Building Resilience and Adapting to Climate Change Impacts for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities

Climate change impacts pose both an immediate and long-term threat to the continuity of wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water (water sector) utility operations and water supplies. To help utilities reduce the risks associated with climate-related hazards, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative provides a collaborative technical assistance program, online tools, and trainings designed to build resilience and adaptive capacity in the water sector.

This talk will share the real-world challenges and successes experienced by water sector utilities adapting to the impacts of climate change. First, EPA will highlight the applications and data maps that guide water utility managers through the climate risk assessment process, help them evaluate adaptation priorities and provide easy-to-access historical and projected climate data useful for utility decision making.

Additionally, a utility Case Study will be included to demonstrate how a water utility has worked with CRWU in the adaptation planning process. These experiences will illustrate the value of using EPA’s Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) and Resilient Strategies Guide, plus which next steps can be informed by their assessment results. CRWU’s Adaptation Case Studies Map will be highlighted where users can browse 70+ additional Case Studies and success stories.