River Resource Management and the Effects of Changing Landscapes and Climate

Developing a management strategy for riverine resources now also requires consideration of both economic constraints to baseline data for decisions and multi-decadal shifts in precipitation and weather patterns. For example, with reduced expenditures on historical record keeping, it becomes more difficult to accurately assess changes in long-term weather patterns and their resulting influence on habitat availability; thus, resulting in management strategy that may shift through time in order to best replicate the natural flow condition. This chapter discusses a successful management strategy to address some of these concerns, the potential impact of decadal shifts in weather conditions, and alternatives for estimating long-term flow patterns when gauging records are interrupted, terminated or they have never existed. Development and use of spatially explicit models are needed in order to provide protection from over-allocation in undeveloped and/or ungauged systems.