Climate Change and Watershed Hydrology: Part I - Recent and Projected Changes in British Columbia

Abstract

Introduction The cli mate of Brit ish Colum bia is chang ing, and with these changes come many adjust ments in water shed hydrol ogy and ulti mately in our use of water-related resources. For exam ple, declin ing snowpacks are a con cern because they affect many aspects of water resources, from instream flows for fish to com mu nity water sup plies to soil mois ture, ground wa ter, and aqui fer recharge (BCMOE 2007). Because Brit ish Colum bia is hydrologically diverse, the local responses to the antic i pated changes in pre cip i ta tion and tem per a ture will dif fer. As a guide to what might hap pen in the future, this arti cle (Part I) sum ma rizes his tor i cal tem per a ture and pre cip i ta tion trends and future cli mate sce nar ios for Brit ish Colum bia. The accom pa ny ing arti cle (Part II) dis cusses eight broad hydrologic implications of climate change in British Columbia.