Climate Change Impacts and the Fraser River

Erica Crawford Boettcher and Nazanin Shaebani

Presentation 19th March 2008

Introduction:

In our session, we are going to talk about climate change impacts on the Fraser River Basin. As there are several stakeholders with different and often conflicting objectives in the basin, we will consider their adaptation options toward climate change impacts. We are trying to think about possible solutions to come up with trade-offs existing between different values. Finally we will discuss the role of IWRM in adaptation to climate change impacts within the Basin and broadly.

Objectives:

1. To improve understanding of how climate change will impact water resource management in the Fraser River Basin and why it matters.
2. To consider possible climate change adaptation measures for water resource management and planning.
3. To consider the role of IWRM for climate change adaptation.

Readings:

We have indicated specific pages from each of the following resources, which will give you an overview of the Fraser River Basin, together with climate change impacts and adaptation issues. (Total ~ 35 pages + a (short) movie!)

1. Institutional and Policy Analysis of River Basin Management: The Fraser River Basin, Canada. Read pages 6 - 14 for background on the Fraser River Basin context, issues and stakeholders—note that the BC Ministries have reshuffled names and duties since this was written.

1. From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007—Chapter 8: British Columbia . Read pages 373 - 377, followed by pages 360 – 362 and 370 to 373. This provides an overview of expected impacts of climate change in BC and some considerations for adaptation.

2. Climate Change Adaptation in the Fraser Basin OR Climate Change Adaptation in the Lower Mainland . In class we split into the “Lower Mainland” group or the “Fraser Basin” group. Please watch the video for your area, and if you have time you can also watch the other one (they’re 12 minutes each).

3. Climate Change Adaptation for Municipalities Read pages 6 – 12, and 16 – 17. This provides a general perspective on adaptation issues for municipalities, and a case study example of a possible adaptation measure in the GVRD.

4. Climate Change Adaptation and Integrated Water Resource Management—An Initial Overview. A policy brief produced by the Global Water Partnership. Read the full report (~10 pages) to get a sense of their perspective on how IWRM fits with climate change adaptation. We will discuss this further in class.

Agenda:

1. Fraser River Basin context:
   1. Biophysical
   2. Demographics and Economy
   3. Climate
   4. Stakeholders
   5. Institutions and Regulations
2. Climate change impacts in the FR Basin:
   1. “First-order Impacts” (temperature, precipitation, stream flow, sea level rise, storms, etc)
   2. “Second-order Impacts” (human, natural, built and governance systems)
3. Climate change adaptation for water resource management:
   1. Introduction
   2. Discussion:
      1. Small group discussions of adaptation options, tradeoffs
      2. Full group discussion of adaptation strategies and the role of IWRM
4. Concluding remarks

Supplementary Readings:

Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (2007) Climate Overview 2007: Hydro-climatology and Future Climate Impacts in British Columbia

BC Government Environmental Trends 2007: B.C. Climate Change Indicators

IPCC WGII (2007) Chapter 3: Freshwater resources and their management

A report by the Sheltair Group—there is a useful diagram on page 27 that sketches out impacts and adaptation issues for the water system in urban areas.

A technical report by the European Environmental Agency on Climate Change and Water Adaptation.

Discussion of the importance of social learning and collaborative governance for adaptive water management—lessons from the HarmoniCOP project in Europe