Responding to Evolving Stakeholder Needs for 21st Century Hydrologic Scenarios: an Overview of the Columbia Basin Climate Change Scenarios Project

In collaboration with the WA State Dept. of Ecology and a group of regional stakeholders in OR, WA, ID, MT, and BC, the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington has conducted a two-year climate change study over the Columbia River basin and coastal drainages in WA and OR.  The study, which is one of the most comprehensive of its type in the country, provides detailed hydrologic data for 297 river locations in the PNW as well as a regional database of gridded hydrological data over the entire study domain (http://www.hydro.washington.edu/2860/).  Using climate change scenarios from the 10 best global climate models for the Pacific Northwest from the IPCC AR4 and three different statistical downscaling approaches, the study provides hydrological data for 77 climate change scenarios designed to support water resources planning as well as terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems research.  The draft study results are already being used by a wide range of regional stakeholders including the USGS, Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Boise Aquatic Research Laboratory, and the National Marine Fisheries Science Center.