Climate change presents several challenges to drinking water and wastewater utilities, including increased frequency and duration of droughts, floods associated with intense precipitation events and coastal storms, degraded water quality, wildfires and coastal erosion, and subsequent changes in demand for services. While these impacts have been documented in numerous publications, finding the right information for your type of utility or geographic region can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming. Therefore, the goals of the Adaptation Strategies Guide are (1) to provide drinking water and wastewater utilities with a basic understanding of how climate change can impact utility operations and missions, and (2) to provide examples of actions utilities can take (i.e., adaptation options) to prepare for these impacts.
Keywords: climate change; drought; water quality degradation; floods; ecosystem changes; service demands and use