Water Resources

Thisty Girl Drinking Water

  • Climate change has already altered, and will continue to alter, the water cycle, affecting where, when, and how much water is available for all uses.
  • Floods and droughts are likely to become more common and more intense as regional and seasonal precipitation patterns change, and rainfall becomes more concentrated into heavy events (with longer, hotter dry periods in between).
  • Precipitation and runoff are likely to increase in the Northeast and Midwest in winter and spring, and decrease in the West, especially the Southwest, in spring and summer.
  • In areas where snowpack dominates, the timing of runoff will continue to shift to earlier in the spring and flows will be lower in late summer.
  • Surface water quality and groundwater quantity will be affected by a changing climate.
  • Climate change will place additional burdens on already stressed water systems.
  • The past century is no longer a reasonable guide to the future for water management.

Full “Water Resources” Report by USGCRP