Climate Change and Water News
*" —. EPA Office of Water
*>EPA
September 11, 2015
EPA Climate Change and Water News is a bi-weekly newsletter from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Office of Water that covers climate change and water-related news from EPA, other U.S.
Federal agencies, and partners. To learn more about climate change impacts on water resources, visit
our website at: http://www2.epa.qov/climate-chanqe-water-sector.
EPA News and Featured Tool
• New EPA Website: "Addressing Climate Change in the Water Sector"
• EPA and Federal Partners Creating Early Warning System to Detect Harmful Algal Blooms
• EPA Report: "Managing Water Quality in the Face of Uncertainty"
• EPA to Host Stormwater Conference: October 18-22. 2015
Qther Federal News
• U.S. Geological Survey Releases: "Sea Level Rise Modeling Handbook: Resource Guide for
Coastal Land Managers. Engineers, and Scientists"
• New Arctic Topic Added to U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
• Landscape Conservation Cooperative ("LCC) Network Releases New Region Map
Qther News
• Nomination Deadline for the Sustained National Climate Assessment (NCA) Federal Advisory
Committee: September 14, 2015
• 100 Resilient Cities Challenge Applications Due November 24. 2015
• National Science Foundation Awards $12 Million for Urban Water Sustainability Research
Network
• Florida International University Launches Sea Level Solutions Center
-------
EPA News
New EPA Website: "Addressing Climate Change in the Water Sector"
EPA's National Water Program has redesigned and launched the website: "Addressing Climate Change
in the Water Sector." The new site directs users quickly and easily to a variety of resources including
climate change adaptation tools, organizations, training, and research. The popular "Calendar of Climate
Change and Water Events" shows upcoming webinars, conferences, and training. "EPA Climate Change
and Water News" is easy to subscribe to and keeps stakeholders informed about EPA and partner
activities, publications, events, and funding opportunities. The site also profiles actions that EPA is taking
on climate change in the water sector. For those interested in how climate change will impact our water
resources, this website is a one-stop-shop.
Click here to visit the new site.
EPA and Federal Partners Creating Early Warning System to Detect Harmful Algal
Blooms
EPA, NOAA, NASA, and USGS have announced a joint project to transform satellite data designed to
probe ocean biology into information that will help protect the American public from harmful freshwater
algal blooms. The new $3.6 million, multi-agency effort will use ocean color satellite data to develop an
early warning indicator for toxic and nuisance algal blooms in freshwater systems and an information
distribution system to aid expedient public health advisories. A warming climate coupled with increased
nutrient pollution may result in increased frequency of Harmful Algal Blooms. This early warning system
will help protect public health and better understand the occurrence of these blooms.
Click here to learn more about the project.
EPA Report: "Managing Water Quality in the Face of Uncertainty"
EPA and its state and local partners develop implementation plans designed to meet total maximum daily
load (TMDL) water quality standards. Uncertainty regarding the impacts of climate change and other
drivers may make it difficult for these plans to meet their goals. But the methods and processes used to
develop implementation plans typically do not address uncertainty in these key drivers. In this report, EPA
used two pilot case studies to explore how Robust Decision Making methods could help EPA and its
partners develop implementation plans that are more robust to future change.
Click here to access the report.
EPA to Host Stormwater Conference: October 18-22, 2015
EPA Region 6 is hosting the 17th Annual EPA Region 6 Stormwater Conference on October 18-22, 2015
in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This conference will address and discuss the various issues and challenges of
managing municipal stormwater, as well as new and upcoming rules and regulations. Topics on the
agenda include: sustainability, green infrastructure, low impact development, TMDLs, watershed
protection, as well as best management practice case studies.
Click here for more information.
Other Federal News
U.S. Geological Survey Releases: "Sea Level Rise Modeling Handbook: Resource
Guide for Coastal Land Managers, Engineers, and Scientists"
Designed for the benefit of land managers, coastal planners, and policy makers in the United States and
around the world, the handbook explains many of the contributing factors that account for sea-level
change. It also highlights the different data, techniques, and models used by scientists and engineers to
document historical trends of sea level and to forecast future rates and the impact to coastal systems and
communities.
Click here for the press release.
Click here to access the Handbook.
-------
New Arctic Topic Added to U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
As part of the Climate Data Initiative, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior has announced a new set of online
climate data resources to help Arctic communities address climate change planning, adaptation, and
management. The new data sets, introduced as part of the online U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, are
comprised of over 250 Arctic-related datasets and 40 maps, tools, and other resources designed to
support climate-resilience efforts in the Arctic. The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website developed
by NOAA and other federal agencies to address climate resiliency by sharing data-driven tools,
information, and subject-matter expertise.
Click here to learn more.
Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) Network Releases New Region Map
The Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) Network was formed by the Department of Interior to
better integrate science and management to address climate change and other landscape scale issues.
The 22 LCCs collectively form a network of resource managers and scientists who share a common need
for scientific information and interest in conservation. The LCC Network has revised its region map. For
example, a portion of the North Atlantic LCC was previously contained entirely within the Upper Midwest
and Great Lakes LCC, and there were spaces of land without LCC identity between the California LCC
and the Desert LCC. In addition, the South Atlantic LCC steering committee has adopted a 200 nautical
mile boundary into the Atlantic Ocean. The final data, metadata, and printable map products are now
publicly available.
Click here to view the map.
Click here to access data, metadata, and map products.
Other News
Nomination Deadline for the Sustained National Climate Assessment (NCA)
Federal Advisory Committee: September 14, 2015
The Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment, which will be established under
the Department of Commerce and supported through NOAA, will provide advice on sustained
assessment activities and products, including engagement of stakeholders.The deadline for nominations
for the =Committee is Monday, September 14, 2015. Please consider nominating experts in physical and
social sciences, communication, education, risk assessment, technology and tools, and other fields
relevant to the National Climate Assessment.
Click here for more information about the nomination process.
Click here to submit nominations.
100 Resilient Cities Challenge Applications Due November 24, 2015
The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge seeks to find 100 cities that are ready to build resilience to the social,
economic, and physical challenges that cities face in the face of climate change in an increasingly
urbanized world. Winners are eligible to receive funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, assistance in
developing a resilience strategy, and access to a platform of innovative private and public sector tools to
help design and implement that strategy and membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network.
Applications are due by November 24, 2015.
Click here for more information.
National Science Foundation Awards $12 Million for Urban Water Sustainability
Research Network
A consortium of 14 U.S. academic institutions have received a $12-million award from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to address challenges that threaten urban water systems in the United States
and around the world. The network will establish six highly connected regional urban water sustainability
hubs in densely populated regions across the nation to help communities transition to sustainable
-------
management of water resources.
Click here to view the University of Miami press release.
Florida International University Launches Sea Level Solutions Center
Florida International University (FIU) has launched the Sea Level Solutions Center. The Center combines
expertise in the natural, physical, and social sciences, along with architecture, engineering, computer
sciences, law, communications, business, health, and tourism management to develop long-term
strategies in the face of rising seas. The FIU Sea Level Solutions Center will focus on envisioning and
designing safe, resilient, prosperous, and sustainable coastal communities by focusing on the science
behind the rising seas, preservation of governance systems, infrastructure challenges and solutions,
business impacts, supply chain challenges, ecosystem dependencies, and personal assets.
Click here to read the press release.
This newsletter is produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water (EPA). If you
have questions related to the newsletter or want to submit an item, email the editor at
water climate chanqe@epa.gov. For past issues of EPA Climate Change and Water News, as well as further
information on climate change impacts on water resources, visit http://www2.epa.qov/climate-chanqe-water-sector.
------- |