scholarly journals Climate change projection of snowfall in the Colorado River Basin using dynamical downscaling

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungwook Wi ◽  
Francina Dominguez ◽  
Matej Durcik ◽  
Juan Valdes ◽  
Henry F. Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Climate Change Projection

scholarly journals Interactions between Climate Change and Complex Topography Drive Observed Streamflow Changes in the Colorado River Basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1637-1650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt C. Solander ◽  
Katrina E. Bennett ◽  
Sean W. Fleming ◽  
David S. Gutzler ◽  
Emily M. Hopkins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
High Elevations

Abstract The Colorado River basin (CRB) is one of the most important watersheds for energy, water, and food security in the United States. CRB water supports 15% of U.S. food production, more than 50 GW of electricity capacity, and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Energy–water–food nexus impacts from climate change are projected to increase in the CRB. These include a higher incidence of extreme events, widespread snow-to-rain regime shifts, and a higher frequency and magnitude of climate-driven disturbances. Here, we empirically show how the historical annual streamflow maximum and hydrograph centroid timing relate to temperature, precipitation, and snow. In addition, we show how these hydroclimatic relationships vary with elevation and how the elevation dependence has changed over this historical observational record. We find temperature and precipitation have a relatively weak relation (|r| < 0.3) to interannual variations in streamflow timing and extremes at low elevations (<1500 m), but a relatively strong relation (|r| > 0.5) at high elevations (>2300 m) where more snow occurs in the CRB. The threshold elevation where this relationship is strongest (|r| > 0.5) is moving uphill at a rate of up to 4.8 m yr−1 (p = 0.11) and 6.1 m yr−1 (p = 0.01) for temperature and precipitation, respectively. Based on these findings, we hypothesize where warming and precipitation-related streamflow changes are likely to be most severe using a watershed-scale vulnerability map to prioritize areas for further research and to inform energy, water, and food resource management in the CRB.

Fragmentation and thermal risks from climate change interact to affect persistence of native trout in the Colorado River basin

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1383-1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Roberts ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch ◽  
Douglas P. Peterson ◽  
Mevin B. Hooten
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Colorado River Basin

The Effects of Climate Change on the Hydrology and Water Resources of the Colorado River Basin

2004 ◽  
Vol 62 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 337-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas S. Christensen ◽  
Andrew W. Wood ◽  
Nathalie Voisin ◽  
Dennis P. Lettenmaier ◽  
Richard N. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Hydrology And Water Resources

scholarly journals Causes for the Century-Long Decline in Colorado River Flow

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (23) ◽  
pp. 8181-8203 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hoerling ◽  
J. Barsugli ◽  
B. Livneh ◽  
J. Eischeid ◽  
X. Quan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Climate Change Signal ◽  
Uncertainty Range ◽  
Percent Change ◽  
Upper Colorado River Basin

Abstract Upper Colorado River basin streamflow has declined by roughly 20% over the last century of the instrumental period, based on estimates of naturalized flow above Lees Ferry. Here we assess factors causing the decline and evaluate the premise that rising surface temperatures have been mostly responsible. We use an event attribution framework involving parallel sets of global model experiments with and without climate change drivers. We demonstrate that climate change forcing has acted to reduce Upper Colorado River basin streamflow during this period by about 10% (with uncertainty range of 6%–14% reductions). The magnitude of the observed flow decline is found to be inconsistent with natural variability alone, and approximately one-half of the observed flow decline is judged to have resulted from long-term climate change. Each of three different global models used herein indicates that climate change forcing during the last century has acted to increase surface temperature (~+1.2°C) and decrease precipitation (~−3%). Using large ensemble methods, we diagnose the separate effects of temperature and precipitation changes on Upper Colorado River streamflow. Precipitation change is found to be the most consequential factor owing to its amplified impact on flow resulting from precipitation elasticity (percent change in streamflow per percent change in precipitation) of ~2. We confirm that warming has also driven streamflow declines, as inferred from empirical studies, although operating as a secondary factor. Our finding of a modest −2.5% °C−1 temperature sensitivity, on the basis of our best model-derived estimate, indicates that only about one-third of the attributable climate change signal in Colorado River decline resulted from warming, whereas about two-thirds resulted from precipitation decline.

Incorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 14-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas S Bair ◽  
Charles B Yackulic ◽  
John C Schmidt ◽  
Denielle M Perry ◽  
Christine J Kirchhoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Social Ecological
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