Project #4416

Water/Wastewater Utilities and Extreme Climate and Weather Events: Case Studies on Community Response, Lessons Learned, Adaptation, and Planning Needs for the Future

$25,000
Completed
Principal Investigator
Caroline
Hemenway
Research Manager
Kenan Ozekin, PhD
Contractor
Hemenway, Inc.
Emergency Response & Preparedness
Climate Adaptation
Climate Risk Assessment
Resilience
Utility Management

Abstract

This project consisted of a series of workshops that (1) examined the actions taken by drinking water and wastewater utility practitioners who faced a recent extreme weather and climate-related event and documented their planning and response; (2) determined and recorded lessons learned; (3) documented and analyzed the decision process, including decision makers, organizations involved, and data needed for making decisions when faced with an extreme event; and (4) summarized communication approaches used to inform the public. The final report, published by WERF, consists of the workshop results and a series of case studies highlighting lessons learned and recommended actions. Additionally, the case studies were published separately and are available on this project page.

The research was jointly sponsored by EPA, NOAA, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, Noblis, and in cooperation with WERF as project CC7C11 and was managed by Lauren Fillmore.