Climate change and water resources: Potential impacts and implications

The recurring drought and heat observed over large portions of the western U.S. have enerated adverse and costly effects, including lost agricultural productivity in rainfed regions of the mid-west and Great Plains, record wildfires in Oregon, Colorado and California, and large fish kills in California’s Klamath River triggered by warm water temperatures. Drought has persisted for nearly a decade in some regions of the western U.S., leading to severe stress on water resources. The intensity and frequency of recent droughts, coupled with increased frequency of other extreme weather events such..