Brian Anthony Joyce

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) framework is widely used to address sustainability and resource management questions. However, many WEF methods miss engaging with stakeholders in the process. In this study, we introduce a stakeholder-driven and model-supported robust nexus decision-making framework. This methodology is exemplified by a case study in th...

This study aimed at supporting robust decision-making for planning and management of water–energy–food Nexus systems in the country of Jordan. Nexus priority challenges in Jordan were identified as (1) water scarcity, (2) agricultural productivity and water quality, and (3) shift to energy independence. We created a water–energy–food Nexus model th...

Managed aquifer recharge (or intentional recharge) is a purposeful human intervention designed to supplement natural enrichment processes of groundwater aquifers by various methods. It holds the potential to mitigate the impact of climate uncertainty on irrigated agriculture by restoring storage levels in depleted aquifers, the economic value of wh...

This study aimed at supporting robust decision-making for planning and management of water-energy-food Nexus systems in the country of Jordan. Nexus priority challenges in Jordan were identified as 1) water scarcity, 2) agricultural productivity & water quality, and 3) shift to energy independence. We created a water-energy-food Nexus model that in...

As the consequences of climate change continue to unfold globally, effective adaptation strategies are critical. There are many uncertainties inherent in climate change adaptation. Thus a holistic approach must be undertaken to ensure all affected environmental resource sectors are accounted for. Adaptation strategies must involve consideration for...

In 2017 SEI delivered a capacity-building programme for the Mongolian Government on using SDG Synergies, a participatory approach for assessing interactions between sustainability targets. The programme focused on interactions between targets in the water sector and other sectoral targets in the country’s Sustainable Development Vision 2030. SEI w...

Notwithstanding current heavy dependence on gas-fired electricity generation in the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP), hydropower is expected to play an essential role in improving electricity access in the region. Expansion planning of electricity infrastructure is critical to support investment and maintaining balanced consumer electricity prices...

We develop an Israeli version of the Multi-Year Water Allocation System (MYWAS) mathematical programming model to conduct statewide, long-term analyses of three topics associated with agricultural reuse of wastewater. We find that: (1) enabling agricultural irrigation with treated wastewater significantly reduces the optimal capacity levels of seaw...

This paper examines climate change impact on hydropower will affect the expansion of the regional electricity system, as well as system costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The output from major Zambezi hydropower plants could decline by 10–20% under a drying climate, while wetting of the basin produces only a marginal increase. At a regional level,...

This study offers a high-resolution model of nationwide water supply. The model is sufficiently detailed to represent all main water sources in an economy, the principal segments of the conveyance system, urban, industrial and agricultural demand regions, and various water types, including fresh, saline and recycled. Calibrated for Israeli 2010 dat...

Although IWRM has become the mainstream concept for water management, its implementation in transboundary, politically tense settings, such as the Jordan River basin, is still limited. In this study we present the application of a transboundary spatially explicit water resources simulation and planning tool in support of decision making in this con...

This book evaluates -using for the first time a single consistent methodology and the state-of-the-arte climate scenarios-, the impacts of climate change on hydro-power and irrigation expansion plans in Africa’s main rivers basins (Niger, Senegal, Volta, Congo, Nile, Zambezi, Orange); and outlines an approach to reduce climate risks through suitabl...

We present an integrated hydrology/water operations simulation model of the Tuolumne and Merced River Basins, California, using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) platform. The model represents hydrology as well as water operations, which together influence water supplied for agricultural, urban, and environmental uses. The model is developed...

This paper describes the analytical approach developed by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to evaluate the performance of alternative regional resource management strategies in meeting future water management objectives as part of the 2013 Update of the California Water Plan. The California Water Plan, mandated by state law and up...

We assess the potential effects of climate change and adaptive management on irrigation water supply in the Cache Creek watershed in California. Our model, built using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system, is calibrated using historical data (1971–2000) on streamflow, irrigation deliveries, and reservoir operations. We examine three adap...

Climate change impacts and potential adaptation strategies were assessed using an application of the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system developed for the Sacramento River basin and Delta export region of the San Joaquin Valley. WEAP is an integrated rainfall/runoff, water resources systems modeling framework that can be forced directly fro...

