Climate Change Sensitivity and Water Demand Analysis for Public Water Supply
Location
ECC 216
Event Website
http://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
4-4-2012 2:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2012 2:50 PM
Description
Water managers in the western United States have numerous challenges to continue to provide the quantity and quality of water required by their customers in the decades to come. In addition to drought, population growth, and limited resources, managers can no longer assume hydrologic stationarity for planning purposes. In Utah, for example, measured temperatures in the last decade have increased nearly 2° F when compared to the 1901 - 2000 average. Work to assess Salt Lake City’s water supply vulnerability to climate change is underway through a collaborative effort, which includes Salt Lake City Public Utilities (SLCPU), the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC), and the Western Water Assessment (WWA). In this collaborative approach, SLCPU is assessing areas of potential vulnerability with assistance from WWA. These vulnerabilities are being tested against scenarios developed from hydrologic models calibrated and operated by the CBRFC. Preliminary CBRFC hydrology model analysis of the streamflow sensitivity to increasing temperature and changes in precipitation will be presented. Predictably, increases in temperature indicate earlier runoff. Earlier runoff is of particular concern to SLCPU since the highest quality and lowest cost water comes from their watershed creeks, which rely mostly on snowpack storage for water supply. We are evaluating how changes in runoff timing, not just total volume may impact water supply as the overlap between surface water supply and customer demand may shift. We will present preliminary results of projected changes to water supply and demand curves.
Climate Change Sensitivity and Water Demand Analysis for Public Water Supply
ECC 216
Water managers in the western United States have numerous challenges to continue to provide the quantity and quality of water required by their customers in the decades to come. In addition to drought, population growth, and limited resources, managers can no longer assume hydrologic stationarity for planning purposes. In Utah, for example, measured temperatures in the last decade have increased nearly 2° F when compared to the 1901 - 2000 average. Work to assess Salt Lake City’s water supply vulnerability to climate change is underway through a collaborative effort, which includes Salt Lake City Public Utilities (SLCPU), the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC), and the Western Water Assessment (WWA). In this collaborative approach, SLCPU is assessing areas of potential vulnerability with assistance from WWA. These vulnerabilities are being tested against scenarios developed from hydrologic models calibrated and operated by the CBRFC. Preliminary CBRFC hydrology model analysis of the streamflow sensitivity to increasing temperature and changes in precipitation will be presented. Predictably, increases in temperature indicate earlier runoff. Earlier runoff is of particular concern to SLCPU since the highest quality and lowest cost water comes from their watershed creeks, which rely mostly on snowpack storage for water supply. We are evaluating how changes in runoff timing, not just total volume may impact water supply as the overlap between surface water supply and customer demand may shift. We will present preliminary results of projected changes to water supply and demand curves.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2012/AllAbstracts/55