Past climate change vulnerability assessments of sea level rise in the Klamath Estuary had not taken mouth closure behavior into account, an important piece of hydrologic behavior.
W2r’s data review of a mouth closure model developed for the Russian River, which shares similar primary physical drivers to the Klamath Estuary, showed substantial changes from the existing, prior assessments.
Monitoring recommendations by W2r will allow for continued development of the mouth closure model so that it has greater predictive value for investigating climate change effects to the estuary.
