vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
September 2022
OFFICE OF WATER 2022-2026
CLIMATE ADAPTATION
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Advancing Climate Change Adaptation and
Resilience Through EPA's Water Programs
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Disclaimer
To the extent this document mentions or discusses statutory or regulatory authority it does
so for informational purposes only. This document does not substitute for those statutes or
regulations, and readers should consult the statutes or regulations to learn what they require.
Neither this document, nor any part of it, is itself a rule or a regulation. Thus, it cannot change
or impose legally binding requirements on EPA, States, the public, or the regulated community
Further, any expressed intention, suggestion or recommendation does not impose any legally
binding requirements on EPA, States, tribes, the public, or the regulated community. Agency
decision makers remain free to exercise their discretion in choosing to implement the actions
described in this Plan. Such implementation is contingent upon availability of resources and is
subject to change.
EPA-800-R-22-001
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Preface
Climate change is threatening communities across the nation. Millions of Americans feel the
destructive effects of climate change each year when the power goes down, rivers and lakes go dry,
homes are destroyed by wildfires and communities are flooded by hurricanes. Underserved
communities are especially vulnerable to the climate crisis and are more likely to experience the
negative health and environmental effects of extreme weather events.
The Biden-Harris Administration is actively confronting the climate crisis while also advancing
environmental justice. As part of a whole-of-government approach, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is strongly committed to taking the actions necessary to protect human health
and the environment and to increase the resilience of the entire nation, even as the climate changes.
The EPA's commitment to action is reflected in its FY 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and in the 2021
Climate Adaptation Action Plan. Both documents present priority actions the agency will take to
ensure that its programs, policies and operations remain effective under future climate conditions
while we work to support states, territories, tribes and communities in increasing their own adaptive
capacity and resilience to climate change impacts.
From flooding at Superfund sites, to wildfires causing air pollution, to sea-level rise affecting water
quality and infrastructure, the EPA will boldly address climate impacts in both its programs and the
communities it serves. We recognize the importance of tribal, state and local government
partnerships in efficient, effective and equitable implementation of climate change adaptation
strategies. Our plans were informed and improved by input we received in listening sessions we
held to engage these and other partners as we developed these plans.
To ensure we are addressing the climate crisis in a comprehensive way, each of our national
program and regional offices has developed individual Climate Adaptation Implementation Plans
that outline how the EPA will attain the agencywide goals described in the broader Climate
Adaptation Action Plan. These plans describe how programs and regions will integrate climate
adaptation into their programs, partnerships and operations. They also describe how they will help
partners build their resilience and capacity to adapt, while delivering co-benefits, including curbing
greenhouse-gas emissions and other pollution, and promoting public health, economic growth and
climate justice. Of course, the EPA has a major role to play on emissions reductions as well, though
that is not the focus of these plans. Indeed, we must focus on both climate adaptation and mitigation
to ensure our nation and communities thrive in an era of climate change.
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As part of this effort, we will empower our staff and partners by increasing awareness of how
climate change may affect our collective ability to implement effective and resilient programs. We
will also provide them with the necessary training, tools, data, information and technical support to
make informed decisions and integrate climate adaptation into our work.
1 he EPA will work to modernize its financial assistance programs to encourage climate-resilient
investments across the nation. We will also focus on ensuring that investments funded by the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and other government programs are
resilient to the impacts of climate change. Finally, as our knowledge advances and as impacts
continue to develop, our response will likewise evolve. We will work to share these developments
to enhance the collective resilience of our nation.
The actions outlined in these implementation plans reflect the EPA's commitment to build every
community's capacity to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to and recover from the increasingly
destructive impacts of climate change. Together with our partners, we will work to create a healthy
and prosperous nation that is resilient to the ever-increasing impacts of climate change - which is
vital to the EPA's goal of protecting human health and the environment and to ensuring the long-
term success of our nation.
Janet G. McCabe
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Message from
Radhika Fox,
Assistant Administrator
for the Office of Water
This year, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA), I am reflecting on
the progress we have made in cleaning up our nation's waterways and making our water and
communities safer. As I look to the next 50 years, how we respond to climate change will be
a defining factor in our efforts to meet our CWA goals and deliver on our mission to protect
public health and the environment.
Climate change is one of the most urgent and universal challenges facing U.S. communities and
the environment. So many of us experience climate change through water, including flooding in
coastal and inland communities, drought across the South and the West, and unpredictability
that impacts everyone from water utilities to farmers to ecosystems.
That is why I am proud to release this plan and to share the priorities that will guide the Office
of Water's (OW's) work over the next several years to support states, communities, and the
water sector in their efforts to adapt to a changing climate. These efforts include incorporating
flood resilience across the nearly $50 billion EPA will invest in water through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Deal, prioritizing nature-based solutions, and considering future climate
conditions across CWA permitting and water quality programs.
