Adjusting water resources management to climate change

The nature of climate impacts and adjustment in water supply and flood management is discussed, and a case study of water manager response to climate fluctuation in California's Sacramento Basin is presented. The case illuminates the effect on climate impact and response of traditional management approaches, the dynamic qualities of maturing water systems, socially imposed constraints, and climate extremes. A dual pattern of crisisresponse and gradual adjustment emerges, and specific mechanisms for effecting adjustment of water management systems are identified. The case study, and broader trends in U.S. water development, suggest that oversized structural capacity, the traditional adjustment to climate variability in water resources, may prove less feasible in the future as projects become smaller and new facilities are delayed by economic and environmental concerns.

[1]  Myron B Fiering,et al.  A screening model to quantify resilience , 1982 .

[2]  T. Wigley,et al.  Influences of precipitation changes and direct CO2 effects on streamflow , 1985, Nature.

[3]  Stewart J. Cohen.  Impacts of CO2-induced climatic change on water resources in the Great Lakes Basin , 1986 .

[4]  R. L. Heathcote.  Extreme Event Analysis , 1985 .

[5]  S. Changnon,et al.  Temporal changes in design rainfall frequencies in Illinois , 1987 .

[6]  H. Gregor,et al.  Water scarcity : impacts on western agriculture , 1987 .

[7]  J. P. Mcguirk.  A century of precipitation variability along the pacific coast of North America and its impact , 1982 .

[8]  H. Lamb,et al.  CLIMATE AND HISTORY , 1980 .

[9]  Thomas R. Karl,et al.  The Identification of 10- to 20-Year Temperature and Precipitation Fluctuations in the Contiguous United States , 1984 .

[10]  Robert W. Kates,et al.  The Interaction of Climate and Society , 1985 .

[11]  Orman E. Granger.  INCREASING VARIABILITY IN CALIFORNIA PRECIPITATION , 1979 .

[12]  Gilbert F. White,et al.  Strategies Of American Water Management , 1969 .

[13]  M. Glantz.  A political view of CO2 , 1979, Nature.

[14]  Daniel P. Loucks,et al.  Reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability criteria for water resource system performance evaluation , 1982 .

[15]  S Phillips,et al.  The direct medical costs of osteoporosis for American women aged 45 and older, 1986. , 1988, Bone.

[16]  J. Němec,et al.  Sensitivity of water resource systems to climate variation , 1982 .

[17]  Clifford S. Russell,et al.  Drought and water supply , 1970 .

[18]  T. McMahon,et al.  Reservoir capacity and yield , 1978 .

[19]  D. Wilhite.  Government Response to Drought in the United States:With Particular Reference to the Great Plains , 1983 .

[20]  Peter H. Gleick,et al.  Regional hydrologic consequences of increases in atmospheric CO2 and other trace gases , 1987 .

[21]  Dennis P. Lettenmaier,et al.  Climate change: Detection and its impact on hydrologic design , 1978 .

[22]  K Schilling,et al.  THE NATIONS PUBLIC WORKS: REPORT ON WATER RESOURCES , 1987 .

[23]  Michael H. Glantz,et al.  Consequences and responsibilities in drought forecasting: The case of Yakima, 1977 , 1982 .

[24]  Jesse H. Ausubel,et al.  Climate impact assessment : studies of the interaction of climate and society , 1986 .

[25]  Jesse H. Ausubel,et al.  Climate Impact Assessment , 1985 .

[26]  E. Rasmusson,et al.  Meteorological Aspects of the El Ni�o/Southern Oscillation , 1983, Science.