At the recommendation of Levee Ready Columbia’s Technical Advisory Subcommittee, the partnership begins a study of the potential impacts of climate change on the conditions of the Columbia River. The US Geological Survey (USGS) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) agree to conduct the modeling to simulate peak flow conditions on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers through year 2040. They agree to contribute a share of the cost through federal funding.
This study is scoped to use state-of-the-art models and boundary condition hydrographs describing future climate scenarios at warmer and wetter extremes, sea level change scenarios at intermediate and high scenarios of sea level rise based on moderate to maximum ice sheet loss.