Friday, August 24, 2007

Changes in California climate tied to water supply

VenturaCounty Star: Global climate change will have dramatic effects on California's water resources, reducing the Sierra snowpack by at least 25 percent by 2050, decreasing spring runoff into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and contributing to more severe droughts. And state and local water agencies will have but one choice in dealing with all this: adapt.

That was the conclusion of experts who testified Thursday at a hearing of the State Water Resources Control Board — a hearing that Chairwoman Tam Dudoc called the state's "first formal forum on the nexus between climate change and water resources." Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources, testified that the effects of climate change are great unknowns as the state makesto the south…

Tim Brick, chairman of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said the agency's experience in responding to the drought of the early '90s has provided "a model of adaptability" that will help meet future challenges.

… studies of the Colorado River watershed conclude that climate changes will result in a 10 percent to 40 percent reduction in river flows. "What we now consider a drought is going to be a permanent condition by 2040," he said.

June 2009 – At the studios of Cleanskies TV, I was interviewed about the costs of climate change, and discussed adaptation efforts underway in the US and around the world.

May 2009 – I helped draft the scenarios for Rising Waters, a multistakeholder scenarios effort focused on climate change adaptation in the