In this study, we examined climate forcing of surface water
fecal contamination across a range of hydro-meteorological
regimes and land-use scenarios. We measured the extent to
which seasonal fecal contamination variability was determined
by snowmelt and rainfall variability, and examined
how the strength of this relationship varied in relation to
hydro-meteorological regime. We also quantified the relationship
between inter-annual hydro-meteorological variability
and FC concentration to see how fecal contamination
levels responded to long-term changes in snowmelt and
rainfall. Site characteristics associated with climate forcing of
seasonal and inter-annual fecal contamination were identified
in order to categorize those catchments most vulnerable
to changes in climate altering surface water fecal contamination
levels and variability.