Potential Impacts of Changes in Climate on Turbidity in New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 142, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper applies an approach for determining water resources vulnerability caused by climate change to the New York City water supply system (NYCWSS). The results provide potential responses of the system to changes in climate and guidance that can inform short-term and long-term planning decisions. This research includes models of the hydrology and operations of the NYCWSS and includes a statistical model of turbidity loading and a zero-dimentional model of turbidity concentration in the Ashokan Reservoir. Using a stochastic weather generator, incremental changes are made to precipitation and temperature and these are used to drive a coupled hydrology-simulation model. The results illustrate the sensitivity of the system, and in particular Ashokan Reservoir turbidity, to changes in climate.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the NOAA RISA program for providing funding for this project as well as the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Water Quality Modeling Group for their assistance with the project framework and data acquisition as well as their feedback throughout the project.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 142 • Issue 3 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 10, 2014
Accepted: Sep 2, 2015
Published online: Dec 1, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
Discussion open until: May 1, 2016
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