Reading this recent article from the National Science Foundation certainly makes you wonder how weather will affect the lives of our children and grandchildren in the future, especially those in urban areas of the US. Will our kids of today and their children continue to take never ending showers (that is, until the water turns cold)? Will they pay more for municipality supplied water than gasoline? Will there be a Great Lakes Water Company supplying water to Colorado, Texas, etc. Are we seeing more evidence of a changing weather pattern?
The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) recent report -- Warming World - Impacts by Degree – provides a summary of what we might experience. Living in Ohio, we are experiencing a record breaking wet spring after a long wet winter. We are breaking daily temperature records and are well above norms for monthly rainfall totals. We often joke that storms are becoming more intense, having more trips to the basement for tornado warnings and wondering if we will miss spring and go right into summer weather patterns. Texas on the other hand is very dry and burning. Climate change seems to be more and more a reality and adaptation a necessity.
Then, the reality of how to pay for the needed changes starts to sink in. Can a city really adapt when facing all the other challenges of reduced revenues, jobs, and increasing regulatory pressure to provide safe and reliable services (police, fire, water, wastewater treatment). Clearly for those growing areas, replacing infrastructure, or establishing new growth and development policies, now is the time to consider what could happen if the weather continues to be more and more extreme. We are already seeing that water suppliers need to consider climate change, but is that enough?
Most cities have programs in place for transportation planning, land use planning, etc. Sustainability and adaptation planning is the next logical add. Not allowing development in or near the 100-year floodway, which was determined based on 1960s data, needs to be considered. One might also consider incremental changes in the size of storm sewers, detention basins, etc. to accommodate more intense rain events. Many cities are dealing with combined sewers and programs to separate them. Are they considering future weather conditions in their new designs? Some are considering low impact development an essential part of their program, but even those without a combined sewer issue could benefit.
Each federal agency is required to evaluate climate change risks and vulnerabilities to manage both the short- and long-term effects of climate change on the agency’s mission and operations according to Executive Order 13514 - “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance” ( October 2009). The Climate Change Adaptation Task Force issued its first progress report in October 2010 and released the Federal Agency Climate Change Adaptation Planning Implementing Instructions and Supporting Document in March 2011. A second progress report due in October 2011 will highlight the results of federal agency efforts including efforts to “build strong partnerships to support local, state, and tribal decision makers in improving management of places and infrastructure most likely to be affected by climate change.”
Certainly cities and counties will be drawn into this effort and will need to be ready to step up to the challenge. Let’s hope the resources and forethought to plan proactively becomes a priority sooner than later. Is your city prepared?