Assessing impact of climate change on water resources

Climate change could influence lakes, streams and wetlands through altered water temperatures, flow regimes and water levels. Increases in the variability of water flow, particularly the frequency and duration of large floods and droughts, would tend to reduce water quality and biological productivity and habitat in freshwater ecosystems (IPCC 1998).

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends developing and initiating response strategies to counter the adverse effects that are identified, including changing groundwater levels, and to mitigate saline intrusion into aquifers.