Climate change will require greater focus on water quality dynamics. The IPCC reports with high confidence that higher water temperatures and intensified floods and droughts will affect water quality and exacerbate many forms of water pollution. In part this will be a consequence of the simple fact that rivers with less flow are less able to dilute and remove pollutants. Floods will move water across landscapes, picking up additional sediments, pathogens and pesticides. Salt-water intrusion is another water quality challenge that will be aggravated by climate change.
Understanding these dynamics will be critical to avoid harm to ecosystems, human health, and water system reliability and operating costs. This is another dimension in which the capacity of water resource managers will have to be strengthened.