A new study led by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory analyzes the likely timing of a low-to-no-snow future, what it will mean for water management, and opportunities for investments now that could stave off catastrophic consequences.
The study focused on the mountains of the western U.S., where climate models forecast snowpacks could shrink dramatically and possibly even disappear at some point in the next century. As the study explains, these snowpacks provide a tremendous service for the water supply. Historically, snowmelt timing provides a critical delay in the delivery of water supply during the spring and into the summer, when precipitation is low and when water demands are at their highest due to agriculture.
The study’s aim was to spur water managers to think now about adaptation strategies, and in support of this it highlights some novel climate adaptation strategies developed through nontraditional academic and water agency partnerships. One such partnership is a Department of Energy-supported project called HyperFACETS, which involves 11 research institutions, including the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working with water utility managers in California, Colorado, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Another relatively new technique, forecast-informed reservoir operations, in which weather and hydrological forecasts are used to inform decisions about retaining or releasing water from reservoirs, was recently shown to increase water storage at Lake Mendocino in California by 33 percent. These and other techniques show promise for increasing water supply, but the study’s authors also recommend more cross-collaboration, both among scientists and within society as a whole, to expand the portfolio of climate adaptation strategies.
