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2013 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

17. Climate Change Impacts on California’s Water Resources

Authors : Ali Mirchi, Kaveh Madani, Maurice Roos, David W. Watkins

Published in: Drought in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

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Abstract

While California’s water resources and infrastructure are already facing critical challenges in terms of providing Californians with adequate water supply, numerous studies have demonstrated the unfavorable impacts of climate change on the state’s water supply system. As such, observed temperature increases, changing precipitation patterns, variations in runoff timing and magnitude resulting from changes in snow accumulation and melt characteristics, and recent droughts in California may be partly attributable to changing hydro-climatic conditions. Hence, from a water supply standpoint, the study of climate change and consequent hydrologic variability bear important implications for water resources planning and management in California. This chapter aims to illustrate how climate change and its associated impacts have affected or are expected to affect California’s water resources. Additionally, implications for water infrastructure and a summary of strategies for adaptation to climate change are presented.

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previous chapter Drought and Climate Change in the Murray-Darling Basin: A Hydrological Perspective
next chapter Water Scarcity and Droughts in Spain: Impacts and Policy Measures
Footnotes
1
The largest surface reservoir is Shasta with storage capacity of 4.5 MAF.
 
2
As an example, salinity levels in the San Francisco Bay Delta violated water quality standards in three straight years at the end of 1987–1992 drought (Wilkinson et al. 2002).
 
3
Increased urban demand is expected as a result of population growth.
 
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Metadata
Title
Climate Change Impacts on California’s Water Resources
Authors
Ali Mirchi
Kaveh Madani
Maurice Roos
David W. Watkins
Copyright Year
2013
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Book
Drought in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6635-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-94-007-6636-5

Copyright Year: 2013

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6636-5_17