Case Study:
Water and Wastewater Utilities
Planning for Climate Change
CITY OF KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Background
The city of Keene provides drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 23,000 residential customers and
various large water users in Keene, NH, including two universities and a regional medical center. Average water demand
at the water treatment plant (WTP) is 2.2 million gallons per day (MGD), increasing to 2.5 MGD during the summer
months. The city of Keene's surface water comes from the Woodward and Babbidge Reservoirs which are located at a
higher elevation in the watershed than the WTP. In addition to the reservoir, the city has four groundwater wells that are
used to supplement the surface water predominantly during the spring and summer.
Climate Threats
The city of Keene has considered a number of climate change threats that may impact their operations. The city is
primarily concerned with the impacts of changing precipitation and extreme rainfall events on water quality, specifically
turbidity and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in the Babbidge Reservoir. Increased turbidity and TOC of the raw surface
water can impact the city's ability to treat the water, and occasionally may require switching entirely to their groundwater
source until the turbidity drops. The city estimates that they have experienced at least five 500-year or larger precipitation
events since 2005 along with more frequent deluge events where more than two inches of rain can fall in one hour.
Extreme rainfall events in 2013 and 2015 prompted the city to adjust their operations to meet regulatory requirements
during the events.
Planning Process
To better understand the vulnerabilities of their water resources to extreme precipitation events, the city of Keene
engaged in a series of webinars and an in-person meeting to conduct a climate change risk assessment using the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT). The assessment
brought together individuals from the city of Keene and EPA staff to think critically about potential climate impacts, priority
assets and possible adaptation options. The city of Keene is using their assessment to learn more about the impacts of
climate change threats on their drinking water treatment and distribution system.
Adaptation Measures
Using CREAT results, the city of Keene was able to evaluate the performance and costs of additional short-term and long-
term adaptation plans coupled with current measures that, if implemented, will provide additional protection to the drinking
water treatment facility and distribution system. The city will continue to use the results of their CREAT assessment to
underpin some of the decision-making during the planning process cycle. See the table below for all potential adaptive
measures that were considered.
City of Keene, New Hampshire Case Study — Page 1
xvEPA

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Case Study: Water and Wastewater Utilities Planning for Climate Change
TYPE
POTENTIAL ADAPTIVE MEASURES
Short-term Plan
Beaver management plan to reduce organic material

Improvement of emergency generator stand-by capacity

Improve water quality models to better understand quality degradation in order to
maintain continued drinking water service to customers

Watershed management plan to improve the ability of the City to continue to
monitor water quality in the event of high turbidity and TOC
Long-term Plan
Replace treatment with Dissolved Air Flotation/Filtration (DAFF) to improve the
ability of the City to continue to treat raw water in the event of high turbidity and
TOC

Identify additional groundwater sources in the event the Babbidge Reservoir was
not usable during an extreme event
Contact Information
For more information regarding the city of Keene's climate adaptation planning, contact Donna Hanscom at
dhanscom@ci.keene.nh.us.
City of Keene, New Hampshire Case Study — Page 2
oEPA
Office of Water (4608T)
EPA 810-S-16-004
January 2017

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