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BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
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Research Laboratory
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Water Resource Adaptation Program
Addressing the Multi-front Challenge Through Holistic Adaptations
Introduction
The Water Resource Adaptation Program
(WRAP) contributes to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S.
EPA) efforts to provide water resource
managers and decision makers with the
tools needed to adapt water resources to
demographic and economic development,
and future climate change. WRAP'S
research also supplements the U.S. EPA's
Sustainable Water Infrastructure Initiative
goal to ensure our nation's water and
wastewater infrastructure meets future
needs.
WRAP research results are used to identify
infrastructure and watershed engineering
and management needs, and to help ensure
that our water supply is of high quality
and that water demand from human
consumption and economic activity is met.
WRAP researchers consider uncertainties
in future predictions and the adaptability
of existing infrastructure and water
programs. This information is used to
establish adaptation measures for specific
regions and watershed basins.
Facing the Challenge
Climate change, land use, and
socioeconomic development, collectively
referred as global change, pose a daunting
challenge to water resource programs and
water infrastructure. Water adaptability
is a key element for sustainable water
resource development and utilization.
The earth's climate changes in response
to climate forcings — when an alteration
in the global energy balance "forces"
the climate to change. Climate-forcing
mechanisms working in concert with
other forcings in the earth's orbit, ocean
circulation, and atmospheric compositional
changes, produce hydrological variations
we have already observed and the
variations that may occur in the future.
Even when atmospheric greenhouse gas
levels are reduced and the excessive
radiative forcing is mitigated, the inertia of
the hydrologic changes can continue into
the foreseeable future.
The WRAP research approach has three
basic elements to face these challenges:
• To investigate the hydrologic
effects of climatic change and
define the water resource needs of
future socioeconomic conditions.
The researchers use a variety of
investigating tools, such as climate
modeling, statistical data mining, and
water availability forecasting.
• To develop adaptation methods, many
focused on advanced and innovative
engineering techniques and solutions
to increase the resilience of water
engineering systems and water
programs.
• To develop and provide end users
with the tools needed for water
resource adaptation.
Research Areas
WRAP research supports the EPA's
Sustainable Water Infrastructure
Initiative to ensure that our nation's
water infrastructure meets future needs of
demographic and economic development.
WRAP researchers collaborate with
academic institutions, water utilities, and
other internal and external stakeholders,
to provide the science that offers timely
and useful information and tools for
water resource managers to respond to
global change and to develop engineering
and management adaptation solutions.
The program currently has four areas of
research:
Water Demand and Demographic
Changes - Factors such as population
migration, urbanization, and economic
development drive changes in the lifespan
of the nation's water infrastructure. WRAP
researchers are helping to ensure our
water infrastructure is adapted—within
its natural service time—to future water
demand.
Adaptive Engineering - Engineering
measures, such as alternative water
resource development, are designed
according to specific types of watershed
and regional climate conditions. In
this context, WRAP researchers are
developing adaptive engineering tools
and management methods for sustainable
watershed and infrastructure development.
WRAP is undertaking four areas of
adaptive engineering development:
• Water Reuse - Identifying regions
where potable and nonpotable water
and wastewater can be reused under
future climatic conditions.
• Water Conservation - Developing
and applying advanced technologies
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
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for detecting leaking pipes buried
in the ground to minimize water
quality deterioration and loss during
distribution from water facilities to
consumers' taps.
• Watershed Adaptation - Integrating
watershed management principles
and practices to future climatic and
socioeconomic conditions. Current
research centers on two areas of best
management practices: soil carbon
sequestration and nonpoint source
pollution prevention.
• Smart Water Systems - Application
of smart growth principles, such as
adopting water conservation policies
and maintaining an energy-efficient
water infrastructure, to meet the
growing demand for clean drinking
water, lower water infrastructure
costs, and high-efficiency water
delivery.
Climate Mitigation Sustainability -
WRAP researchers develop technical
solutions for sustaining our water
resources and generate scientific data
on climate mitigation measures in
alternative energy production, geological
carbon sequestration, and soil carbon
sequestration. WRAP-developed
mitigation measures help to reduce
greenhouse gases and also address
the impact of the mitigation measures
themselves on water resources.
Water Availability - In response to
regional environmental issues involving
the balance between water availability
and water demand, the White House
launched a new "Water Availability and
Sustainability" science initiative. WRAP
scientists and engineers have developed
a water availability forecasting platform
for use in the United States. The first
tool employs hydroclimatic periodicity
(cyclic variations in frequency and
magnitude) to forecast long-term (i.e.,
decades or millennia) variations or trends
in precipitation and stream flows. The
second tool is the newly developed water
availability index (WAI) used to forecast
water availability in the short term (i.e.,
days). Integrated together in a platform,
the periodicity-based and WAI-based tools
could provide timely information for water
program planning and operations.
Outcomes
Benchmarks have been established to
ensure the WRAP'S success:
• A national infrastructure condition
and adaptability assessment report by
2008
• Infrastructure adaptation program
outcome assessment by October 2013
• Infrastructure and Water Program
Adaptation Symposium for Global
Changes in early 2009
• A collection of publications, including
recent conference proceedings,
journal articles, and books
Collaboration
The purpose of collaboration is to
capitalize on the strengths of different
organizations in a multi-disciplinary
approach. These partnerships and
cooperative efforts enhance our ability to
ensure that our nation's water programs
and infrastructure adapts to meet future
needs of demographic and economic
development. In short, collaboration is
an integral part of WRAP research. The
WRAP collaborators include EPA program
offices and regional offices; other federal
agencies; state and local governments; the
American Tribal Council; water planning
agencies and utilities; NGOs; private
industry, corporations, and consultants;
international organizations; and academic
institutions.
WRAP stakeholder involvement:
• Cooperative research
• Stakeholder panel workshops
• Comprehensive assessment of water
utilities for their considerations of
climate change in water resource
planning
• Selection of a water district
representative in charge of case
studies on global change
CONTACT
Dr. Y. Jeffrey Yang, P.E., D.WRE
Environmental Scientist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
(513)569-7655
yang.j eff(g!epa. gov
RESOURCES
Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP)
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/wqm/wrap/
Global Climate Change Research Program
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/npd/globalresearch-intro.
htm
U.S. EPA(2002). "The Clean Water and
Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis"
(EPA/816/R-02/020) http ://www.epa. gov/nrmrl/
wswrd/wqm/wrap/pdf/816r02020.pdf
Sustainable Infrastructure for Water & Wastewater
http://www.epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with vegetable-based ink on
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50% post-consumer fiber content
processed chlorine free
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
EPA/600/F-08/014
September 2008
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