Late 20th Century Hydrologic Change in Western North America: Regional Impacts and the Role of Climate

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Hydroclimatic variations and change directly impact the freshwater supplies in western North America. Streamflow in this region has shown increased variability of annual flow volumes and increasing synchroneity in the largest basins in the west towards the end of last century. As land-use change seems to play a lesser role, the PI will study the sensitivity of the western North American winter precipitation and related streamflow to El Nino-Southern Oscillation variations. The PI will use observations and multi-model ensemble integrations to study the decadal variations. The broader impact of this project will be an increase of the scientific knowledge required in water resources management.