The Jordan River basin is subject to extreme and increasing water scarcity. Management of transboundary water resources in the basin is closely intertwined with political conflicts in the region. We have jointly developed with stakeholders and experts from the riparian countries, a new dynamic consensus database and—supported by hydro-climatologica...

Dormant spray application of pesticides to almond and other stone fruit orchards is the main source of diazinon during the winter in California’s central valley. Understanding the pesticide transport and the tradeoffs associated with the various management practices is greatly facilitated by the use of physically-based contaminant transport models....

The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range is the water tower of California - providing drinking water for the state's large urban areas and irrigation for much of the state's vast agricultural land. Presently, Sierra snowpack accounts for approximately half of the surface water storage in the state. Current projections forecast that this snowpack may declin...

Young, Charles A., Marisa I. Escobar‐Arias, Martha Fernandes, Brian Joyce, Michael Kiparsky, Jeffrey F. Mount, Vishal K. Mehta, David Purkey, Joshua H. Viers, and David Yates, 2009. Modeling the Hydrology of Climate Change in California’s Sierra Nevada for Subwatershed Scale Adaptation. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45...

A climate-driven water resource model of California's Sacramento River Basin (SACB) is presented, based on the Water Evaluation and Planning model Version 21 (WEAP21). The model's configuration, calibration, testing, and limitations are presented. The major contribution includes an integration of the watershed's surface and subsurface hydrology, co...

The Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawns and rears in the cold, freshwater rivers and tributaries of California’s Central Valley, with four separate seasonal runs including fall and late-fall runs, a winter run, and a spring run. Dams and reservoirs have blocked access to most of the Chinook’s ancestral spawning areas in the upper reach...

The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system is a comprehensive, fully integrated water basin analysis tool. It is a simulation model that includes a robust and flexible representation of water demands from all sectors and flexible, programmable operating rules for infrastructure elements such as reservoirs, canals, and hydropower projects. Addi...

Rivers draining western slopes of the Sierra Nevada provide critical water supply, hydropower, fisheries and recreation services to California. Coordinated efforts are under way to better characterize and model the possible impacts of climate change on Sierra Nevada hydrology. Research suggests substantial end-of- century reductions in Sierra Nevad...

This study presents the development and qualitative evaluation of numerical and analytical solutions for the transport of spray-applied pesticides in runoff. The model development focuses on the enhancement of the solution algorithms of earlier researchers by adding chemical reactions that represent more completely the pesticide exchange processes...

Pesticide runoff from dormant sprayed orchards is a major water quality problem in California's Central Valley. During the past several years, diazinon levels in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers have exceeded water quality criteria for aquatic organisms. Orchard water management, via post-application irrigation, and infiltration enhancement, t...

Using the latest available General Circulation Model (GCM) results we present an assessment of climate change impacts on California hydrology and water resources. The approach considers the output of two GCMs, the PCM and the HadCM3, run under two different greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios: the high emission A1fi and the low emission B1. The...

As part of the 2006 Climate Change Report to Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature, an application of the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system in the Sacramento River Basin was deployed to look at the impact of climate change on agricultural water management and the potential for adaptation. The WEAP system includes a dynami...

This study investigates the dynamic nature of rainfall observed at the Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) site in California's Sacramento Valley, which was established to study the benefits of winter cover cropping in Mediterranean irrigated-arid systems. Rainfall data of four different temporal scales (i.e. daily, weekly, biweekly, and...

Winter cover cropping on agricultural fields may improve rainfall infiltration and enhance soil water storage in areas such as California's Sacramento Valley, where the majority of precipitation occurs in the winter over a relatively short period of time in a series of heavy rainfall events. Enhanced soil water storage within the root zone on cover...

The Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) Project has studied the transition to low-input and organic alternatives in California's Sacramento Valley. This project compares a 4-yr rotation of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) followed by double-c...

The Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) Project was established in 1988 to study the transition from conventional to low-input and organic farm management in California's Sacramento Valley. We evaluated the effects of these alternative farming systems on soil compaction, water-holding capacity, infiltration, and water storage in relation...

Degree granted in Hydrologic Sciences. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Davis, 2005.