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<br />FUTURE CLIMATE CHA.'iGES THREATEN COLORADO RIVER
<br />WATER Qli.ol.\TI1Y AND QUALITY
<br />
<br />PRESS RELEASE
<br />
<br />For runher Informallonr call Dr. Peter Glelc~
<br />at the Paelnc Institute, ($10) Z51.1600,
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<br />
<br />Embar;:oe<l for Release UnlJl:
<br />Friday 3 Decem~r 1993 .. A.M.
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<br />Oakland, California.. The water supply system of the Colorado River Basin Is extremely
<br />vul:1erable to future changes In climate, Such cllmatic changes could have very severe'
<br />impacts on water quality and quantIty. and on a \\!ide range of benefil$ provided by
<br />Colorado River water. according to a new research teeoft Just released by the V.S,;
<br />Environmental Protection Agency, The mUlti-year study, The Colorado RIver Basin and
<br />Cllmatlc Chanie,' was done by tho Pacific Institute for Studies in Develop-me "l,1
<br />Environment, ilnd SecurJty, an independent research Center in Oakland. California.' i
<br />
<br />Linda Nash and Peter OIelck, Senior Research Associates of the Pacific Institute who'
<br />conducted the study, evaluated how a range of projected changes in climate resulting fromi
<br />the greenhouse effect could alter the hydrologic regime of the Colorado River Basin. in the:
<br />form of changes in runoff, reservoir levels, the generation of hydropower, the supply of,
<br />water to different users (Including Mexico, the Central Arizona Project, and thel
<br />Metropolitan Water District 0/ Southern California), and water quality, ;
<br />. I
<br />"Our results suggest that the Colorado River BAsIn is extremely sensitive to climaticl
<br />change~ that could occur over the next several decades, The present approaches to waterj
<br />management in the baJ;ln are inadequate for dealing with competing demands and prioritIes,
<br />under altered climatic conditions. said Dr. Peter Oleid:. I
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<br />Deliveries of water to the many users of the Colorado River are governed by a:
<br />complex set of legal and institutional arrangement~. The study assumed no changes In these I
<br />arrangements. but rather attempted to evaluate how the current system would react to'
<br />changes In water availability lmpo~ed hi' the greenhouse effe~, i
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<br />. Using the best esrimates of future climatic change. from large-scale general [
<br />circulation models of the cllmatc, the new report found that even though precipl13tlon may I
<br />Increase, a simultaneous Increase In evapotranspiration would result in a net decrease of I
<br />B percent to 20 percent in 5urface runoff, "The implications of these d"reases In runoff
<br />{or hyuroelectricity proJuction, so\{nlty, resel"{oir levels, and wllter deliveries to different:
<br />u~ers could be quite dramatic. We already fight over scarce water In the western V,S, .. i
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<br />, The .tu~y was eonducted ...i,h rundin~ flom Ihe CrimM. O1ane. Divhlon of Ibe U,S, En,^lonmenl.v !
<br />ProlecUon Agency In Wuhl~on. D.C. The Pacific In'litule ~ a non'profil mearcn and polley cenler doini i
<br />r~caTdl on a wide range of problems related 10 t~e i10bal environment, ,u'lainahle developmenl, and.
<br />jn\"nalil1n~1 !ecurily and poliliC!, The (ree le~rl CIlJ'I be ordered lrom the EPA at (513) 891-65GI, 01 (AXed!
<br />urum 10 (513) 89t-6G8S. The repoll nvm~r ls EPA "'2JO.R.93.{X)9, I
<br />I
<br />PHONE, 510 '251-1606
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<br />''20d Pfl.E5Ef\YA;ION ~AI\~ WAY
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<br />P~INTlO ON '00" ~EC'Cl[O PAPC^
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