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Operating the Seattle Water System During the 1987 Drought
Author(s) -
Lettenmaier Dennis P.,
Wood Eric F.,
Parkinson David B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1990.tb06964.x
Subject(s) - inflow , snow , precipitation , environmental science , economic shortage , climatology , period (music) , hydrology (agriculture) , water year , water supply , water balance , meteorology , geography , geology , drainage basin , cartography , linguistics , philosophy , physics , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering , government (linguistics) , acoustics
The Seattle Water Department receives its supply from reservoirs on the Cedar and Tolt rivers, which drain the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Most droughts in the Northwest are the result of deficient winter snowfall. The 1987 drought was unusual in that the previous winter's precipitation was close to normal, but the summer dry period extended into the late fall, causing a severe water shortage. For this reason, a medium‐term forecast model was developed to assist in the evaluation of management alternatives during a critical 16‐week period from late summer to late fall 1987. A key feature of the model was that it predicted a best forecast at each of four inflow points, as well as the probability distribution of the forecasts.