British Columbia Partnership announces that rebuilt “Water Balance Model” now incorporates Climate Change Module

1st Announcement in a Series 

The Water Balance Model for British Columbia is a scenario comparison tool. Recently rebuilt on a Linux platform, the WBM now includes a Climate Change Module. This capability enables a wide range of stakeholders to make decisions based on a detailed assessment of climate change effects on local drainage, without having to decode the huge body of confusing and contradictory literature. Delivering this capability quickly and easily on the web is a 'must' - and this result is a 'first'.

Chris Jensen is the provincial lead in the development of the module. Chris is responsible for advancing climate adaptation in the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development’s new Integrated Policy Branch.

“Local Governments are making significant progress in preparing for a changing climate, from vulnerability assessments to comprehensive climate adaptation plans. Throughout these processes, a key challenge has been translating global climate science to local land-use decisions. The new Climate Change Module in the Water Balance Model helps overcome this obstacle,” reports Chris Jensen.

“The module applies data provided by the respected Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) at the University of Victoria. We have taken the complex science of global climate modeling and have incorporated it in a way that we believe makes it easy for engineers, planners and others to understand and apply.  By comparing historic and future rainfall scenarios, communities have a straightforward way to identify potential impacts and assess how green infrastructure can be used to prepare for climate change.”  

“For the twelve BC and Alberta stations now in the Water Balance Model database, the Climate Change Module generates results for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080. Over time, we will be expanding the database to provide more complete geographic coverage.”

TO LEARN MORE: Click on British Columbia Partnership announces that rebuilt “Water Balance Model” now incorporates Climate Change Module. Anyone can register as a TRIAL USER. Just go to www.waterbalance.ca to set up an account.

E-Blast #2012-16

April 25, 2012