Laguna Watershed Knowledgebase

Climate change in the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed will be manifested by numerous changes in the surface water and groundwater resources, as well as in the stressors for ecological landscapes and species diversity. Future projections of the changes in air temperature and precipitation from global climate models for the next 100 years are downscaled to fine scale resolution (270-m grid spacing) that captures the differences within habitats and stream drainages. These data are applied to watershed-scale models and translated into hydrologic outcomes and ecologic stressors or drivers in the watershed at that same spatial resolution. Streamflow and groundwater recharge projections for the 21st century, along with changes in evapotranspiration, soil moisture, air temperature, climatic water deficits, and various other environmental drivers will have the potential to impact species distributions and diversity, water availability and competition. Watershed-scale projections and spatially distributed data provide tools and information for land and resource managers to prioritize their resources and actions to approach the task of adaptation to climate change.