Water

Increases in heavy rainfall and reductions in mountain snowpack paired with hotter, drier summers will bring new hazards and stress Northwest water resources.

Overview of the impacts of climate change on water in the Northwest

 

News, multimedia & research highlights

Workshop Recording: Resilience planning in small water systems in Washington

Learn more about how small- and medium-sized water utilities can use climate data to help assess their climate risk and plan to build resilience with this 90-minute workshop recording. The Climate Impacts Group and Department of Health (DOH) Office of Drinking Water collaborated to offer this virtual workshop on March 1, 2022.
Workshop Recording

Webinar: Heavy Precip. Projections for Stormwater Planning

This webinar reviews how to use and apply the tool for stormwater planning.
Watch the webinar

Op-Ed: Weather disasters can teach us how to prepare for the future

With climate change our challenge now is to reduce the impacts of flooding on our communities. We can do that by learning from flooding events when they happen, writes Guillaume Mauger, UW research scientist at the Climate Impacts Group in an Op-Ed.
Read the op-ed

Hydropower decline adds strain to power grids in drought

Severe drought across the West drained reservoirs this year, slashing hydropower production and further stressing the region’s power grids. And as extreme weather becomes more common with climate change, grid operators are adapting to swings in hydropower generation. Climate Adaptation Specialist Dr. Crystal Raymond is quoted.
Read the article on ABC News


“Basically, the snowpack is nature’s water bottle. It’s storing our water so that we have some of it in the summer when we’re not getting that rain. What’s happening as temperatures warm? Our snowpack is declining.”

– Harriet Morgan, former Climate Impacts Group researcher

 

What we’re working on now

Climate Impacts and Adaptation in the Anacortes Water System Plan

The Climate Impacts Group is supporting the City of Anacortes in updating their Water System Plan, in collaboration with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium. Researchers from the Climate Impacts Group and the Skagit Consortium will provide a high-level literature review of existing climate change impacts of relevance to Anacortes Water and emerging risks that have not yet been studied. In addition, researchers will summarize previous actions taken by the City to prepare for the anticipated impacts of climate change. The Climate Impacts Group will also review portions of the Water System Plan related to climate adaptation. This information will be used by staff at the City of Anacortes to build their resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Supporting Climate Resilient Floodplain Management in Whatcom and Snohomish Counties

The purpose of this project is to increase the capacity for climate-resilient floodplain management by working with integrated management groups to raise awareness about climate change, identify key impacts, synthesize the relevant science and coordinate priorities for new science. The work will focus on Whatcom County, including the Nooksack basin and other adjoining watersheds, and Snohomish County, including the Snohomish and Stillaguamish basins and the Snohomish/Stillaguamish local integrating organizations.
Learn more

Supporting Climate Resilience for Small and Medium Water Systems

The objective of this project is to provide technical assistance and support to small and medium water systems so they can incorporate climate resilience into water system planning.

Image credit: Army Corps of Engineers
Learn more

Annual Assessment of Water Year Impacts in the Pacific Northwest

The annual assessment of water year impacts on the Pacific Northwest is an ongoing project with the goal of better understanding the impacts of events and conditions of the previous water year on agricultural production, drinking water supply, hydropower, fisheries, recreation, forestry and other sectors dependent on natural resources. Each year, we review the significant weather events and climate conditions of the water year, capture the water year impacts, facilitate knowledge sharing among scientists and practitioners and provide a forecast for the upcoming water year.

Every year this project consists of two main components — a water year meeting, held in the fall, and a written assessment, published in late winter. The two main components of this project are discussed in more detail below.
Learn more

Supporting Floodplains for the Future Capital Projects

The Floodplains for the Future (FFtF) Partnership has developed, and continues to refine, an approximate $250 million set of capital projects aimed at reducing flood risk, supporting agriculture and recovering salmon. Working alongside the FFtF Partnership, the UW Climate Impacts Group aims to ensure their plans account for and respond to the anticipated effects of climate change. To do this we are working with the Partnership to synthesize existing climate change information, identify gaps in the science and support new work to address key gaps.
Learn more

Stream Temperature Handbook

The Climate Impacts Group is collaborating with local natural resource managers and colleges at USGS to develop a handbook that can be used to guide the selection of appropriate stream temperature data and models for specific management questions. This work will be summarized in a webinar and report/handbook for natural resources managers who are considering the impacts of climate change on future water quality in the Pacific Northwest.
Learn more


Selected data, tools & completed projects

Flood risk in King County

How climate change stands to impact flooding on Green, Snoqualmie, and South Fork Skykomish rivers.

The aim of this study is to provide King County decision makers with relevant, specific streamflow data that will allow them to account for climate change in their flood risk management practices.
Learn more

Climate Robust Culvert Design

This multi-phase project aimed to help engineers and resource managers incorporate projections of future streamflow into designing structures that can accommodate fish passage and streamflow, with a particular focus on culverts.
Learn more

Hydroclimate datasets

Including studies of water temperature, hydrology and precipitation

Datasets by Climate Impacts Group researchers studying hydrologic projections. Data is available for the Chehalis basin, Washington State, the Pacific Northwest, the Western U.S., and the North Pacific.
CIG Datasets

Interactive data tools

Tools to assist in management decisions

Available tools include:
Designing culverts to withstand climate change
Visualizing precipitation changes in the Northwest
Visualizing how heavy rains will change in western Washington
Exploring projected changes in precipitation, snow and streamflow
Access these tools


All water-related projects and publications

PROJECTS  PUBLICATIONS

 

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