Extreme Floods in a Changing Climate

This study explored the potential connection between extreme floods, streamflow and climate change. The analyses concluded that relationships do exist between records of fluvial deposition and shifts in climate in that less fluvial deposition (or lower streamflow) is occurring during periods of drier climate and more fluvial deposition (or higher streamflow) is occurring during periods of wetter climate in the Sierra Nevada of central California. This relationship can be defined on a broad scale for about the last 1,000 years. Paleofloods that have been documented along rivers in the Sierra Nevada appear to fall within both dry and wet periods in the paleoclimate record. Paleofloods that have been documented in the southwestern U.S. in the Colorado River Basin appear to occur within specific wet or dry periods, depending on the geographic location.