Water Sector Climate Science and Tools
This tab presents climate science and tools for understanding climate change impacts to the water sector and potential adaptation options.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can also be sorted by date and title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by resource type, impact, region, state, or jurisdictional focus.
88 results are shown below.
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Resource
2018
California’s Adaptation Clearinghouse has been developed by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) in response to CA’s 2015 Senate Bill 246 - which directed OPR to form the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program. One main component of the Program is the State Adaptation Clearinghouse, which serves as a “centralized source of information and resources to assist decision makers at the state, tribal, regional, and local levels when planning for and implementing climate adaptation projects to promote resiliency across California.
Resource Category: Adaptation Websites
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Resource
2007
From the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, this report summarizes the 2007 scientific understanding of the impacts of climate change on natural, managed, and human systems around the world, the capacity of these systems to adapt, and their vulnerability. It builds upon past IPCC assessments and incorporates new knowledge gained since the Third Assessment. Consistent with all IPCC reports, the WGII contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report is a comprehensive assessment of the peer-reviewed published literature and selected gray literature on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.
Related Organizations: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Authors or Affiliated Users: Martin L. Parry, Osvaldo F. Canziani, Jean P. Palutikof, Paul J. van der Linden, Clair E. Hanson
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2009
Utilizing a multi-model ensemble approach of downscaled climate model projections, hydrologic modeling, and water management models, this report presents results for changes in reservoir levels and snow pack in the Yakima River basin and resulting impacts to irrigated agriculture in the basin. The paper presents the analysis of hydrological conditions and how climate change is projected to impact water supply for water users with junior water rights and - in the extreme years - users with senior water rights throughout the basin.
Related Organizations: Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
Authors or Affiliated Users: Julie A. Vano, Michael Scott, Nathalie Voisin, Claudio O. Stockle, Alan F. Hamlet, Kristian E. B. Mickelson, Marketa McGuire Elsner, Dennis P. Lettenmaier
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
August 2010
The study describes the activities of eight water utilities who have conducted climate vulnerability assessments: East Bay Municipal Utility District (CA), City of Boulder Utilities Division (CO), Denver Water (CO), Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Portland Water Bureau (OR), Lower Colorado River Authority (CO), and Seattle Public Utilities (WA). This report provides a review of best practices in this emerging effort across the industry for the purpose of informing utilities considering engaging in this issue about the various methods used by their peers.
Related Organizations: Denver Water, Portland Water Bureau, Seattle Public Utilities , Stratus Consulting , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , City of Portland, Oregon
Authors or Affiliated Users: Joel B. Smith, Jason M. Vogel
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
September 2008
This report from the Chesapeake Bay Program Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) addresses the current understanding of climate change impacts on the tidal Chesapeake Bay, and identifies critical knowledge gaps and research priorities. It is intended to provide the basis for incorporating climate change considerations into resource management decisions.
Related Organizations: Chesapeake Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC)
Authors or Affiliated Users: Christopher R. Pyke, Raymond Najjar, Mary Beth Adams, Denise Breitburg, Carl Hershner, Robert Howarth, Michael Kemp, Margaret Mulholland, Michael Paolisso, David Secor, Kevin Sellner, Denice Wardrop, Robert Wood
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2008
This report is a synthesis of climate change science that is important for evaluating impacts on Colorado's water resources. This document provides scientific analyses to support state and regional efforts to develop a water adaptation plan, while presenting scientific analyses on observed trends, modeling, and projections of hydro-climatic variables - including temperature, precipitation, snowmelt, and runoff. This analysis includes a record of Colorado climate that covers trends in temperature, precipitation, snow and stream flow; a section describing climate models, emissions scenarios, and downscaling; followed by climate attributions, projections, and implications for the state.
Related Organizations: Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) , Western Water Assessment (WWA) - RISA , University of Colorado at Boulder
Authors or Affiliated Users: Andrea J. Ray, Joseph J. Barsugli, Kristen B. Averyt
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
April 4, 2018
From UCLA’s Center for Climate Science, this report describes the findings on how climate change will impact the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the water cycle in the Sierra, and the larger implications for California's water resources. The project primarily focused on changes in climate averages: average springtime temperatures, snowpack at April 1st, and timing of runoff.
Related Organizations: UCLA Center for Climate Science
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
Climate Interactive, a “climate change think tank” has created a Green Infrastructure Scenarios Tool (GIST) for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that allows for scenario testing related green infrastructure investment and future precipitation scenarios. The simulation allows users to test investments into different types of infrastructure for managing stormwater, and supports exploration of different possible future rainfall patterns, to see how investments might turn out under various future climate conditions.
Related Organizations: Climate Interactive, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District (MMSD) , City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
This risk assessment tool assists drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utility owners and operators in understanding potential climate change impacts to the water sector; assessing related risks at their utilities; and evaluating adaptation options. CREAT allows users to perform these analyses using scenario-based decision making in multiple time periods using pre-loaded data and downscaled local climate information. CREAT can support utilities in initiating adaptation planning and provides suggested customizable adaptation strategies that can be implemented at the user’s utility.
Related Organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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Resource
This website describes the scenarios used for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT), a tool to help water and wastewater utilities prepare for climate change. The tool includes a map that shows projected climate change across the U. S. The map is separated into grids (roughly 32 x 32 miles). Each grid displays projections for annual total precipitation, annual average temperature, and precipitation intensity for the 100-year storm.
Related Organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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