Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evidence For A Climate-Driven Hydrologic Regime Shift In The Canadian Columbia Basin, Janice Brahney, Frank Weber, Vanessa Foord, John Janmaat, Paul Jefferson Curtis

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Water resources from the Columbia River Basin are intensely used for domestic, agricultural, industrial and hydroelectric generation needs. Water availability in the Pacific Northwest is influenced by several ocean–atmosphere modes of climate variability that occur in the Pacific Ocean. Climate change has the potential to alter these relationships and influence both the volume and timing of streamflow in the snowmelt-dominated tributaries to the Columbia River. Here, the historical influences of climate variability and recent climate warming on the volume and timing of streamflow for 40 tributary streams in the Columbia River Basin of Canada were evaluated. Regional relationships were found …