Revised Surface‐Water Supply Index for Western United States
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 119, Issue 4
Abstract
The surface‐water‐supply index (SWSI) was introduced in Colorado in the early 1980s as a better indicator of water availability in the western United States than is the Palmer drought index. Similar indexes have been subsequently developed in Oregon and Montana. These indexes have found great usefulness in drought monitoring and in triggering specific drought‐related activities by state governments. Two conceptual weaknesses exist in the current SWSIs: (1) Subjective assignment of values to coefficients; and (2) obscured statistical properties of the index. Revisions to overcome these weaknesses include a specific definition of surface‐water‐supply, use of streamflow volume forecasts, and appropriate handling of data to achieve the desired statistical properties of the index. It is also suggested that indexes for individual hydrologic components be developed to provide supporting information to the SWSI. An example of the development of the revised SWSI is given for the Flathead River basin in Montana.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Alley, W. M. (1984). “The Palmer drought severity index: limitations and assumptions.” J. Climate and Appl. Meteorology, 23(7), 1100–1109.
2.
Alley, W. M. (1985). “The Palmer drought severity index as a measure of hydrologic drought.” Water Resour. Bulletin, 21(1), 105–114.
3.
Cayan, D. R., and Peterson, D. H. (1989). “The influence of North Pacific atmospheric circulation on streamflow in the West.” Geophysical Monograph 55, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 375–397.
4.
DeGroot, M. H. (1986). Probability and statistics. Second Ed., Addison‐Wesley, Reading, Mass.
5.
Dezman, L. E., Shafer, B. A., Simpson, H. D., and Danielson, J. A. (1982). “Development of a surface water supply index—A drought severity indicator for Colorado.” Int. Symp. Hydrometeorology, Proc., American Water Resour. Association (AWRA), Bethesda, Md., 337–341.
6.
Doesken, N. J., McKee, T. B., and Garen, D. (1991a). “Drought monitoring in the western United States using a Surface Water Supply Index.” 7th Conf. Appl. Climatology, Proc., American Meteorological Society, Boston, Mass.
7.
Doesken, N. J., McKee, T. B., and Kleist, J. (1991b). “Development of a Surface Water Supply Index for the western United States.” Climatology Report Number 91‐3, Colorado Climate Ctr., Dept. of Atmospheric Sci., Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, Colo.
8.
Garen, D. C. (1992). “Improved techniques in regression‐based streamflow volume forecasting.” J. Water Resour. Plng. Mgmt., ASCE, 118(6), 654–670.
9.
Koch, R. W., Buzzard, C. F., and Johnson, D. M. (1991). “Variation of snow water equivalent and streamflow in relation to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation.” Proc. Western Snow Conf., 37–48.
10.
Lamm, R. D. (1981). The Colorado drought response plan. State of Colorado, Office of the Governor, Div. of Disaster Emergency Services.
11.
Palmer, W. C. (1965). “Meteorological drought.” Research Paper No. 45, U. S. Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C.
12.
Redmond, K. T., and Koch, R. W. (1991). “Surface climate and streamflow variability in the western United States and their relationship to large‐scale circulation indices.” Water Resour. Res., 27(9), 2381–2399.
13.
Shafer, B. A., and Dezman, L. E. (1982). “Development of a surface water supply index (SWSI) to assess the severity of drought conditions in snowpack runoff areas.” Proc. Western Snow Conf., 164–175.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 25, 1992
Published online: Jul 1, 1993
Published in print: Jul 1993
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.