HR: 1340h
AN: H43A-0961    [Abstracts]
TI: Assessment of Hydroclimatic Trends Over the Colorado River Basin
AU: * Miller, W P
EM: millerw9@unlv.nevada.edu
AF: University of Nevada Las Vegas, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 4505 Maryland Parkway Box 454015, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States
AU: * Miller, W P
EM: millerw9@unlv.nevada.edu
AF: Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder Canyon Operations Office PO Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89005, United States
AU: Piechota, T C
EM: piechota@ce.unlv.edu
AF: University of Nevada Las Vegas, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 4505 Maryland Parkway Box 454015, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States
AB: Recent studies by a broad range of governmental agencies, universities, and experts in the scientific community have begun to acknowledge and address issues regarding climate change and trends. Most of these studies have focused on global scale trends in hydroclimatic variables and long-term impacts of climate change. The impacts of climate change are particularly important in the Colorado River Basin to resource managers, and water users who depend upon the Colorado River to provide water for flood control, consumptive use, irrigation, environmental, recreational, and energy demands. In this study, trends in hydroclimatic variables such as temperature, precipitation, streamflow and snowpack over the Colorado River Basin are considered and their interdependency discussed. Impacts of observed trends on the operation of the Colorado River and affects on water users are assessed. In this study, early peak runoff corresponds to persistent increasing trends in temperature. Observed monthly streamflow rates are consistently decreasing between April and July, traditionally when peak flow is observed. The potential for incorporation of hydroclimatic trends into the improvement of forecasts is explored.
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 1637 Regional climate change
DE: 1812 Drought
DE: 1833 Hydroclimatology
DE: 1880 Water management (6334)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting