Traditionally state water plans focused on supply development to address future water needs. More recently demand management strategies, conservation, alternative supply development such as reuse, aquifer storage and public and stakeholder involvement have emerged in state water plans. This paper examines on a content basis the extent to which recent 17 western state water plans have incorporated climate change considerations and impacts on future water supply and demand. It employs a five category coding scale for categorizing how each state water plan treats climate change. The scale ranges from a (1) no or limited discussion to (5) evidence of implementation of specific adaptation actions. The most recent water plan for each state was analyzed and assigned a value according to the scale. With the exception of California and Colorado that have incorporated climate change scenario projections for future water supplies in their state plans, western state water plans acknowledge climate change but climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation strategies, or funding for these have yet to emerge.
