EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utility Program

John Whitler, USEPA

2010 GWPC Annual Forum

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Presentation Overview

• Background

• Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) Working Group

• Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT)

• CRWU Toolbox

• Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems

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U.S. EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) provides support for the Water Sector to develop and implement long-range plans that account for climate change impacts.

Support includes:•Collaboration and information exchange with Regions and Sector•Tools for building awareness and planning responses•Outreach through education and training

CRWU - Background

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CRWU - Background

• Extreme weather events• Sea level rise• Shifting precipitation and runoff

patterns• Temperature changes• Changes in water quality and

availability

Climate change impacts pose challenges to drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities’ ability to fulfill their public health and environmental missions. All of these impacts contribute to a complex puzzle of climate change challenges that have potentially significant implications for sustainability of the Water Sector.

For most utilities, there is not an option to“wait and see” or take no action.

Climate Ready Water Utilities Working Group

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Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) Working Group

In May 2009, the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) voted on and approved the formation of a working group to evaluate “Climate Ready Water Utilities” to:

– Enable water utilities to develop and implement long-range plans that account for climate change impacts

– Enhance the sector’s ability to articulate adaptation and mitigationrelated investments to decision makers

CRWU Working Group Charge

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The working group’s charge includes:

1. Developing attributes of climate ready water utilities;

2. Identifying climate change-related tools, training and products to address utilities’ short-and long-term needs; and

3. Identifying mechanisms that would facilitate the adoption of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies by the water sector.

Working Group Members

• 20 Members of CRWU Working Group– 12 from water utilities– 3 from state and local governments– 5 from academic, environmental, and other organizations

• Federal Partners– U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Current Status

• Completed 5 of 5 in-person meetings• Drafted:

– Key Finding Statements– Adaptive Response Framework– Enabling Environment Recommendations

• Recent meetings have focused on:– Tools and resources needed by utilities– Incentives to facilitate the adoption of climate change adaptation

and mitigation strategies– Program implementation

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Next Steps

• CRWU Working Group will provide final report and recommendations to NDWAC in Fall 2010

• NDWAC will provide its recommendations to EPA

• Contact: Lauren Wisniewski, wisniewski.lauren@epa.gov

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Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT)

CREAT Overview

– Assess the climate-related risks at their individual utilities– Evaluate adaptation options to reduce risk– Conduct assessments as part of long-term planning and decision

making processes– Complement existing tools used to make projections or assessments

regarding utility management (i.e., models of hydrology, urbanization, and demand)

• CREAT is being designed to evolve over time as new information and research results become available to enhance Water Sector utility climate change preparedness programs and resiliency capabilities.

• CREAT will accommodate a range of uncertainty in climate information and provide assessments that can be used in both traditional risk-based and scenario-based decision making strategies.

EPA is developing the PC-based Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) to assist drinking water and wastewater utility owners and operators:

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Inventory utility and climate change concerns

Setup

Assets

Threats(w/ climate information)

Adaptive Measures

Evaluate risks and inform adaptation planning

Baseline Analysis

Resilience Analysis

Implementation Planning

Results and Reports

CREAT Process

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CREAT Process

Projected climate change in U.S. regions would be translated into potential climate-related threats that utilities are familiar with and have a preliminary set of adaptations that could be applied to reduce risk.

National and regional climate change descriptions

Climate-related threat descriptions

Preliminary adaptation libraries

CREAT – Inventory Utility

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Setup• Utility and assessor information• Scenario Planning selection

• Scenario-based – all threats considered as occurring in defined time periods

• Assess Likelihood – all threats are assessed with respect to the likelihood of occurrence in the defined time periods

