Study: How much runoff comes from the West’s snowpack?
… To clarify the connection between the snowpack and streamflow—and project how climate change is altering the relationship—the scientists used computer simulations and hydrological modeling in a 2017 paper in Geophysical Research Letters to estimate snow’s significance for runoff across the West. Here’s what they found: 53% of total runoff in the West originated as snowmelt, even though only 37% of the precipitation fell as snow. … A quarter of the West’s land area, primarily in the high country, produced 90% of total runoff on average. Climate change will reduce the snowpack’s contribution to runoff, according to the study, as warmer temperatures make it more likely that precipitation will fall as raindrops, rather than snowflakes, leaving downstream water users vulnerable.
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