Hydrological Shifts Threaten Water Resources

Recent shifts in the hydrological behavior of natural watersheds suggest acute challenges for water planning under climate change. Usually triggered by a multi-year drought, these involve tendency less annual streamflow given precipitation, and this has now been reported on multiple continents. Future drying change may induce similar unexpected responses, commentary discusses implications management. Commonly used models poorly represent cannot be relied upon to anticipate future changes. Thus, their use result underestimation hydroclimatic risk exposure “surprise” reductions supply, relative projections. The onus is hydrologists determine underlying causes shifting incorporate more dynamic realism into operational models.