Water Utility Climate Alliance | 2021
Climate change is disrupting ecosystem services - the direct and indirect benefits people derive from ecosystems - around the world. Recognizing the challenges that climate change poses to watersheds, the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) aims to enhance climate change research and improve water management decision-making to ensure that water utilities can respond effectively. To help utilities understand how climate change affects critical ecosystem services and how to adapt to predicted climate impacts on those ecosystems, Earth Economics worked with WUCA members to survey utility adaptation needs. This survey gathered insights on how utilities perceive and address ecosystem management as part of their business alongside their climate adaptation efforts to help inform WUCA’s future research and planning efforts.
Working with WUCA members, EE received survey responses from 14 utilities across the United States. Together these utilities serve around 53 million water utility customers across the United States as shown in the map below.
The survey shows that participating utilities are aware of the broad range of services that surrounding ecosystems supply from water filtration and water provision to non-monetized ecosystem services, including support for habitat and biodiversity, recreation and tourism, and cultural and aesthetic values. Recognizing the value of these ecosystems, utilities monitor and track ecosystem health and fund restoration efforts. While survey results show important geographic variations in utility responses, all utilities are currently facing climate change risks from changes in water flows to wildfires. The survey also helps reveal multiple barriers utilities need help with to address climate change-related risks to ecosystems.
Looking ahead, WUCA aims to use these survey insights to help guide knowledge sharing and peer learning among utility members around issues of climate vulnerability and ecosystem health. Discussion with WUCA members on survey results also highlighted added opportunities for sharing tools that can support water utilities’ value and fund adaptation efforts.
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