| Session Details | |
| Section | HS - Hydrological Sciences |
| Session Title | Water Management in a Changing Climate - McGill Brace Centre for Water Resources Management |
| Main Convener | Prof. Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen (McGill University, Canada) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Gwo-Fong Lin (National Taiwan University, Taiwan) |
| Session Description | Climate change and climate variability has received considerable attentions from the scientific community in recent decades and has led to a better understanding of various climate phenomena and driving mechanism. However, the primary concern for various applications in water resources is fluctuations and trends in fundamental hydrologic processes (e.g., precipitation, surface air temperature, and runoff) at the catchment scale, whether caused by global warming or natural variability. Water resources engineers and managers routinely deal with variability in water availability, demand, and usage/allocation requirements. The effects of climate change and variations on water resources represent an additional consideration among many others of non-climatic origins (e.g., land-used change, infrastructure construction, etc.). The role of water resources practitioners is hence to place the effects of climate change and climatic variations into the context of non-climatic influences that drive water supply and demand, and to develop adaptation strategies that minimize the risk of supply disruptions under changing circumstances. In this context, the main aims of the proposed session are to address the following key topics: 1. How could an improved understanding of climate variability and climate change improve our ability to manage our water resources? 2. What are the potential hydrological impacts of climate variability and climate change at the catchment scale due to projected climate change? 3. What are the pressures facing water resources and water management under changing climate conditions and how do we assess the relative importance of these pressures and the associated degree of uncertainty? 4. What are available tools (downscaling methods, climate models, hydrologic models, hydraulic models, water management models, etc.) for conducting high-quality climate-induced impact assessments of water management issues in practice? and 5. How to determine the best water management strategies, adaptation measures, and vulnerability assessment procedures that can cope with climate change and other physical, socio-economic and institutional constraints? |