Planning for the Future in the Face of Climate Change

Anticipated effects of climate change in the greater Philadelphia region include a warmer, wetter climate, increased storm intensity, and sea level rise. These effects are of concern to Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) due to their potential impacts on the utility’s infrastructure and operations. PWD’s evolving response to impending climate change includes a combination of planning, evaluation, and adaptation to anticipated climate change effects, and mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) contributions. PWD has collaborated with the City of Philadelphia to establish a flood task force and an innovative citywide flood mitigation program (Green City, Clean Waters). PWD is also instituting a focused climate change adaptation strategy to better define PWD’s vulnerabilities to climate change impacts and to identify new adaptation approaches. Additionally, PWD tracks its GHG emissions and has set a plan for GHG reduction through a portfolio of alternative “green” energy and energy efficiency projects.