This plan includes a range of priority actions that the Office of Water commits to taking in the
near-term to advance its climate adaptation agenda. These are important, high-impact steps
we can take now to embed climate considerations across OW's infrastructure, regulatory, and
research programs. However, these are not the only steps OW is taking to address the impacts
of climate change. As we implement the actions in this plan, we will learn more. And, as we
learn more, we will do more.
Importantly, while the actions in this plan are ones that OW is taking, we look to the broader
water community—public water systems, local governments, community organizations,
water-reliant businesses, the engineering and construction sector, the scientific community,
and many more—to join us in implementing these actions and amplifying their impact. Only
through partnership will we be able to adapt to the new conditions and challenges posed by
our changing climate. This is not just a plan. It is a promise to work together, across all levels of
government, to build a resilient water future.
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Key Terms and Definitions
The definitions below are a guide to reading this Implementation Plan. These descriptions
are derived from several sources, including Executive Order (EO) 14008 on Tackling the
Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. EPA's 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan CCAAP). EPA's
Environmental Justice 2020 Glossary, the National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to
Climate Change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate change refers to alterations in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to
human-caused increased levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases.
Climate change adaptation or climate adaptation means taking action to prepare for and
adjust to both the current and projected impacts of climate change.
Climate change mitigation refers to actions limiting the magnitude and rate of future climate
change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or advancing nature-based solutions.
Adaptive capacity is the ability of a human or natural system to adjust to climate change
(including climate variability and extremes) by moderating potential damages, taking advantage
of opportunities, or coping with the consequences.
Climate resilience is the capacity of a system to maintain function in the face of stresses
imposed by climate change and to adapt to be better prepared for future climate impacts.
Climate risk is a combination of the magnitude of the potential consequences of climate
change impacts (e.g., financial, environmental, health) and the likelihood that the consequences
will occur.
Climate vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with,
adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a
function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed,
its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity.
Natural hazards are natural events that present near-term risks or threats to the normal
operations of a community or specific asset. Climate change may introduce new hazards within
a community or increase the intensity or frequency of hazards. Natural hazards include earth-
quakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and hydrologic changes.
Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless
of race, color, culture, national origin, income, and educational levels with respect to developing,
implementing, and enforcing protective environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Overburdened communities include minority, low-income, tribal, or indigenous populations
or geographic locations in the United States that potentially experience disproportionate
environmental harms and risks. This disproportionality can be a result of greater vulnerability
to environmental hazards, lack of opportunity for public participation, or other factors.
Increased vulnerability may be attributable to an accumulation of negative or a lack of positive
environmental, health, economic, or social conditions within these populations or places. The
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term describes situations where multiple factors, including both environmental and socioeco-
nomic stressors, may act cumulatively to affect health and the environment and contribute to
persistent environmental health disparities.
Climate justice applies the same understanding and principles of environmental justice within a
context of considering the impacts of climate change on overburdened and vulnerable commu-
nities. This includes considering not only the reality that communities with environmental justice
concerns will typically be impacted by climate change worst and first, but also considering
priorities, such as just transition, that allow communities to move toward a clean, sustainable
economy.
Indian Country is defined at 18 U.S. Code § 1151, as 1) all land within the limits of any Indian
reservation under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government, notwithstanding the issuance of any
patent, and including rights-of-way running through the reservation; 2) all dependent Indian
communities within the borders of the United States, whether within the original or subse-
quently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state; and 3) all
Indian allotments, and the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-
of-way running through the same.
Indigenous peoples include state-recognized tribes; indigenous and tribal community-based
organizations; individual members of federally recognized tribes, including those living on a
different reservation or living outside Indian Country; individual members of state-recognized
tribes; Native Hawaiians; Native Pacific Islanders; and individual Native Americans.
Tribes when used in this document, refers to federally recognized tribes. Federally recognized
tribes include any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that
the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1944, 25 U.S. Code § 479a.
Meaningful involvement means that potentially affected community residents have an appro-
priate opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their
environment and/or health; the public's contribution can influence the regulatory agency's
decision; the concerns of all participants involved will be considered in the decision-making
process; and that decision-makers seek out and facilitate the involvement of those potentially
affected.
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Table of Contents
Preface i
Message from Radhika Fox,
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water iii
Key Terms and Definitions iv
Introduction 1
Climate Vulnerabilities of Water Resources, Communities, and Office of Water
Programs 7
Priority Actions 17
Goal 1: Improve Climate Resilience of America's Water Infrastructure 20
Goal 2: Protect America's Waters from Impacts of a Changing Climate 29
Goal 3: Advance Adaptive Capacity of Water Sector and Climate Knowledge
of Communities and Decisionmakers 37
Identifying Science Needs to Advance Adaptation and Resilience 44
Elevating Employee and Stakeholder Knowledge of Climate Change 49
Engagement and Outreach 52
Conclusion 56
Appendices 57
References 67
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Introduction
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significant impacts on the social, economic, and environmental systems we depend on. As
communities experience changes to historical climatic norms, communities frequently feel the
effects of those changes through regular interactions with their water resources, which bring
the consequences of a changing climate into our everyday lives. Aside from an increase in
extreme weather events, the changing climate is creating more frequent and longer droughts,
water supply shortages, regular nuisance flooding, and sea-level rise. These events and
accompanying impairments in water quality threaten the health of communities and diminish or
deprive them of economic and recreational opportunities.
