"More Flooding, Less Salmon Habitat Predicted for West"

"Global warming could increase flooding, shrink salmon habitat and invite in more invasive species in the West, scientists conclude in a sobering new report.

Snow will melt sooner, the report predicts. Rain will replace snow altogether in some places. Fisheries will stress out. Surface water will be harder to come by, and groundwater will be drained, as average temperatures rise.

"These changes pose a significant challenge and risk to adequate water supplies," Mike Connor, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, declared Monday."

Michael Doyle reports for McClatchy Newspapers April 26, 2011.