• Time Periods for considering threats and planning adaptation options

Assets• Inventory built using provided library• Library includes natural resources (e.g., watersheds,

receiving water) that may not be owned by utility

CREAT – Inventory Climate

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Threats• Inventory built using provided library• Each threat is linked to time periods and assets for

assessment of consequences• Threats can be customized with respect to time period,

magnitude, and location

Climate Information• Regional assessments provided based on most recent

Global Change Research Program assessment (2009)• The same information organized with respect to threat

types (library) as well• Ranges of projected temperature and precipitation for

U.S. locations provided as starting point for gauging threat magnitudes

Adaptive Measures• Inventory built using provided library, with each measure

defined with respect to status• Existing – used in Baseline as measures already available

for protecting assets from threat• Potential – used in Resilience Analysis as measures being

planned or considered for future use

Baseline Analysis• Assessment of consequences to assets from threats on

selected time periods using existing adaptive measures

Resilience Analysis• Re-assessment of consequences after the addition of

potential adaptive measures

CREAT – Evaluate Risk

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Implementation Planning• Develop adaptation packages of potential adaptive

measures used in assessments• Each package has a computed benefit based on

consequence reduction from Baseline to Resilience• Benefits, compared to costs, can be reviewed across

time periods and between packages

Results and Reports• Risk profiles for Baseline and Resilience reviewed with

respect to time periods and selected adaptation package• Narrative and data reports available• Planning report also available that details the costs and

benefits of adaptation packages across time periods

CREAT – Evaluate Adaptation

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CREAT Benefits

• CREAT built as a flexible and systematic assessment process

• Interface is user-friendly with familiar format for self-guided tools

• Information on U.S. regional climate projections and related threats are provided in CREAT

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• Uncertainty in climate projections, water resource allocation, and future budgets accommodated

• Both qualitative and quantitative information regarding threats, consequences, and costs used in assessments

• Reports can be integrated into adaptation decision making and planning processes

CREAT Status

• Framework approved by Stakeholder Workgroup

• Software development underway

• Pilots completed in 2010

• Software release anticipated in Fall 2010

• Potential for demonstrations and training after release

• A second version will be created based on feedback from the first version

Contact: Curt Baranowski, Baranowski.Curt@epa.gov

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CRWU Toolbox

CRWU Toolbox

• EPA CRWU Toolbox provides a search interface for utilities to obtain climate-related resources based on:

- Utility Type - Water Resource Type

- Utility Size - Climate Impact

- Region - Response Strategy

• Toolbox provides links to approximately 500 freely available on-line resources and will be updated periodically

• Toolbox will be available on EPA’s website in summer/fall 2010

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CRWU Toolbox: Search Interface

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Resources:• Current Activities• Funding

Opportunities• Publications• Tools & Models• Workshops &

Seminars

CRWU Toolbox: Results

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Other Activities

Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems: Emergency Preparedness, Response, and

Climate Resiliency

• A CD-ROM-based tool to encourage drinking water and wastewater utility personnel to prepare and conduct incident response training through tabletop exercises.

• The materials use a scenario-based, discussion format to focus on exercise objectives and encourage coordination

• Includes scenarios on:

– Extreme Flooding

– Extreme Drought

– Sea Level Rise

– Intense Fire in Protected Catchment

– Impact of Freeze Thaw Shift on Main Breaks

• Released June 2010 26

Free WaterISAC Pro Subscription

Benefits of WaterISAC

WaterISAC

How to Subscribe: To receive a 12-month WaterISAC Pro Subscription for free, visit

the WaterISAC website www.waterisac.org.No payment information or future commitment is required

Water Information Sharing Analysis

Center (WaterISAC) is a secure, web-based

clearinghouse that helps drinking water and wastewater utilities

prepare for emergencies.

• The latest, sensitive information about critical infrastructure protection

• A network of colleagues with shared challenges

• Intelligence analysts who help interpret and evaluate threats

• Alerts about emerging risks

• Direct access to contaminant databases

• Monthly webcasts on current water security topics

An online community of water security professionals

CRWU - Summary

• EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities program provides resources for the Water Sector to develop and implement long-range plans that account for climate change impacts.

• Resources and support include tools, outreach, and training to build both increased awareness of potential climate change impacts and climate resilience in the Water Sector.

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Contact Information

John WhitlerWhitler.john@epa.gov202-564-1929www.epa.gov/watersecurity

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