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Last week NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) released a 104 page report , entitled Confronting Climate Change: An Early Analysis of Water and Wastewater Adaptation Costs , detailing the impacts of climate change on, and its costs to, wastewater and drinking water utilities over the course of the next 50 years. The report found that utilities will face a total cost of $448- $944 billion in infrastructure as well as operations and maintenance expenses necessary to adapt to the impacts of climate change through 2050. These expected impacts do not include costs associated with emergency response and recovery from significant storm events and drought, nor do they take into account any increased costs to comply with new regulations that may result from climate change.

The report is broken down into several sections, including an Executive Summary and four chapters that respectively describe the role of water and wastewater utilities in dealing with climate change, the impacts of climate change on these utilities, their adaptation needs and the costs associated with them, and a summary the report’s conclusions. There are also a number of helpful and informative appendices at the back of the report, providing helpful literature references, the assumptions that form the basis of the report’s findings, and the methodologies used in the report.

The report was designed to provide policymakers and utility managers with a better understanding of the challenges that will be faced as utilities work to ensure reliable water and wastewater services and a healthy environment in the face of a changing climate. As stated in the report’s Executive Summary, “Climate Change is here, and in the years ahead, it is expected to alter the water cycle, affecting where, when, and how much water is available. . . . Now is the time to establish policies, invest in research, and provide support so that water and wastewater utilities can begin to plan for the necessary adaptation strategies needed to confront the inevitable impacts of climate change.">

The Senate has already taken notice of the report’s findings. Last week the California Association of Sanitation Agencies’ (CASA) President Ronald E. Young testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on behalf of CASA and NACWA. In his testimony, Mr. Young referenced the report and testified on the need to include adaptation funding for wastewater utilities in any climate change bill considered by Congress. This hearing was one of several as the EPW committee prepares to consider The Clean Energy and American Power Act (S. 1733). This bill, co-sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-Conn.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), is expected to be reported out of Committee by Thanksgiving and includes details on how auction proceeds will be distributed. The proposal recommends that in 2012 and 2013, 1.34% of distributed allowances be allocated to the states to be used for domestic adaptation purposes, including water system adaptation — the subject of this key report.

Study Addresses Adaptation at National, Regional Levels

The assessment highlighted challenges that utilities could face nationally and also examined scenarios that may develop on a region-by-region basis. At the national level, the study found that water utilities will face a host of challenges such as: rising sea level rise, storm surge impacts and extreme flooding that can inundate and incapacitate treatment facilities; managing increased extreme precipitation events; declining water quality; increased treatment requirements and higher energy demands.

The report also divides the country into six geographic regions and examines their key challenges as follows:

Northeast: Increased demand to maintain quality and quantity of discharges to rivers and streams for environmental purposes and increased storage needs resulting from earlier snowmelt and increased extreme precipitation events.

Southeast: Increased demand to maintain quality and quantity of discharges to rivers and streams for environmental purposes and greater uncertainties in drinking water supplies.

Midwest/Central Plains (two regions): Greater uncertainty in water supply.

Northwest: Increased demand to maintain quality and quantity of discharges to rivers and streams for environmental purposes and greater uncertainties in drinking water supplies.

Southwest: Anticipated increased regulation for many treatment components; increased issues with results of increased concentration of sewage, creating odor and treatment process problems and increased demand for maintaining quality and quantity of discharges to river and streams for environmental purposes. In addition, the Southwest will likely experience significant reductions and increased uncertainty in water supply which will increase the need to optimize water use, conservation, reuse, operation and storage.

Report Summarizes Public Agency Adaptation Strategies

In addition to highlighting these challenges, the report also summarizes climate change adaptation strategies that will likely be required by utilities. The report found that wastewater utilities will likely be required to develop new wet weather flow management techniques including greater utilization of green infrastructure; implementation of increased treatment processes to ensure the long-term health of receiving waters; encouraging greater use of recycling and reuse technologies; and raising pump stations, building levees and relocating existing treatment facilities.

Report’s Findings Will Help NACWA, Water Sector Advocacy Efforts

With many uncertainties looming for the nation's drinking water and wastewater treatment utilities, NACWA is seeking to ensure that the clean water community has the information it needs to ensure sound climate change policy. While the impacts of these policies may be several years away, the development of them is occurring today.

NACWA believes this report will help motivate policy-makers to think broadly about how climate change will affect the management of our vital water resources and what resources at the federal level will be required to assist utilities as they deal with these challenges.

As such, NACWA was proud to join AMWA in creating this report that shows the significant challenges that will confront utilities as the effects of global climate change continue to be manifested. Again, the report is available on NACWA’s website . Please contact Pat Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions regarding this report.