Declining reservoir reliability and increasing reservoir vulnerability: Long-term observations reveal longer and more severe periods of low reservoir storage for major United States reservoirs
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Abstract
Hydrological drought is a pervasive and reoccurring challenge in managing water resources. Reservoirs are critical for lessening the impacts of drought on water available for many uses. We use a novel and generalized approach to identify periods of unusually low reservoir storage—via comparisons to operational rule curves and historical patterns—to investigate how droughts affect storage in 250 reservoirs across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS). We find that the maximum amount of water stored in reservoirs is decreasing, and that periods of unusually low storage are becoming longer, more severe, and more variable in (a) western and central CONUS reservoirs, and (b) reservoirs with primarily over-year storage. Results suggest that reservoir storage has become less reliable and more vulnerable to larger deviations from desired storage patterns. These changes have coincided with ongoing shifts to the hydroclimate of CONUS, and with sedimentation further reducing available reservoir storage.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Declining reservoir reliability and increasing reservoir vulnerability: Long-term observations reveal longer and more severe periods of low reservoir storage for major United States reservoirs |
| Series title | Geophysical Research Letters |
| DOI | 10.1029/2024GL109476 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 16 |
| Year Published | 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Oregon Water Science Center, WMA - Earth System Processes Division, WMA - Integrated Modeling and Prediction Division, Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center |
| Description | e2024GL109476, 12 p. |
| Country | United States |
| Other Geospatial | Continental United States |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |