The Value of International Collaborations in Understanding How Climate Change Affects Water Supplies from Snow Dominated Catchments

Abstract

Climate change is affecting the way engineers think about existing water supply infrastructure and the design of future infrastructure. Water supply planning is often based on historic patterns in weather and precipitation. However, changes in the climate may alter these weather patterns, including precipitation in the form of snow. Regions of the world dependent on snow for water supplies are likely to experience changes to the timing and quantity of runoff. Understanding these anticipated changes to future snowpack and resulting snowmelt runoff can influence how water resource engineers approach planning, design, and management of water supplies. Projections in climate change are expected to have varying impacts for different regions of the world, where no two locations are expected to experience the same fluctuations. New Zealand and Colorado are locations selected for technical comparison in this paper to illustrate (1) how different regions of the world are approaching and incorporating the commonality of potential climate change, (2) water supply from snow dominated catchments, 3) the availability of data and resources, and (4) a National Science Foundation-sponsored Eastern Asian and Pacific Study Institute exchange opportunity was undertaken by the first author to conduct research in New Zealand.