@article {JRN54874, title = {Acequias and the Effects of Climate Change}, year = {2013}, abstract = {

Traditional forms of acequia irrigation can be combined with ground based and remote sensing snow measurements and snowmelt runoff modeling to better estimate runoff volumes now and in the future under conditions of climate change. The experience gained over 400 years of irrigating small fields strongly binds communities and strengthens the resolve of acequia associations to contest challenges presented by climate change. Increased density of snow measurements in high elevations of the Rio Grande along with input of real-time data to snowmelt models has led to an improved potential for acequia decision making under the increased temperatures projected for the future by climate models. Acequia communities and similar Native American settlements have shown the willingness to share water during times of severe water shortages in the southwestern U.S. Acequia associations have shown the desire to adopt new forms of hydrologic data and modeling techniques and incorporate them into acequia association approaches.

}, keywords = {Acequias, climate change, snowmelt runoff modeling}, doi = {10.1111/j.1936-704X.2013.03154.x}, url = {/files/bibliography/13-042.pdf}, author = {A. Rango and Alexander Fernald and Caitriana Steele and Hurd, B. and Carlos Ochoa} } @proceedings {50263, title = {Predicitons for snow cover, glaciers and runoff in a changing climate}, year = {2008}, month = {09/2008}, pages = {277-280}, address = {Prague, Czech Republic}, abstract = {

The problem of evaluating the hydrological effects of climate change has opened a new field of applications for snowmelt runoff models. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) has been used to evaluate climate change effects on basins in North America, the Swiss Alps, and the Himalayas. Snow covered area depletes about one month earlier in response to warmer temperatures (+40C) with runoff peaks shifted accordingly. Runoff will be higher in winter at the expense of summer runoff. In glacerized basins, runoff is not only redistributed, but increased due to glacier melting. This improved knowledge facilitates long-term decisions concerning hydropower, flooding, water allocations, and water management in general.

}, keywords = {climate change, proceedings, runoff, snowmelt, SRM}, url = {/files/bibliography/08-038.pdf}, author = {A. Rango and J. Martinec} } @conference {50265, title = {Predictions for snow cover, glaciers and runoff in a changing climate}, booktitle = {Hydrology and Water Resrouces International Conference Proceedings}, year = {2008}, abstract = {The problem of evaluating the hydrological effects of climate change has opened a new field of applications for snowmelt runoff models. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) has been used to evaluate climate change effects on basins in North America, the Swiss Alps, and the Himalayas. Snow covered area depletes about one month earlier in response to warmer temperatures (+4oC) with runoff peaks shifted accordingly. Runoff will be higher in winter at the expense of summer runoff. In glacerized basins, runoff is not only redistributed, but increased due to glacier melting. This improved knowledge facilitates long-term decisions concerning hydropower, flooding, water allocations, and water management in general.}, keywords = {climate change, hydrology, runoff shifts, snowmelt runoff modelling, water management}, author = {A. Rango and J. Martinec} } @article {JRN54960, title = {Hydrological Effects of a Changed Climate in Humid and Arid Mountain Regions}, journal = {World Resource Review}, volume = {12}, year = {2000}, pages = {493508}, chapter = {493}, abstract = {

The effect of a hypothetical temperature increase of +4{\textdegree}C on snow cover and on year-round runoff is evaluated for the very humid basin Illecillewaet (1155 km2, 509-3150 m a.s.l., British Columbia, Canada), the semi-humid basin of Kings River (3999 km2, 171-4341 m a.s.l., California, USA), and the semi-arid basin of Rio Grande at Del Norte (3419 km2, 2432-4215 m a.s.l., Colorado, USA). In contrast to current methods of evaluating the climate effect, a realistic seasonal snow cover from satellite monitoring is used to represent the present climate, the non-calibrated SRM model is applied to transform this snow cover under conditions of a warmer climate to compute climate-affected runoff.

The winter snow accumulation is particularly reduced in the Kings River basin which has the greatest elevation range. In absolute terms, the smallest snowpack reduction occurred in the semi-arid basin of Rio Grande at Del Norte. The decline of snow covered area in the snowmelt season in accelerated by about one month in all basins. The runoff in the winter half year is about doubled at the expense of the summer half year in the basins Illecillewaet and Kings River. This effect is smaller in the basin Rio Grande at Del Norte. Because the climate change was limited to a temperature increase, there is no significant change in the yearly runoff volume in the basins Kings River and Rio Grande. There is a yearly runoff increase in the Illecillewaet basin due to enhanced glacier melt.

}, keywords = {climate change, glaciers, runoff, snow, water resources planning}, url = {files/bibliography/Rango2000-02.pdf}, author = {A. Rango and J. Martinec} } @article {JRN54959, title = {Modeling Snow Cover and Runoff Response to Global Warming for Varying Hydrological Years}, journal = {World Resource Review}, volume = {11}, year = {1999}, pages = {76-91}, chapter = {76}, abstract = {

The effect of future global warming on the seasonal snow cover and runoff is evaluated in the Rio Grande basin at Del Norte, Colorado for average (1976), low (1977), and high (1979) runoff years. Precipitation data are extrapolated to the respective elevations of the basin by taking into account the snow accumulation obtained from snow cover mapping by satellites. Snow covered areas are used as one of the input variable for the Snowmelt Runoff Model. In order to derive the climate-affected snow covered areas of the future, the decrease of the areal snow water equivalent on 1 April is computed and used to derive new snow cover depletion curves indicative of the accelerated snowmelt in the warmer climate. Day-by-day runoff computations using present temperatures and temperatures increased by +4{\textdegree}C reveal a short-term and seasonal redistribution of runoff which differs according to the character of the selected hydrological years. Winter runoff approximately doubles in 1976 (+ 107\%), considerably increases in 1976 (+ 60\%), and slightly rises in 1977 (+ 22\%). The summer runoff consequently declines in all years, but the seasonal runoff peaks are shifted to earlier in the spring as a result of an earlier beginning of the snowmelt season in the warmer climate.

}, keywords = {climate change, remote sensing, snow and ice hydrology, water resources planning}, url = {files/bibliography/Rango1999-01.pdf}, author = {A. Rango and Martinrc, Jaroslav} }