Marisa Escobar
Senior Scientist
Davis, CA
marisa.escobar@sei-us.org
skype: marisa.escobar
+1 (530) 753-3035 x2#
Marisa's work focuses on creating linkages between physical processes and socio-ecological systems. She uses her expertise on water, including water quality, the physics of water, and the movement of water through watersheds, to produce information on the implications of decisions about water on the overall ecosystem. Her geographic focus is California (where she resides) and Latin America (where she is from). Exploring the linkages between water and the socio-ecological system in Latin America has resulted on the investigation of the energy-water-food nexus and of the role of hydropower in sustainable development.
Since joining SEI's U.S. Centre in California in 2007, Marisa has used SEI's Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) as a primary tool for her analyses. In a major project funded by a STAR Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she has linked WEAP to ecosystem assessment tools to study anadromous fish management in California rivers, focusing on analyzing the tradeoffs between power production and other water management objectives.
Marisa also works to advance the use of WEAP in Latin America and to support a rapidly growing WEAP user community in the region. For example, as part of a World Bank-supported investigation of potential climate change impacts on water resources management in Peru, she developed a glacier accumulation and ablation routine and integrated it with WEAP rainfall-runoff modeling algorithms.
Also in Latin America, Marisa is using WEAP as an analytical tool to support negotiations around the definition of water benefit-sharing mechanisms in Andean Rivers, under funding from the global CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food.
Marisa has a B.S. in civil engineering from Javeriana University, in Bogotá, Colombia; an M.S. in civil and environmental engineering from Los Andes University, also in Bogotá; an M.Eng. in the same field from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Ph.D. in hydrologic sciences from the University of California, Davis.
Recent Publications by Marisa Escobar
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Energy-Water-Climate Planning for Development without Carbon in Latin America and the CaribbeanSEI Report Author(s): Escobar, M. ; Flores, F. ; Clark, V.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources ; Energy Modeling Description: Energy is essential for development, but given the urgent need to mitigate climate change, developing nations are under pressure to keep their carbon emissions low. This leaves them with three options: abandon development; ignore climate concerns; or take a third path: finding energy sources that emit little or no carbon. This report focuses on the third option, which we call "development without carbon" (DWC), looking at the viability of hydroelectric power as a low-carbon energy source for Latin America and the Caribbean in a changing climate. Hydropower supplies 46% of the region's electricity, with great untapped potential, but changes in the water supply due to climate change, competing uses, and population growth could thwart further development plans.This report is part of a package that also includes Development without Carbon: Climate and the Global Economy through the 21st Century. More information Download PDF |
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Water Management Adaptations to Prevent Loss of Spring-Run Chinook Salmon in California under Climate ChangeJournal of Water Resources Planning and Management, published online ahead of print Author(s): Thompson, L.C. ; Escobar, M. ; Purkey, D. ; Yates, D. ; Mosser, C.M.; Moyle, P.B.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: Spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are particularly vulnerable to climate change because adults over-summer in freshwater streams before spawning in autumn. In this study, the authors examined streamflow and water temperature regimes that could lead to long-term reductions in spring-run Chinook salmon (SRCS) in a California stream and evaluated management adaptations to ameliorate these impacts. For all climate scenarios and model combinations, the model found increased adult summer thermal mortality and population declines. Of management adaptations tested, only ceasing water diversion for power production from the summer holding reach resulted in cooler water temperatures, more adults surviving to spawn, and extended population survival time, albeit with a significant loss of power production.More information External Link |
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Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Mountain Hydrology: Development of a Methodology Through a Case Study in PeruWorld Bank Studies book Author(s): Vergara, W. ; Escobar, M. ; Deeb, A.; Leino, I.; Kitoh, A.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: Climate change is beginning to have effects on natural resources by affecting rainfall patterns and temperatures, and leading to the retreat of retreat of tropical glaciers and the drying of unique Andean wetland ecosystems, all of which could affect water availability. The changes could affect energy, agriculture and other sectors, and could have broader economic effects. This report presents a summary of the efforts to develop methodological tools for the assessment of climate impacts on surface hydrology in the Peruvian Andes. It is targeted to decision-makers in Peru and in other countries to give them guidance on how to choose available and suitable tools and make an assessment of climate impacts on water regulation.More information External Link |
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Differences in river ecological functions due to rapid channel alteration processes in two California rivers using the functional flows model, part 2 – model applicationsRiver Research and Applications 27:1, 1-22 Author(s): Escobar, M. ; Pasternack, G.B.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: This study applies the functional flows model (FFM) that integrates hydrogeomorphic processes and ecological functions to assess physical habitat. The model was adjusted to evaluate gravel-bed riffle functionality for fall-run Chinook salmon with respect to river rehabilitation on the Mokelumne River and flood-induced channel change on the Yuba River. The goal was to test if differences in ecological performance were traceable to differences in hydrogeomorphic conditions. A comparison between both rivers showed that despite a greater geomorphic potential of the Mokelumne River sites to have functional flows, Yuba River sites actually experienced better ecological performance for fall-run Chinook salmon freshwater life stages due to greater flow availability. The FFM provided an objective tool to assess changes in ecological functionality at hydrogeomorphically dynamic sites.External Link |
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Modelling the hydrologic role of glaciers within a Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP): A case study in the Rio Santa watershed (Peru)Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 8:1, 869-916 Author(s): Condom, T. ; Escobar, M. ; Purkey, D. ; Pouget, J.C.; Suarez, W.; Ramos, C.; Apaestegui, J.; Zapata, M.; Gomez, J.; Vergara, W.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: Glaciers are retreating in the Andes, raising alarm among regional water resources managers. Building on the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP), the authors modeled the glaciers' role in associated watersheds, aiming to create an analytical tool to assess the implications of possible future glacier retreat on water management. The study area is the Rio Santa watershed in Peru, which contains many of the glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca.More information External Link |