Abstract |
The National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) established the Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) Working Group to evaluate the concept of climate ready water utilities. The evaluation was to provide findings and recommendations relating to the development of a program enabling water and wastewater utilities to prepare long-range plans that account for climate change impacts. Consistent with the NDWAC charge to the CRWU Working Group, the working premise for all deliberations was that climate change represents an important challenge for the water sector necessitating its consideration in all aspects of utility planning. NDWAC specifically requested that the Working Groups findings and recommendations cover three topics: identify the behaviors that will characterize a climate ready utility; identify climate change-related tools, training, and products needed to enable climate ready utility behaviors; and explore ways to encourage broad adoption through recognition or incentives incorporated into existing United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water recognition and awards programs or new recognition programs. This report presents the CRWU Working Groups findings and recommendations to the NDWAC. While recognizing that EPA, other federal agencies, water sector professional associations, many utilities, and non-governmental organizations have taken important steps to improve the water sectors understanding of and response to climate change challenges, the Working Groups findings and recommendations point to the need for further support to motivate and enable water sector utilities to become more climate ready. The Group's discussions have explored the fact that climate science is evolving and uncertainty regarding the timing, nature, direction, and magnitude of localized climate change impacts (weather, ecological, and other) is, and is expected to remain high. |