Drought, Snowpack, and Streamflow

Come Rain or Shine

In this continuation of our special series on drought, we interview two water and climate scientists to learn what streamflow forecasts are predicting for the upcoming summer, and to learn more about an emerging area of research, termed snow drought. Dr. Adrian Harpold is a hydrologist with the University of Nevada, Reno, and is also a SW CASC funded researcher. Dr. Brad Udall is a Senior Water and Climate Scientist with the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University, and is a co-principal investigator with the SW CASC. Here they share with us insights such as why 100% of the historic snow-pack doesn’t always translate to 100% of the historic runoff, the challenges of “weather whiplash”, options for water management on the watershed scale, and what gives them hope for the future even in the face of some pretty grim predictions.
Links to organizations and events mentioned during the interview

Center for Weather and Water Extremes https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/

Blue Forest Conservation Initiative https://www.blueforest.org/

Information on the Oroville Dam incident https://damfailures.org/case-study/oroville-dam-california-2017/

To learn more about atmospheric rivers, check out Season 1 Episode #1 Atmospheric Rivers

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Affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/