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Transboundary Implications of Climate Change for the Columbia River Basin

This study examines the potential impacts of climate change on the Columbia River Basin and its transboundary water management. It highlights the flawed water planning approach used in the Colorado River Compact of 1922 and emphasizes the need for long-term planning informed by accurate climate information.

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Transboundary Implications of Climate Change for the Columbia River Basin

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  1. Transboundary Implications of Climate Change for the Columbia River Basin • Alan F. Hamlet, • Philip W. Mote, Nate Mantua, • Dennis P. Lettenmaier • JISAO/CSES Climate Impacts Group • Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering • University of Washington

  2. Example of a flawed water planning study: The Colorado River Compact of 1922 The Colorado River Compact of 1922 divided the use of waters of the Colorado River System between the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin. It apportioned **in perpetuity** to the Upper and Lower Basin, respectively, the beneficial consumptive use of 7.5 million acre feet (maf) of water per annum. It also provided that the Upper Basin will not cause the flow of the river at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of 7.5 maf for any period of ten consecutive years. The Mexican Treaty of 1944 allotted to Mexico a guaranteed annual quantity of 1.5 maf. **These amounts, when combined, exceed the river's long-term average annual flow**.

  3. What’s the Problem? Despite a general awareness of these issues in the water planning community, there is growing evidence that future climate variability will not look like the past and that current planning activities, which frequently use a limited observed streamflow record to represent climate variability, are in danger of repeating the same kind of mistakes made more than 80 years ago in forging the Colorado River Compact. Long-term planning and specific agreements influenced by this planning (such as long-term transboundary agreements) should be informed by the best and most complete climate information available, but frequently they are not.

  4. Global Climate Change Scenarios and Hydrologic Impacts for the PNW

  5. +3.2°C °C +1.7°C +0.7°C 1.2-5.5°C 0.9-2.4°C Observed 20th century variability 0.4-1.0°C Pacific Northwest

  6. % -1 to +3% +6% +2% +1% Observed 20th century variability -2 to +21% -1 to +9% Pacific Northwest

  7. The warmer locations are most sensitive to warming 2060s +2.3C, +6.8% winter precip

  8. Trends in April 1 SWE 1950-1997 Mote P.W.,Hamlet A.F., Clark M.P., Lettenmaier D.P., 2005, Declining mountain snowpack in western North America, BAMS, 86 (1): 39-49

  9. Changes in Simulated April 1 Snowpack for the Canadian and U.S. portions of the Columbia River basin (% change relative to current climate) 20th Century Climate “2040s” (+1.7 C) “2060s” (+ 2.25 C) -3.6% -11.5% -21.4% -34.8% April 1 SWE (mm)

  10. Simulated Changes in Natural Runoff Timing in the Naches River Basin Associated with 2 C Warming • Impacts: • Increased winter flow • Earlier and reduced peak flows • Reduced summer flow volume • Reduced late summer low flow

  11. Effects of Basin Winter Temperatures Northern Location (colder winter temperatures) Southern Location (warmer winter temperatures)

  12. Water Resources Implications for the Columbia River Basin

  13. Impacts on Columbia Basin hydropower supplies • Winter and Spring: increased generation • Summer: decreased generation • Annual: total production will depend primarily on annual precipitation (+2C, +6%) (+2.3C, +5%) (+2.9C, -4%) NWPCC (2005)

  14. Warming climate impacts on electricity demand • Reductions in winter heating demand • Small increases in summer air conditioning demand in the warmest parts of the region NWPCC 2005

  15. Adaptation to climate change will require complex tradeoffs between ecosystem protection and hydropower operations Source: Payne, J.T., A.W. Wood, A.F. Hamlet, R.N. Palmer, and D.P. Lettenmaier, 2004, Mitigating the effects of climate change on the water resources of the Columbia River basin, Climatic Change, Vol. 62, Issue 1-3, 233-256

  16. Flood Control vs. Refill : Current Climate Full

  17. Flood Control vs. Refill : Current Climate : + 2.25 oC No adaption Streamflow timing shifts can reduce the reliability of reservoir refill + 2.25 oC Full

  18. Flood Control vs. Refill : Current Climate : + 2.25 oC No adaption : + 2.25 oC plus adaption Streamflow timing shifts can reduce the reliability of reservoir refill + 2.25 oC Full

  19. Temperature thresholds for coldwater fish in freshwater • Warming temperatures will increasingly stress coldwater fish in the warmest parts of our region • A monthly average air temperature of 68ºF (20ºC) has been used as an upper limit for resident cold water fish habitat, and is known to stress Pacific salmon during periods of freshwater migration, spawning, and rearing +1.7 °C +2.3 °C

  20. Implications for Transboundary Water Management in the Columbia Basin • Climate change will result in significant hydrologic changes in the Columbia River and its tributaries. • Snowpack in the BC portion of the Columbia basin is much less sensitive to warming in comparison with portions of the basin in the U.S. and streamflow timing shifts will also be smaller in Canada. • As warming progresses, Canada will have an increasing fraction of the snowpack contributing to summer streamflow volumes in the Columbia basin. • These differing impacts in the two countries have the potential to “unbalance” the current coordination agreements, and will present serious challenges to meeting instream flows on the U.S. side. • Changes in flood control, hydropower production, and instream flow augmentation will all be needed as the flow regime changes.

  21. Implications for the Columbia River Treaty • The Columbia River Treaty is focused primarily on conjunctive hydropower and flood control operations. • Arguably the greatest shortcoming of the agreement in the context of climate change adaptation is that currently the CRT does not encompass tradeoffs between the full range of management concerns facing the US and Canada. • Of particular concern is the need to encompass the different (and often competing) ecosystem needs in Canada and the US. • Does the Columbia River Treaty have the flexibility and scope needed to adapt to the water resources challenges of the 21st Century?

  22. Selected References and URL’s Climate Impacts Group Website http://www.cses.washington.edu/cig/ White Papers, Agenda, Presentations for CIG 2001 Climate Change Workshop ftp://ftp.hydro.washington.edu/pub/hamleaf/climate_change_white_papers Climate Change Streamflow Scenarios for Water Planning Studies http://www.ce.washington.edu/~hamleaf/climate_change_streamflows/CR_cc.htm Northwest Power and Conservation Council Columbia Basin Hydropower Study http://www.nwppc.org/energy/powerplan/plan/Default.htm Book Chapter on Transboundary Challenges in the Columbia Basin ftp://ftp.hydro.washington.edu/pub/hamleaf/transboundary_climate_change

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