a hydrologist and environmental scientist with experience in water resources, forest conservation and rural development. With SEI's US Center in Davis, he is currently working on the impacts of climate change on California's water supply, urban water management planning with utilities in the US, India and East Africa, and innovative informational technology tools for communicating complex information. His expertise includes forest ecosystem sciences, distributed hydrological modeling, and geospatial analysis using several open-source and commercial geographic information systems. His main interests are in environment and development policy planning and assessment, with a focus on developing countries.
Vishal received his Ph.D. in Soil, Crop and Atmospheric Sciences from Cornell University, Ithaca in 2007.
Recent Publications by Vishal Mehta
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Social Ecology of Domestic Water Use in BangaloreEconomic & Political Weekly, Vol. XLVIII No. 15, April 13, 2013, Special Article, 40-50 Author(s): Mehta, V. ; Kemp-Benedict, E. ; Goswami, R.; Muddu, S.; Malghan, D.Year: 2013 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: This paper develops a metabolic framework for domestic water use in Bangalore, one of the fastest-growing urban agglomerations in India. The rapid growth of urban India has added new saliency to the resource conflict between the burgeoning cities and village India that continues to be the home for vast majority of Indians. Cities, like living organisms, depend on external metabolic flows to keep them alive. Among all the metabolic flows of matter and energy none is more important than water – especially water used for meeting basic drinking water and other domestic consumption needs. Our urban metabolism framework treats Bangalore as a tightly coupled social-ecological system and shows that a spatially explicit understanding of consumption patterns is crucial to addressing three central aspects of the water conundrum – equity, ecological sustainability and economic efficiency.External Link |
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Simulating High Elevation Hydropower with Regional Climate Warming in the West Slope Sierra NevadaJournal of Water Resources Planning and Management, online first Author(s): Rheinheimer, D. ; Sieber, J. ; Mehta, V. ; Viers, J. ; Kiparshy, M.; Ligare, S.Year: 2013 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: This article describes the development of a water resources management model for the upper west slope Sierra Nevada to understand the potential effects of regional climate warming on hydropower at the watershed scale, and the results of that model. Water systems in snowmelt-dominated hydro-regions such as California's Sierra Nevada mountains are sensitive to regional climate change, hydropower systems in particular. The authors developed a water resources management model for the upper west slope Sierra Nevada to understand the potential effects of regional climate warming on hydropower at the watershed scale. The model was developed with the Water Evaluation And Planning system (WEAP) and includes most water management infrastructure in the study region. The study found that the highly productive northern Sierra Nevada would see large reductions in hydropower generation due to decreases in annual runoff related to climate change.More information External Link |
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Scenario-based water resources planning for utilities in the Lake Victoria regionPhysics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, in press; available online 16 March 2013 Author(s): Mehta, V. ; Purkey, D. ; Aslam, O.; Dale, L.; Miller, N.Year: 2013 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: This article describes the development of water resources models for three East African towns to investigate climate, infrastructure and demographic scenarios. Urban areas in the Lake Victoria region are experiencing the highest growth rates in Africa. As efforts to meet increasing demand accelerate, integrated water resources management (IWRM) tools provide opportunities for utilities and other stakeholders to develop a planning framework comprehensive enough to include short-term (e.g. land-use change), as well as longer-term (e.g. climate change) scenarios. This paper presents IWRM models built using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) decision support system, for three towns in the Lake Victoria region: Bukoba (Tanzania), Masaka (Uganda), and Kisii (Kenya).More information External Link |
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Irrigation demand and supply, given projections of climate and land-use change, in Yolo County, CaliforniaAgricultural Water Management 117, 70-82 Author(s): Mehta, V. ; Joyce, B. ; Purkey, D. ; Haden, V.R.; Jackson, L.E.Year: 2013 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: This article assesses the potential effects of climate change and adaptive management on irrigation water supply in the Cache Creek watershed in California. The authors built a model using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system, and calibrated it using historical data (1971-2000) on streamflow, irrigation deliveries, and reservoir operations. Results show irrigation demand increasing by 26% and 32% under B1 and A2 baseline climate scenarios respectively in the latter part of the century. Increases in demand from climate change alone exceed applied water reductions from changing cropping patterns by an order of magnitude. Maximum applied water savings occur by combining a diversified water-efficient cropping pattern with irrigation technology improvements.More information External Link |
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Water for Electricity: Resource Scarcity, Climate Change and Business in a Finite WorldSEI Project Report Author(s): Fencl, A. ; Clark, V. ; Mehta, V. ; Purkey, D. ; Davis, M. ; Yates, D.Year: 2012 Research Area(s): Water Resources ; Energy Modeling ; Climate Mitigation Policy Description: This report, based on research conducted as part of a partnership between the business leaders' initiative 3C (Combat Climate Change) and SEI, examines the potential impact of low-carbon electricity generation technologies on water resources – and how these water considerations might shape renewable-generation choices. The need to keep climate change within safe thresholds will require rapid emission reductions, and widespread deployment of low-carbon technologies to help achieve them. Yet some low-carbon energy sources require considerable amounts of water. Given competing demands, resource depletion and projected climate impacts, sufficient water may not always be available. The authors examine the water use implications of different electricity generation pathways, as well as potential ways to reduce the water use of electricity generation technologies, and they provide a case study of water and energy considerations in California, a renewable-energy leader.More information Download PDF |