Climate Ready Water Utilities: Helping the Water Sector Prepare for and Adapt to a Climate Change

Drinking water and wastewater utilities face many challenges due to variable climate conditions and resulting impacts on water resources. These challenges include infrastructure damage due to flooding and sea level rise, water quality degradation, drought, combined sewer overflows due to intense precipitation events, and other factors. Each challenge can compromise operations and threatens the ability of utilities to fulfill their mission of providing clean water to communities. Responding to this challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed the Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative to help the water utility sector adapt to climate change by providing a clear understanding of climate science and adaptation options. The CRWU initiative has several tools and resources which advance climate adaptation planning and actively engage the water sector, including a risk assessment tool and community workshops. These resources allow utilities and stakeholders to begin the climate change adaptation process.