UNC Ecology Seminar: Erika Wise

Dendrohydrology in the Snake River Basin

Tree-ring samples collected near the Snake River headwaters were augmented with pre-existing tree-ring chronologies to create a 415-year reconstruction of upper Snake River streamflow, extending the short instrumental record and providing the first description of multicentury water supply variability in this river. Results indicate that the region’s early 21st century drought is severe even in the context of long-term climatic variability, and that the instrumental record is representative of low-flow individual years. In terms of overall magnitude, droughts of the recent past are eclipsed by a sustained low-flow period lasting for over 30 years in the early- to mid-1600s. This type of event could represent a new “worst-case scenario” for water management in the upper Snake River.