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FORECASTING AND EVALUATING VULNERABILITY OF WATERSHEDS TO CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME EVENTS, AND ALGAL BLOOMS
Impact/Purpose:
The goals of this project are to advance our knowledge of relationships between extreme events and water quality across the diversity of climatic and geologic conditions of the US, as well as to develop tools for advancing that knowledge and informing water quality management strategies under different climate change scenarios. We hypothesize that effects of extreme events will be greatest in hydrologically variable regions of the country, which are often most dependent on surface waters for drinking water supply.
Description:
Climate change is projected to increase the intensity of extreme weather events along with temperature. Increases in water temperature with greater frequency and intensity of floods and droughts are a perfect storm for exacerbating problems in water quality. Recent developments in satellite remote sensing and water quality modeling enable quantification of empirical relationships between changes in water quality and extreme events at scales that can inform long-term water quality management.