Would global warming cut snowpack?
Speakers at Westminster to assess Utah water outlook
Brian McInerney is among a group of experts slated to speak today during a celebration of Utah Water Week. He will talk during a public information project to be held at Westminster College, 1840 S. 1300 East in the Gore Auditorium.
The event begins at 7 p.m. with the showing of a film, "Running Dry," about a crisis in water supply worldwide, said Stephanie Duer, the main organizer and Salt Lake City's water conservation director. The film is free, but organizers are requesting donations to the effort to provide clean water around the globe.
After the 58-minute movie, speakers will include McInerney; Duer; state Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, who sponsored the Water Week bill in the House during the recent legislative session; and Jeff Niermeyer, deputy director of the city's Public Utilities Department.
Duer said it is important to have a dialogue about water. Conservation will always be important, "regardless of the current weather conditions and the politics," she said.
This year the celebration is mostly focused on "just getting the word out about Water Week," she said, noting climate change is important to the discussion.
He explained that snow hydrology is the way most Utahns get their water: snow falls in the mountains starting in late October and begins melting around the first week of April. The runoff flows into streams and rivers and is captured by reservoirs. During the drier parts of the year, reservoirs supply drinking and irrigation water.
"If we have warmer temperatures, that's most likely going to mean we have shorter collection for snow," he said. "It'll start later, melt earlier. It will be collected at higher elevations ... and the volumes will be a lot less."
What will that mean for Utah? Under one scenario, it might not create great hardship because the state would change from a snow-based hydrology to one driven largely by rain. It would require different techniques, but Utah would not dry.
"Hopefully, we'll be producing more precipitation. ... So we get rain more year-round," he said.
That is the scenario that earlier models showed as most likely. However, recent models show that Utah may become drier because of global warming.
"Then we need to come up with strategies to ensure we have enough water," McInerney said.
Solutions to a water dearth may include conservation, storing water in a different way, and possibly changing water use. Much of Utah's water goes to water crops, and if water becomes scarce, planners may have to consider whether using it to grow alfalfa is the best use of the water, he said.
"I don't have the answers for these" questions, he said.
McInerney added that if Utah does become drier and severe choices must be made, they will be up to the policymakers.
Becker noted that this is the first Water Week for Utah. Because these are changing times in the area of water, he said, the week's events will help residents address water needs.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com
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