How climate change will affect water utilities

With climate change, our best option is adaptation as, for most places, the slow, steady creep of climate change allows us the time to come up with the money to address issues. Adaptation will take different forms depending on location. A toolbox for SLR has been constructed. For example, we can install more coastal salinity structures, raise roadbeds, abandon some local roads, increase stormwater pumping, or add stormwater retention, to address many of the problems in coastal areas. The technology is available today. Each place will differ, and the costs, timing, and level of service will differ as well. Ultimately utilities need to develop a more managed integrated water system, with more operational controls, more infrastructure, and requiring more operational dollars. The needs will be large-in the trillions nationally. But there are two things in our favor: time and money. The expenditures will occur over many, many years. Most important in the near term is the early planning and identification of critical components of infrastructure, and policy needs and timing for them. Rural areas and the West are more challenging; there is time to raise money, but planning for the long term needs to start now. The key is to develop the appropriate plans to adapt to the changes wrought. In some places this will be minimal-others, significant. Protection of assets for the next 100-150 years is achievable as long as we have the science, the understanding, and the will to do it. Plan now, and over the rest of this century-starting now-we can raise the trillions of dollars needed.