Science To Support Water Resource Planning And Management: Understanding Sensitivity To Climate Change And Improving Hydroclimatic Monitoring And Prediction Products
Clark, Martyn P听1
1听狈颁础搁
Water is a precious commodity underpinning not only the global economy, but also our quality of life. Those responsible for managing the availability and distribution of this basic necessity face a variety of challenges every year in ensuring a high-quality, always-ready resource to meet public and private demands, and to manage highly changeable flood risks and drought responses. Recognizing that climate change is exacerbating these challenges, and to help managers better plan for and respond to climate change effects on water resources, two of the major water management agencies in the USA 鈥 the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 鈥 are collaborating with the National Center for Atmospheric Research to improve our understanding of water resource-related climate effects.
This presentation will summarize new applied research to support improved use of hydroclimate information in water resources planning and management. The climate change element of the research addresses the question: 鈥淗ow does the portrayal of climate change impacts depend on the selection of downscaling methods and the selection and configuration of hydrologic models?鈥 This comprehensive analysis of methodological shortcomings provides the user community with guidance on appropriate methods for climate impact assessments. The project helps identify limitations of the current generation of statistical downscaling methods and hydrologic modeling applications and articulate key research needs to improve assessments of climate change impacts on water resources Ongoing research on developing new downscaling methods and new hydrologic modeling