Climate Change in Idaho

Submitted by Brian Zuber on Wed, 2016-07-13 00:00

The next question for today is, "What are some impacts of climate change that we are experiencing in Idaho?"

We are definitely seeing higher overall temperatures in the Treasure Valley with milder winters and hotter summers, but today we focused on how the rising temperatures, even if only by an average of a few degrees, affects streamflow of the Boise River. The Boise River watershed is almost have a "rain" watershed and half a "snow" watershed in the mountains to the north. With rising temperatures, even if the overall precipitation doesn't change, we are shifting towards less snow and more rain. With a smaller volume of snowpack building up over the winter months, the precipitation flows through the valley sooner, leaving less flow for the spring start of the growing season. With the water flow somewhat evened out over the year, we actually also end up with significantly less water flow through the river system, as more of it infiltrates into the ground and evaporates into the atmosphere. The snowpack in the mountains above us is a vital natural reservor of water for the Treasure Valley, and as that diminishes we will see impacts for water users in the valley, residential, agricultural, and industrial.

Plus, most forecasts for our region also predict less overall precipitation. So, not good news for the future as our population is expected to grow significantly over the next few decades.

Comments

Tyler Williamson's picture

So if the change to our local climate alters the timing of our precipitation (winter snows to spring rain) do we need to alter how we try and preserve the precipitation we do get? At what point will our typical fellow Idahoan accept that the climate is changing? Will we have to get to the point of disaster before or precious resource is more well managed. When will we stop needing green lawns rather than drinking water? I know, lots of questions, but I do feel at least a teacher I can have impact upon some of the population rather than just sitting back and bring a frustrated individual.

Nathan White's picture

This topic raises the question that Tyler presented above: if we can begin to agree that the Tresure Valley is getting its rainfall/snowfall differently, don't we need to adapt how we collect it? This brings me to the question about adding a fourth dam to our river system, or raising the dam at Arrow Rock. Over the last ten years, I have heard these two ideas at different times. Did the U of I professor have any information on changing the dams in our river system?  There is such a push to get rid of existing dams, that as soon as the idea of building a new one comes up, people immediately discount it. However, I have heard people claim that by adding to our dam system, we could solve some of our local water issues. Has this idea come up at all this week? 

Brian Zuber's picture

We didn't discuss adding a fourth dam to the system, but we did read about a feasibility study to raise Arrowrock dam by 70 feet to increase storage capacity. The study concluded that the costs outweighed the benefits, at least under current conditions. I'm sure as more people move to the Treasure Valley, and our water resources become more scarce and strained, that calculus just might change. One carry away I got from the various discussions we've been having over the past week, is that any solution is both complex with many variables and involved stakeholders, and of course whatever might be done in the future can only move at the speed of bureaucracy.