Climate variability and change assessments for the ACF and ACT river basins

Abstract

Climate variability and potential change have important implications for the management of the ACF and ACT river basins. This article discusses these implications using a decision support system developed by the Georgia Water Resources Institute at Georgia Tech. These assessments are made for historical as well as for potential climates generated by General Circulation Models (GCMs). The most important conclusion is that water resources planning and management decisions, including the water compacts being negotiated, should explicitly recognize and address climate variability and uncertainty by being flexible and adaptive.