Western Water Assessment (Program)
Author
Pub. Date
2008.
Description
This memo presents the results of a literature search conducted in May-June 2007 as a preliminary step toward the study of how climate change-induced variations in the hydrograph (i.e. earlier snowmelt and peak flows) may impact the temporal elements of water rights.
Pub. Date
2007.
Description
Several studies demonstrate that the hydrographs of many western rivers are changing in response to climate change, with one of the most pronounced changes being earlier runoff. This trend is most pronounced in low elevation basins. For example, in many basins of the Pacific Northwest, annual spring snowmelt is now occurring more than 20 days earlier than a half-century ago. This trend is less evident in high elevation watersheds, but even in those...
Author
Pub. Date
2015.
Description
The motivation for this briefing is to examine the large inhomogeneity (step shift) in the observed temperature record at the SNOw TELemetry (SNOTEL) stations in the Intermountain West--Colorado, Utah and Wyoming--and its implications for climate, hydrology and ecological research in the region. This issue impacts the entire SNOTEL network across the 11 Western states.
Author
Pub. Date
2008.
Description
The paper reviews the potential for administrative problems/disputes associated with western prior appropriation water rights in those sub-regions experiencing increasingly early spring snowmelt and the lengthening of growing seasons. In those areas, potential problems of two general types are envisioned. First, in those states that link water rights to specific calendar dates (that are becoming increasingly out-of-step with natural hydrographs),...
Author
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Compared to river basins such as the Colorado River, the Missouri River Basin has received relatively minimal federal engagement in terms of the provision of climate services. In order to effectively begin a coordinated, multi-agency effort to meet the climate-related needs of stakeholders throughout the basin, it is critical to identify those needs, catalog research and service capacities, map needs to capacities, and use social network analysis...
Author
Pub. Date
2015.
Description
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS) operates a network of thirteen River Forecast Centers (RFCs) across the country with the intended purpose of providing water management entities, emergency managers, and others with forecasts of streamflow and volumetric water supply at timescales ranging from hourly to seasonal. Despite these continued technical advances, recent research demonstrates that potential...
Author
Pub. Date
2013.
Description
Of the most costly natural hazards for which federal, state and local planners must prepare (like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods), the impacts of drought have been the least well measured. Yet drought vulnerability and impacts drive drought response policy and there are weaknesses in our ability to judge vulnerability and impacts.
Author
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Drought, and its various manifestations, is one of the largest - if not the largest - concern about weather and climate impacts in the Interior West. Quantification of the economic impacts of drought is important because it allows decision makers to document and justify requests for disaster assistance, and to demonstrate and evaluate the benefits of drought mitigation programs.
Author
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Climate variability and change, including drought, affects multiple sectors, from agriculture to transportation, but the Colorado Climate Preparedness Project (CCPP) study especially found a gap in, and demand for, more information about climate impacts in the outdoor recreation sector.
Author
Pub. Date
2018.
Description
This memo presents the results of a literature search conducted in May-June 2007 as a preliminary step toward the study of how climate change-induced variations in the hydrograph (i.e. earlier snowmelt and peak flows) may impact the temporal elements of water rights.
Author
Pub. Date
2014.
Description
A significant body of academic research indicates that climate change is having a profound effect on the hydrology of the Colorado River Basin and those water systems dependent upon the river. In this study, we trace how the subject of climate change is featured in media coverage of Colorado River Basin water issues, acknowledging the salient role of the media in shaping public understanding and sentiment.
Author
Pub. Date
2011.
Description
Of the most costly natural hazards for which federal, state and local planners must prepare (like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods), the impacts of drought have been the least well measured. Yet drought vulnerability and impacts drive drought response policy and there are weaknesses in our ability to judge vulnerability and impacts.
Author
Pub. Date
2016.
Description
For water providers and others in the Rocky Mountain West who depend on the pulse of runoff from the melting snowpack from April through July, snowpack monitoring is drought monitoring. A well-below-average snowpack as measured by snow-water equivalent (SWE) is a harbinger of not only low water supply but also other drought impacts, such as increased fire risk and below-normal summer soil moisture. However, the snowpack is complex, varying...
Author
Pub. Date
2018.
Description
Despite its potential, research is often critiqued for being not as usable for decision making in practice. This guide provides tangible, tested ways for making science more usable based on our experience in the Western Water Assessment as well as other input. It also highlights examples of researchers at CU Boulder who have produced usable research to serve practical needs.