Hydrologic Extremes Workshop (part 1)

Hydrologic Extremes and Water Management in a Warmer World – California Perspectives

The purpose of this workshop is to identify applied science activities that could facilitate climate change adaptation to extreme events/severe weather and for flood management, and to develop a road map for implementing those activities.  California has been a leader in climate change adaptation, and California state agencies involved in the water sector are making good progress on adaptation related to water supply management and sea level rise.  However, planning for flood management-related adaptation is complicated by hydrologic non-stationarity induced by climate change, a concept that challenges traditional standards of practice in hydrologic analysis and engineering design that have been in place for decades.  Prior workshops involving state and federal water agencies and the research community have revealed a variety of issues associated with climate change non-stationarity. This workshop seeks to develop strategies that advance research and practice that support adaptation by state and local resource management agencies.  This process is likely to be an iterative process that entails a multi-pronged approach including observations, forecasting, modeling, and agency policy development.