Drinking Water Supply Vulnerability Assessment of Drinking Water
Supplies The most probable long-term climate projections
indicate New York State and the Northeastern U.S. will have the
same or slightly higher mean annual precipitation in the coming
decades. However, even in the likely scenario of slightly
increased annual precipitation, other factors may still lead to
additional droughts. Namely, extended growing seasons, higher
temperatures, and the possibility of more intense, less frequent
summer rainfall may lead to increased short-term drought periods
(but not necessarily long-term droughts that last a year or
more). The definition of drought differs depending whether one
is looking at it from a meteorological, hydrologic, agricultural
perspective. As discussed here, droughts occur only when
precipitation deviations are of sufficient spatial and temporal
scope to cause deficits in surface and/or groundwater supplies
used for drinking water. To assess water supplies in the face of
climate change in New Y