Climate Change and the Impact on Water Quality and Watershed Management
Abstract
The impact of climate change on water resources have been of increasing concern in the Chesapeake region. In the region, mean annual temperature and precipitation have increased over the last century, and seven global climate models applied to the Chesapeake region project temperature increases into the next century. Most of the global climate models project precipitation increases as well, particularly for higher intensity rainfall events. Increased precipitation increases erosion, and brings more sediment and particulate-bound nutrients from the watershed to the Bay. The increase of temperature also increases evapotranspiration and reduces annual water discharge, which may counterbalance increases of precipitation, even to the degree that overall annual watershed flow is decreased. Augmenting these hydrologic changes are land use changes in the Chesapeake watershed projected for the year 2030. Projected increased impervious surfaces, which have the potential for further increases of storm flow and decreased base flow, tend to reinforce climate change effects on hydrology. These temperature and flow factors, together affect the density stratification in the Chesapeake. Further, the increase of temperature, especially in the summer, could accelerate decay of bottom organic carbon and decrease bottom dissolved oxygen. Initial scenarios using linked models of the watershed and Chesapeake water quality examined the effect of the water quality responses to climate change. The implications for watershed management are discussed.
- Publication:
-
AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUSM.H51B..08W
- Keywords:
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- 1630 Impacts of global change (1225);
- 1641 Sea level change (1222;
- 1225;
- 4556);
- 1807 Climate impacts;
- 1880 Water management (6334)