Global warming could be economic boon for some:

The Sierra snowpack could melt earlier and faster than before. Droughts could last longer. We could see more rainy days, or less. Storms could become more powerful.

The science related to forecasting how global climate change will affect life’s most basic resource — water, and its supply, management and quality — has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. But no one knows exactly what will happen.

And in that quandary lies a kernel of opportunity.

“Huge,” was how Brent Haddad, an associate professor in the Environmental Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz, described the potential for consulting firms and others to gain business by advising water districts, flood protection districts, city governments, multinational corporations, large developers, universities and other entities on how to prepare for the effects of a warming world.

“The demand is growing,” Haddad said. “Water agencies are starting to take climate change seriously, so they’re looking for help”