Screening for nonstationary analysis

Adjustments in the designs of water resources systems due to climate change and other nonstationarities are warranted because the benefits of effective adaptation are well recognized. Therefore, the time and resources invested in these analyses are well worth the effort. Before a major investment in an effort is made, however, it is reasonable to determine if the problem is of sufficient complexity or the value of additional information is high enough to warrant the inclusion of complex, sophisticated methods that explicitly include nonstationarity and associated decision-making under deep uncertainty. There exist several planning level conditions such as the lifetime of the project, its criticality, and its reversibility that may indicate detailed analysis is not needed. There are also sequential analysis and screening steps that can be applied to determine the complexity of the methodology needed. Finally, the use of decision analysis can also help determine if additional, detailed analysis, or data collection are necessary. The use of one or several of these methods should be considered as initial steps before undertaking a vulnerability assessment and developing an adaptation strategy for a water resources system.