A Risk-Based Approach for Climate Change Adaptation

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District recently completed a climate change vulnerability analysis to assess the potential impacts of climate change on its facilities and operations. The vulnerability analysis included a comprehensive, qualitative assessment of the vulnerabilities of its facilities and the relative risks of realizing those vulnerabilities. This was supplemented by quantitative evaluations of climate change impacts specifically on the District’s wastewater conveyance/storage system and two of its jurisdictional watercourses. This paper presents an overview of the results of the qualitative vulnerability assessment and key findings from the quantitative evaluations.