Report- Climate Change Implications for Small Water Power Facilities

Post date: May 9, 2016 7:59:59 PM

The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority has just recently released the report “Climate Change Implications for Small Waterpower Facilities – A Watershed Perspective” (http://mvc.on.ca/…/Climate-Change-Implications-for-Small-Wa…) based on a technical study supported by Natural Resources Canada and the Bonnechere River Watershed Project (BRWP).

The study provides technical methodologies for developing localized climate projections (2011-2100) and water budget projections for both the Mississippi and Rideau watersheds. The results indicate that relative to the baseline period (1971-2000), runoff patterns and stream flow characteristics will likely be altered significantly, resulting in incompatibility with existing reservoir operating regimes for the Mississippi River [and similar managed river systems in eastern Ontario such as the Rideau and Bonnechere], in turn resulting in increasing difficulty to meet current water management objectives.

As water managers attempt to reach a successful balance between the competing interests of multiple users it will be important to understand the uncertainties and extremes in weather which are projected for the future and the extent to which runoff patterns will change on a daily, seasonal, and annual basis which ultimately may influence water management decisions in these and other similar watersheds in the region.