Water: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation examines the vulnerability of society to changes in water supply—due to changes in the timing and amount of precipitation and stream flow—and to climate-related changes in wildfire risk, stream temperatures, energy demand, reservoir operation, and other such conditions, suggesting ways to manage water supply and demand in the coming century.
Citation:
Udall, B. 2013. “Water: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation.” In Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment, edited by G. Garfin, A. Jardine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, 197–217. A report by the Southwest Climate Alliance. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Bradley Udall (University of Colorado)
Key Findings
Climate-model projections suggest decreases in Colorado River streamflow during the next century resulting in long-term supply-demand imbalance.
Reduced water supplies lead to undesirable changes in almost all human and natural systems, including agriculture, energy, and industry.
Stream temperatures are expected to increase as the climate warms, which could have direct and indirect effects on aquatic ecosystems.
Water management has been based in part on the principle of stationarity, that the future would look like the past, which is no longer suitable.
Per-capita demand in recent years has been reduced in many Southwestern cities through active demand management programs.
Figure Gallery
Figure 10.1: Colorado River long-term supply-demand imbalance in the twenty-first century. Reproduced from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation 2011a).
Figure 10.2: Map of Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. Reproduced with permission from the Public Policy Institute of California (Lund et al. 2007, Figure 1.1).
Figure 10.3: Ensemble median percentage change in annual runoff (2050s vs. 1990s) in the Southwest region. Reproduced from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation 2011d, Figure 65).