1. Planning for climate change impacts on hydropower in the Far North
- Author
-
Susan Walker, Andrea J. Ray, Molly E. Tedesche, J. E. Cherry, Sarah F. Trainor, and Corrie Knapp
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Status quo ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Best practice ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,Climate change ,02 engineering and technology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Permafrost ,lcsh:Technology ,01 natural sciences ,lcsh:TD1-1066 ,Precipitation ,lcsh:Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,Hydropower ,lcsh:Environmental sciences ,media_common ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,lcsh:GE1-350 ,business.industry ,lcsh:T ,Environmental resource management ,lcsh:Geography. Anthropology. Recreation ,15. Life on land ,020801 environmental engineering ,Work (electrical) ,lcsh:G ,13. Climate action ,Environmental science ,Climate model ,business - Abstract
Unlike much of the contiguous United States, new hydropower development continues in the Far North, where climate models project precipitation will likely increase over the next century. Regional complexities in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, such as glacier recession and permafrost thaw, however, introduce uncertainties about the hydrologic responses to climate change that impact water resource management. This work reviews hydroclimate changes in the Far North and their impacts on hydropower; it provides a template for application of current techniques for prediction and estimating uncertainty, and it describes best practices for integrating science into management and decision-making. The growing number of hydrologic impacts studies suggests that information resulting from climate change science has matured enough that it can and should be integrated into hydropower scoping, design, and management. Continuing to ignore the best-available information in lieu of status quo planning is likely to prove costly to society in the long term.
- Published
- 2016