Climate Ready Water Utilities: Helping the Water Sector Adapt to a Changing Hydrologic Cycle

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative assists drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities in adapting 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.Water utilities face many challenges due to variable climate conditions and resulting impacts on the hydrologic cycle, such as infrastructure damage due to flooding and sea level rise, water quality degradation, drought, and combined sewer overflows due to intense precipitation events. Each challenge can compromise operations and threatens the ability of utilities to fulfill their mission of providing clean water to communities. The CRWU resources enable utilities and stakeholders to begin the process of planning and implementing adaptation options to address these climate change impacts, and build more resilient water systems.