Water Stewardship Information Sources

Citation Pinna Sustainability. 2014. The future of atmospheric rivers and actions to reduce impacts on British Columbians. Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium.
Organization PCIC
URL https://www.pacificclimate.org/sites/default/files/publications/Atmospheric_Rivers-Final.pdf
Abstract/Description or Keywords Extreme precipitation and flooding impact communities
across British Columbia (BC). Some impacts along the
coast are the result of ‘Atmospheric River’ (AR) events. An
atmospheric river is an intense and relatively narrow flow of
moisture-laden air.
In British Columbia, atmospheric rivers most frequently occur
in the fall and winter. Their impacts are greatest on British
Columbia’s coast where moist air is forced to rise over the
Coast Mountains, resulting in intense precipitation. Atmospheric
rivers have triggered a number of flood events over
the past decade in BC that required intensive emergency
response efforts.
To improve local understanding and manage the impacts of
atmospheric river events, the BC Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources Canada commissioned work to summarize
the current state of knowledge pertaining to BC on this topic
and conduct a multi-agency qualitative risk assessment.
In April 2013, scientists and researchers gathered in Victoria,
BC to review and summarize the current state of knowledge
on atmospheric rivers. As a result of their efforts, the Pacific
Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) and Pinna Sustainability
produced an ‘Atmospheric River State of Knowledge Report’
which:
• Summarized the current understanding of AR
events,
• Explored ways to enhance understanding
through scientific research,
• Identified ways stakeholders can work
together to enhance our collective response,
and
• Outlined key stakeholders to be engaged in
this process.
Based on recommendations in this initial report, the Ministry
of the Environment commissioned further work to explore
future predictions of AR events and map potential indicators
of vulnerability to impacts across the province.
On February 27th, 2014, the BC Ministry of the Environment,
the PCIC and Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS)
co-hosted a workshop to discuss the risks associated with
extreme precipitation events in British Columbia in a changing
climate.
Participants included:
• Climate scientists, to share research on projecting
extreme precipitation
• Weather forecasters, to discuss challenges in
forecasting extreme precipitation and communicating
potentially dangerous events to
vulnerable communities
• Responders from the BC Government and
local communities, to share their knowledge
and experience of ‘on the ground’ responses.
This second report summarizes the activities which took
place during the workshop, provides a high level summary
of future predictions in extreme weather, offers insights
from attempts to map vulnerability, and summarizes efforts
to identify high impact consequences and priority areas of
action to reduce those impacts.
Information Type report
Regional Watershed Province
Sub-watershed if known
Aquifer #
Comments
Project status complete
Contact Name
Contact Email