Modeling of climate change effects on stream temperatures and fish habitats below dams and near groundwater inputs

Abstract

A deterministic heat transport model was developed to calculate stream water temperatures downstream of reservoir outlets (tailwaters) and groundwater sources. The model calculates heat exchange between the atmosphere, the water and the sediments and is driven by climate and stream hydrologic parameters. Past and projected climate conditions were used as input to the stream water temperature model. To produce a projected future weather scenario, output from the Columbia University Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) global circulation model (GCM) for a doubling of atmospheric CO2 were used to adjust past (1955–1979) weather parameters. Stream reach lengths, within which water temperatures are suitable for survival or good growth of 28 fish species, were determined for four selected streams. Several alternative upstream inflow conditions were chosen: Discharges from surface (epilimnion) and bottom (hypolimnion) outlets of reservoirs, and two groundwater inflow scenarios. By applying water temperature criteria for fish survival and good growth (Stefanet al., 1993) to simulated stream temperatures, it was possible to estimate stream lengths with suitable habitat. When simulated suitable habitat was compared to actual fish observations, good agreement was found. For projected climate change, the simulations showed how much of the available stream habitat would be lost. In the examples presented the effect of cold hypolimnetic water release from a reservoir or groundwater discharges is felt as far as 48 km (30 miles) downstream from its source, especially in smaller shaded streams. The impact of climate change on stream temperatures below dams is more pronounced when the water release is from the epilimnion (reservoir surface) rather than the hypolimnion (deep water). Examples used for this study show elimination of coldwater habitat for rainbow trout when the upstream release is from the surface of a reservoir, but only reductions of coldwater habitat when the upstream release is from a reservoir hypolimnion.