Portland State Magazine, Spring 2021

create conditions that help snow melt less quickly. Without mitigation, regional impacts will get worse. Some are already being felt, Gleason says. For instance, in recent years, dams along the Clackamas River, like many in the area, must release water just to ensure salmon have enough water for their annual run around Labor Day. “[Water resource managers] haven’t hit their target water levels for the last decade,” Gleason says. “It’s going to be a lot more common that we have to make value judgments.” Holding back water for summer demand could lead to fooding as weather phenomena like atmospheric rivers—corridors of concentrated mois- ture capable of carrying massive amounts of rain—continue to occur. “Unfortunately, we don’t really have the data to make those decisions,” Gleason says. But, she adds, Oregon is becoming a water-scarce state where shortages—similar to those seen in California—could become the norm. Understanding how these elements work together is key to not only setting expectations for the future, but working toward solutions. As Gleason says, it’s going to take more than shorter showers to save the planet: “For change to happen it’s going to have to be all of us working together.”— KATY SWORDFISK Kelly Gleason takes snow reflectivity measurements in a burned forest in western Wyoming in 2019. CHRISTINA ARAGON 14 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SEEING SCIENCE: Cycle City