Climate change impacts on water management and irrigated agriculture in the Yakima Basin, Washington, USA

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dc.contributor.authorVano, Julie A
dc.contributor.authorScott, Michael
dc.contributor.authorVoisin, Nathalie
dc.contributor.authorStockle, Claudio
dc.contributor.authorHamlet, Alan F.
dc.contributor.authorMickelson, Kristian E. B.
dc.contributor.authorMcGuire Elsner, Marketa
dc.contributor.authorLettenmaier, Dennis P.
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-26T16:35:04Z
dc.date.available2019-08-26T16:35:04Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractThe Yakima River Reservoir system supplies irrigation water to over 180,000 irrigated hectares (450,000 acres). Runoff is derived mostly from winter precipitation in the Cascade Mountains, much of which is stored as snowpack and runs off in the spring and early summer. Five reservoirs within the basin have cumulative reservoir storage of approximately 30% of the river’s mean annual flow. Climate change during the 21st century is expected to result in earlier snowmelt runoff, and reduced summer flows. The effects of these changes on irrigated agriculture in the basin were simulated using a hydrological model driven by downscaled climate scenarios from 20 climate models, output of which was archived by the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. In general, we find that the basin transitions to earlier and reduced spring snowmelt as the century progresses, which results in increased curtailment of water deliveries, especially to junior water rights holders. Historically, the Yakima basin has experienced water shortages (years in which substantial prorating of deliveries to junior water users was required) in 14% of years. Without adaptations, for the A1B emission scenarios, water shortages that occur in 14% of years historically increase to 32% (15% to 54% range) in the 2020s, to 36% in the 2040s, and to 77% of years in the 2080s. For the B1 emissions scenario, water shortages occur in 27% of years (14% to 54% range), in the 2020s, 33% for the 2040s and 50% for the 2080s. Furthermore, the historically unprecedented condition in which the senior water rights holders suffer shortfalls occurs with increasing frequency in both the A1B and B1 climate change scenarios. Economic losses include lost value of expected annual production in the range of 5% to 16%, with significantly greater probabilities of annual net operating losses for junior water rights holders.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipYBFWRBen_US
dc.identifier.citationVano, Julie A. et al. 2009. “Climate Change Impacts on Water Management and Irrigated Agriculture in the Yakima Basin, Washington, USA.” Climatic Change 102(1): 287–317. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/34595/5.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11867/17731
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherClimatic Changeen_US
dc.rightsIN COPYRIGHT - This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
dc.subjectYakima Basinen_US
dc.subjectclimate changeen_US
dc.subjectHydrologyen_US
dc.subjectIrrigationen_US
dc.subjectResource managementen_US
dc.subjectWater storageen_US
dc.titleClimate change impacts on water management and irrigated agriculture in the Yakima Basin, Washington, USAen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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