Water and climate in the western United States / William M. Lewis, Jr., editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lewis, William M., Jr., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Water-supply--West (U.S.).

Water-supply.

West (U.S.)--Climate.

West (U.S.).

Hydrometeorology--West (U.S.).

Hydrometeorology.

Physical Description:

x, 294 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colo : University Press of Colorado, [2003]

Summary:

Although developed intensively as a resource for more than a century, Western water use and management are far from being settled matters. With essays from scholars representing the multiple viewpoints of climate forecasting, water management, water law, and water use allocation, Water and Climate in the Western United States demonstrates that new technologies and new scientific understandings of the water cycle are emerging at a time when demands for water are expanding and changing and old policies and institutions are coming under severe criticism for their inadequacy. The degree to which vagaries of climate can be anticipated and countered -- through better predictions, better supervision, and reformed legal and management systems for allocating water -- are explored thoroughly by the contributors in the context of a long-term climate record and changes in water use. The essays in this volume highlight both the opportunity and necessity for change in human management of water, the West's most limited resource. Unique in its full, integrated coverage, Water and Climate in the Western United States will appeal to academics and policymakers interested in water supply and management questions as well as climate prediction.

Contents:

Part 1 Prospects for Understanding and Predicting Variability of Climate 5

1 Predicting Climate Variations in the American West: What Are Our Prospects? / Randall M. Dole 9

2 Climate Variability in the West: Complex Spatial Structure Associated with Topography, and Observational Issues / Kelly T. Redmond 29

3 Dendrochronological Evidence for Long-Term Hydroclimatic Variability / Connie A. Woodhouse 49

4 Acquisition, Management, and Dissemination of Climate Data / Rene Reitsma, Phil Pasteris 59

Part 2 Linkages Between Prediction of Climate and Hydrology 67

5 Use of Weather and Climate Information in Forecasting Water Supply in the Western United States / Martyn P. Clark, Lauren E. Hay, Gregory J. McCabe, George H. Leavesley, Mark C. Serreze, Robert L. Wilby 69

6 Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on the Water Resources of the Western United States / Kenneth M. Strzepek, David N. Yates 93

7 Improving Water-Resource System Performance Through Long-Range Climate Forecasts: The Pacific Northwest Experience / Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Alan F. Hamlet 107

8 Has Modeling of Water Resources on the Basis of Climate and Hydrology Reached Its Full Potential? / John Labadie, Luis Garcia 123

Part 3 Responses of Water Managers to Climate Variability and Climate Change 129

9 What Can Water Managers Do About Climate Variability and Change? / Eugene Stakhiv 131

10 Management of Colorado River Resources / Terrance J. Fulp 143

11 Water Development and Management Along the South Platte River of Colorado / Tom Cech 153

12 Can Climate Predictions Be of Practical Use in Western Water Management? / C. Booth Wallentine, Dave Matthews 161

Part 4 Perspectives on Society, Institutions, and Water 169

13 A Changing Geography: Growth, Land Use, and Water in the Interior West / William R. Travis 171

14 Constraints of Law and Policy on the Management of Western Water / David H. Getches 183

15 Economic and Institutional Strategies for Adapting to Water Resource Effects of Climate Change / John Loomis, Jessica Koteen, Brian Hurd 235

16 Climate Variability: Social, Policy, and Institutional Issues / Kathleen Miller, Steven Gloss 251

Part 5 Analyzing the Analysts 271

17 Western Water Resources and "Climate of Opinion" Variables / Patricia Nelson Limerick 273.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0870817272

OCLC:

51478208