Water yield projections due to climate variability and change in the United States for current and mid-century periods: A 2020 RPA Assessment

Hydrological responses to climate variability and change were assessed for the current (1986-2015) and mid-century (2041-2070) periods. This publication contains data describing water yields for the conterminous United States for a 30-year period and predictive data for changes in annual potential evapotranspiration, precipitation, and water yields in the upcoming mid-century. Predictive data were estimated using multiple 2020 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment scenario-climate futures which included both the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and the RCP 8.5 scenarios for the following five general circulation models (GCMs): HadGEM2-ES365, MRI-CGCM3, CNRM-CM5, IPSL-CM5A-MR, and NorESM1-M.
These data were also collected and analyzed to support the 2020 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment (https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/inventory/rpaa), specifically, this data supports the water yield projections in the RPA Water Assessment. The Water Assessment is an all-lands assessment and describes the status and trends of water resources throughout the conterminous United States.