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Climate Change Readiness Assessment and Planning for the Nation's Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities
Citation:
Buchberger, S., R. Clark, W. Grayman, Z. Li, AND Y. J. YANG. Climate Change Readiness Assessment and Planning for the Nation's Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities. Presented at First National Expert and Stakeholder Workshop on Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Adaptation to Climate Change, Washington, DC, January 06 - 07, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform public.
Description:
The performance and sustainability of the Nation’s urban water resources infrastructure may be adversely impacted by changes in global climate, population patterns, economic stability and other emerging issues. How does the Nation’s water industry view these impending challenges? To help answer this question, a 40-question web-based survey was distributed on-line via several national water organizations (AMWA, NACWA, NAWC) to a select subset of the nation’s drinking water and wastewater utilities during the summer of 2008. The main objective of the questionnaire was to identify, through the eyes of the water industry, the most important factors likely to affect the performance and sustainability of the public and private water resources infrastructure across the United States over the next 50 years. A total of 55 water utilities responded (31 drinking water agencies and 24 wastewater agencies) representing nearly 43 million customers with infrastructure assets that included 91 water treatment plants, over 520 storage tanks, nearly 1200 pumping stations and over 73,000 miles of pipeline. Four out of five respondents expected demand for water service to increase over the next 20 years with an average annual growth rate of about one percent. Most agencies had developed a formal master plan. Planning horizons ranged from 5 to 40 years with a median of about 20 years. Surprisingly, however, a significant percentage of water utilities (nearly 40%) did not have a formal asset management program. Of the four primary water-related infrastructure categories (pipes, pumps, tanks, plants), the pipeline systems used for water distribution and wastewater collection were judged to be in the worst condition. The generally poor self-assessment of existing urban water piping systems is consistent with the overall low grade assigned to drinking water and wastewater in recent ASCE report cards on the Nation’s infrastructure. The top three challenges identified as having the greatest impact on the operation and performance of the Nation’s water industry over the next 50 years were [i] aging infrastructure, [ii] government regulations and [iii] funding shortfalls. This ranking was consistent for agencies in the drinking water group and in the wastewater group. While climate change was recognized as an impending issue, it was viewed as a distant concern in comparison to the more immediate and urgent operational needs of the water utility. The industry-wide practice of developing and updating a master plan provides a ready opportunity for incorporating flexible mitigation and adaptation strategies to help water utilities cope with anticipated impacts from global climate changes.