Pennsylvania Protects Coldwater Fisheries and Water Quality from Climate Change

Pennsylvania conducted a Vulnerability Assessment for their natural lands

• Pennsylvania conducted a risk analysis and vulnerability assessment of their natural lands using global climate models from the IPCC AR4 and utilizing two different emissions scenarios and averaging the results over three separate 20 year periods. The Pennsylvania Climate Impact Assessment states that the “average of the projections from a suite of GCMs is most often used because model-average backcasts [running the model for previous decades using known data to determine accuracy] are found to more closely replicate the historical climate record in Pennsylvania in the 20th Century than the backcasts for any individual model, thus indicating greater reliability for the model average than for individual models or subsets.”

• Hydrologic and Water Quality System is a web-based interactive water quantity and water quality modeling system that can assist states, local governments, and others with water quality protection decision-making.

Developed a Climate Adaptation Report

• Developed an adaptation report that identified the key issues affecting freshwater streams and the potential consequences of climate change, including impacts to water quality and extent of native fish species. This report identified adverse impacts to specific fish species as well as recommendations for adaptation actions and corresponding research needs to determine effective adaptation strategies.

• EPA's Adaptation to Attain Clean Water Goals highlights ways that National Estuary Programs (NEPs) have used Climate Ready Estuaries (CRE) projects to continue reaching for a sustainable future.

Identified specific recommendations

• Identified how different environmental conditions would lead to differing resilience levels with implications for the targeting of adaptation efforts. For example, the Pennsylvania Climate Adaptation Planning Report specifically highlighted variable levels of resiliency against climate risk as “Limestone spring streams with abundant, deep cold springs will be more resilient in the face of hot weather extremes than freestone streams that rely on surface and shallow groundwater sources. Trout conservation efforts are likely to be more successful in the limestone streams compared to other coldwater streams.”
• Recommended adaptation actions including, identifying and protecting critical habitat and, where applicable, removing small dams to conserve habitat and mitigate temperature increases.

• EPA's Synthesis of Adaptation Strategies Guidebook provides an introduction to physical impacts of climate change on estuaries and reviews adaptation options available to coastal managers to reduce their systems' vulnerability to climate change impacts.