AWWA ACE94093

Historically, water management practices have adjusted to climate changes as they have occurred, usually without explicitly recognizing climate as the causative factor. Climate change has apparently accelerated in recent years, and future water resource impacts may appear faster than reactive adjustments in management policy can accommodate them. It will be important to anticipate and prepare for possible water resource impacts in order to keep adjustment costs lower. Both water supply and water use are predictable only by assuming some specific set of climatic parameters, so effects of climate change will be ambiguous. Actual calculations must be made, using models and approaches that correctly express the effect of weather and climate on water supply and water demand. Only in this way can the actual direction of change be determined, including the resulting impact on surpluses or deficits. In this paper, the calculations are made for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and for the watersheds which serve it, consisting primarily of the Potomac River Basin. The purpose of the research is to assess the ability of existing models and analytical approaches to predict the effect of possible climate change on urban water management. The paper discusses a single aspect of that research: the effect of climate change on urban water use in the Washington region.

Product Details

Published:

01/01/1994

ISBN(s):

0898677734

Number of Pages:

10

File Size:

1 file , 380 KB