Managing water is a top social and economic responsibility and is expected to become even more critical as climate change, in addition to other human activities, alters water availability and quality. Robust indicators reflecting the effects of climate change on the US and global water cycles are needed in order to appropriately manage water resources. Here, we describe a suite of seventeen water cycle and management indicators, which are based on synthesis of available datasets. These indicators include average and heavy precipitation, standardized precipitation index, annual, 7-day low and 3-day high streamflow volume, streamflow timing, snow cover, snow water equivalent, groundwater level, lake water temperature, stream water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, Palmer Drought Severity Index, water withdrawals, and water use. We also identify three indicators that could be included in the suite of water cycle and management indicators with some additional, directed work: snowfall, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture. Our conceptual framework focuses on known water cycle changes in addition to potential effects on management and addresses water quantity and quality, as well as water use and related interactions with freshwater ecosystems, societal impacts, and management. Water cycle indicators are organized into three categories: (1) hydrologic processes, (2) water quality processes, and (3) water quality and quantity impacts. Indicators described here are recommended to serve as critical references for periodic climate assessments. As such, these indicators support analyses of the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy, and water resources, among other sectors. Additionally, we identify research gaps and needs that can be addressed to advance the development of future indicators.

水资源管理是一项重要的社会和经济责任，随着气候变化以及其他人类活动改变了水资源的可获得性和质量，人们期望水资源管理将变得更加重要。为了适当地管理水资源，需要可靠的指标来反映气候变化对美国和全球水循环的影响。在此，我们描述了一套基于可用数据集综合的十七个水循环和管理指标。这些指标包括平均降水量和强降水量，标准化降水指数，年度，7天的低流量和3天的高流量，流量时间，积雪，积雪水当量，地下水位，湖泊水温，溪流水温，溶解氧，盐度，帕尔默干旱严重度指数，取水量和用水量。我们还确定了可以包含在水循环和管理指标套件中的三个指标，以及一些额外的定向工作：降雪，蒸散和土壤湿度。除了对管理的潜在影响外，我们的概念框架还关注已知的水循环变化，并处理水的数量和质量，以及水的使用以及与淡水生态系统，社会影响和管理的相关相互作用。水循环指标分为三类：（1）水文过程，（2）水质过程和（3）水质和水量影响。建议将此处描述的指标用作定期气候评估的关键参考。因此，这些指标支持对全球变化对自然环境，农业，能源，和水资源，以及其他部门。此外，我们确定了可以解决的差距和需求，以促进未来指标的发展。