EPA Releases Impacts of Climate Change Report

There is growing concern about the potential effects of climate change on water resources. To address this concern, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed a report entitled, “Watershed Modeling to Assess the Sensitivity of Streamflow, Nutrient, and Sediment Loads to Potential Climate Change and Urban Development in 20 U.S. Watersheds.”

To develop this report , watershed modeling was conducted in 20 large U.S. watersheds to characterize the sensitivity of stream flow, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment loading to a range of plausible mid-21st century climate change and urban development scenarios. The report also provides an improved understanding of methodological challenges associated with integrating existing tools (e.g., climate models, downscaling approaches and watershed models) and data sets to address these scientific questions.

Results provide an improved understanding of the complex and context-dependent relationships between climate change, land-use change and water resources in different regions of the nation. As a first-order conclusion, results indicate that in many locations future conditions are likely to be different from past experience. Results also provide a plausible envelope on the range of stream flow and water quality responses to mid-21st century climate change and urban development in different regions of the nation. 

Source: EPA