Project Summary

UConn researchers are working with the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) and the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) to integrate climate change information into water planning processes for the region.  With changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and drought anticipated due to climate change, water resource managers will benefit from integration of climate data into planning.  UConn researchers are working with these regional planners along with utility water managers to identify climate risks and thresholds of importance to the region’s water utilities, conduct a historical climate data analysis for the region, and prepare/analyze future climate projections and impacts.  Ultimately, water utility managers can incorporate this data into their planning activities. This Municipal Resilience Grant award was for the amount of $26,027.

Product

Summer 2019

June 28, 2019 Regional Resilience Planning for Protection of Public Drinking Water Webinar 

Project Description

The goal of this grant is to undertake a pilot project to develop climate information for the SCRCOG and the RWA and transfer products to other regional COGs and Connecticut water utilities to help municipalities adapt to and enhance the resiliency of public water supplies to a changing climate.  The four research objectives are to:

1. Conduct a literature review and survey of Connecticut water utilities to learn what other planners and water utilities are doing to plan for the effects of climate change on public drinking water supply quantity and quality.
2. Identify potential climate related risks and thresholds and co-produce relevant climate information to inform changes in thresholds and risks.
3. Support regional planning and water utility capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to protect public water supplies by translating climate information to inform ongoing regional and utility planning efforts.
4. Develop a “how to” guide with lessons learned and broadly disseminate results for use by other regional COGs and Connecticut water utilities.

Project Team Members

Christine Kirchhoff – UConn, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Guiling Wang – UConn, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Carl Amento – Executive Director, South Central Regional Council of Governments

Eugene Livshits – Senior Regional Planner, South Central Regional Council of Governments

John Hudak – Environmental Planning Manager, South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority