Climate change: How it is affecting our waters. What we can do about it.

A recently released report on climate impacts to water resources in Wisconsin from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) shows that warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are affecting Wisconsin’s wealth of water resources. The last two decades have been the warmest on record in the state, and the past decade has been the wettest. WICCI is a nationally recognized collaboration of scientists and stakeholders working together to help foster solutions to climate change in Wisconsin. 

“The warming climate is having an impact on water resources in Wisconsin,” observes Katie Hein, WICCI water resources working group co-chair. “We need to increase the magnitude and urgency of actions to protect and restore habitat and enhance water quality to make Wisconsin’s waters more resilient to climate change.” The WICCI report (here) suggests solutions to prepare for and minimize climate impacts to water resources. They include increasing water storage across the landscape, installing green infrastructure, protecting wetlands, building outside of flood zones, and installing flood warning systems.