SW-NCA-color-FINALweb

422 assessment of climate change in the southwest united statesTable 18.3 Examples of synergies and trade-offs between regionally relevant mitigation andadaptation activities and climate-change impactsReforestation increases carbon storage and improves water resources. Jimenez et al. 2009MitigationsupportsAdaptationMoving from water-cooled concentrating solar power plants inCalifornia and Nevada toward dry cooling helps reduce water needsfor the energy sector and leaves resources available for other users.Increased urban tree cover increases carbon storage and shading,resulting in lower cooling-energy demand and fewer heat-relatedhealth risks.Installation of renewable energy systems in homes, farms, and triballand, as well as building retrofits to increase insulation and energyefficiency reduce emissions and produce high-quality jobs, thusincreasing income-generating opportunities for communities andlowering their vulnerability to change.Schultz, Shelby, andAgogino 2010Blate et al. 2009Averyt et al. 2011;Nowak, Crane, andStevens 2006; Patakiet al. 2006; Chen et al.2011MitigationunderminesAdaptationCarbon capture and storage from coal-burning power plants increasesdemand on and creates greater competition for regionally scarce waterresources.As hydroelectric power generation declines because of decreasedprecipitation, water supplies may become insufficient to meet allhuman and environmental needs, and the power deficit may be madeup from CO 2-emitting sources.Power generation has occasionally depleted aquifers in the Southwest.Power plants dependent on water cooling will release warmed watersinto already warmer rivers and streams, adding further stress onaquatic plants and animals and reducing water quality.The move to renewable energy can be water intensive: U.S. nuclearpower plants may require as much as eight times more freshwaterthan natural gas plants per unit of electricity generated and 11 % morethan coal plants. Some concentrating solar power plants consume morewater per unit of electricity than the average coal plant.More compact coastal urban design (to reduce transportation-relatedemissions) may increase the urban heat island effect and could concentratedevelopment in hazardous areas (such as floodplains).Averyt et al. 2011Giridharan et al. 2007AdaptationsupportsMitigationImproved forest fuel management (and reduction) decreases the riskof devastating wildfires (and thus large releases of carbon into theatmosphere), and thus maintains watershed health, reduces the risk oflandslides, soil erosion, and destruction of infrastructure, and betterpreserves scarce water resources.Carpe Diem West 2011