Brian’s research focuses on developing decision support tools for water resources systems.

He has participated in the development and application of databases and tools used for water resources analysis in a variety of domestic and international settings.

His recent work has included using SEI’s Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model to assess climate change impacts on agriculture, to design optimal approaches for meeting environmental flow requirements, and to create an analytical platform for use in multi-party discussions over trans-boundary water resources issues.

Prior to joining SEI, Brian worked at the Natural Heritage Institute, where his research focused on defining creative strategies for balancing agricultural, urban and environmental water demands. Brian’s research at NHI included investigating groundwater banking and conjunctive use potential and identifying operational flexibility to enhance river flows for fish and riparian habitat restoration.

His other research includes developing management practices to mitigate water and pesticide runoff from agriculture.

Brian received his Ph.D. in hydrologic sciences from the University of California, Davis in 2005.

Publications

• Irrigation demand and supply, given projections of climate and land-use change, in Yolo County, California (Journal article - 2013)

• A Water Resources Planning Tool for the Jordan River Basin (Journal article - 2011)

• Modifying agricultural water management to adapt to climate change in California's central valley (Journal article - 2011)

• Application of Pesticide Transport Model for Simulating Diazinon Runoff in California’s Central Valley (Journal article - 2010)

• A Simulation Approach for Risk Management in Annual Water Allocations for the Central Valley Project, California (Conference paper - 2010)

• Integrated Scenarios Analysis for the California Water Plan Update (Conference paper - 2010)

• Climate driven water resources model of the Sacramento Basin, California (Journal article - 2009)

• Climate warming, water storage, and Chinook salmon in California’s Sacramento Valley (Journal article - 2008)

• A Physically-Based Water Resource Planning Model for the Sacramento Basin, California USA using WEAP 21 (Journal article - 2008)

• Robust analysis of future climate change impacts on water for agriculture and other sectors: a case study in the Sacramento Valley (Journal article - 2008)

Complete list of publications »

Projects

• Economic Assessment of Climate Change Linking WEAP to an Agricultural Production Model

  
  

• Quantifying climate change impacts on water resources

  
  

• Agent-Based Modeling for Water Resources Planning

  
  

• Integrating Surface Water and Groundwater into a Single Water Resources Modeling Tool for California

  
  

• Integration of Project-Scale and Basin-Wide Management: An Application in the Klamath Project

  
  

• Holistic Water Resources Management in Massachusetts

  
  

• Integration of Anticipated Water Demand into Surface Water Allocation Decision Making

  
  

• Agricultural Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in California

  
  

• Updating the California Water Plan

  
  

• Decision Support for Water Resource Policy in South Africa

  
  

• Climate change in the Sierra Nevada mountains: Implications for the management of hydropower facilities and aquatic ecosystems

  
  

• Supporting Long-Term Water Management Negotiations in the Klamath River Basin

  
  

• WEAP: Water Evaluation And Planning System

  
  

• Integrating Water Supply Planning and Ecological Flow Requirements