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How Should Water Utilities Prepare for: Climate Change?
Author(s) -
Sykes Richard G.,
Chan Clifford C.,
Encarnacion Rey C.,
Richards Kevin T.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
opflow
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1551-8701
pISSN - 0149-8029
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8701.2009.tb02963.x
Subject(s) - climate change , environmental science , flooding (psychology) , water resource management , water supply , surface runoff , flood myth , greenhouse gas , environmental resource management , current (fluid) , water resources , flood control , resource (disambiguation) , environmental planning , environmental engineering , computer science , engineering , geography , oceanography , geology , psychology , ecology , computer network , archaeology , electrical engineering , psychotherapist , biology
This article presents new developments by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in Oakland, California, in using current climate change research for water resource and operational planning. By using available information on water supply availability, flood control and storage, operational reliability, and water quality, EBMUD conducted various studies to analyze how its system may be required to operate in the future. Reducing greenhouse gases, the effect of climate change on supply sources, and rising sea levels are discussed in relation to effects on utilities. The article provides two figures that, first, show unimpaired runoff under historical and climate change conditions; and, second, show the onset of flooding potential for the five worst floods on record. A table is included in the article that presents the possible impacts of climate change on water resources.