The impacts of climate change are not equally distributed across locations, communities, and
populations. Those experiencing environmental injustices and vulnerable populations already
at a disadvantage for coping with climate-related risks are disproportionally vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change. Likewise, climate change has direct and cascading effects on water
resources that vary across regions and watersheds, presenting a wide range of risks to natural
and human systems. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, exacerbating existing stressors
that impact public health, degrade the quality of our waterways, and destabilize the critical
water infrastructure we rely upon.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Water (OW) has an important
responsibility in the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The Clean
Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) charge the Office of Water to restore
and protect the integrity of our nation's waters, and to protect public health by ensuring safe
drinking water for the public. However, achieving water management goals has become more
challenging and complex as climate change shifts hydrological patterns outside of historical
norms. Our programs and the water community are already confronting a variety of climate
impacts, including the increased frequency of extreme weather events on water infrastructure
operations, saltwater intrusion that places greater demands on drinking water treatment
facilities, and changing weather patterns that increase pollutant loading to water bodies, which
hinders the attainment of water quality goals. The quantity and diversity of these impacts
underscore the importance of climate adaptation to the success of OW's mission.
Adapting to the impacts of climate change is vital to maintaining the future success of OW's
programs, as well as the long-term effectiveness of state, tribal, and local water management
programs nationwide. OW will strategically take actions to embed climate change adaptation
across its financial assistance, regulatory, and non-regulatory programs. OW will place
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particular focus on the historic opportunity presented by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
(BIL). As OW implements nearly $50 billion in investments in clean water, drinking water, and
natural infrastructure, it can help ensure the largest investment in water in the nation's history
creates long-term resilience in communities and ecosystems across the United States, OW will
also embed climate considerations in its implementation of Justice401 to ensure that federal
investments and benefits that accrue to disadvantaged communities and nature-deprived
communities are climate resilient and support climate adaptation.
OW's programs include supporting drinking water, wastewater, and
stormwater infrastructure; setting standards for protecting water
quality; regulating municipal and industrial discharges of pollutants
to waters; working to control nonpoint sources of pollution;
monitoring the condition of surface waters, including rivers, lakes,
and coastal and ocean waters; preserving healthy watersheds;
restoring waters impaired by point and nonpoint sources of pollution;
and protecting wetlands, rivers, streams, and coastal waters when
dredge or fill permits are issued, OW also supports several place-
based partnership programs that bring together diverse stakeholders
within communities and watersheds. These partnership programs can
help decision-makers at various scales take the necessary actions to
protect and restore their water resources, while considering other key
social and economic needs.
1 Federal agencies are required to consider how certain investments might be made toward a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits
of such investments flow to disadvantaged communities. www,whitehouse.aov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/M-21-28.pdf. For more
information on Justice40, visit: www.whitehouse.aov/omb/briefina-room/2021/07/20/the-path-to-achievinq-iustice40/.
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Climate Adaptation at EPA Under the Biden-
Harris Administration
On January 27, 2021, Executive Order CEO) 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad set the stage for the Biden-Harris Administration's whole-of-government charge to
address climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. The EO directs each federal agency to
develop climate action plans that describe their agency's climate vulnerabilities and the steps
they will take to increase both their and the nation's resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Released in October 2021, EPA's Climate Adaptation Action Plan (CAAP) focuses the Agency's
work on five cross-agency priority actions to implement EO 14008. These actions will help
ensure that EPA continues to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environ-
ment—even as the climate changes and disruptive impacts increase, EPA's priority actions are as
follows:
1. Integrate climate adaptation into EPA programs, policies, rulemaking processes, and
enforcement activities.
2. Consult and partner with tribes, states, territories, local governments, environmental justice
organizations, community groups, businesses, and other federal agencies to strengthen
adaptive capacity and increase the nation's climate resilience, with a particular focus on
advancing environmental justice.
3. Implement measures to protect EPA's workforce, facilities, critical infrastructure, supply
chains, and procurement processes from the risks posed by climate change.
4. Measure and evaluate performance.
5. Identify and address climate adaptation science needs.
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In the plan, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan directed all EPA headquarters offices and
regional offices to update their 2014 Climate Adaptation Implementation Plans to proactively
incorporate climate adaptation throughout all programs, policies, and rulemaking processes.
Following this directive, OW, under guidance from the Office of Policy, worked across its
programs and with the Water Divisions in every EPA region to develop this Climate Adaptation
Implementation Plan. Key elements of this Implementation Plan include:
• An assessment of the climate vulnerabilities of water resources, communities, and EPA's
water programs.
• OW's priority actions for fiscal year (FY) 2022-2026 to address those vulnerabilities, and
measures of progress for those actions.
• Science needs to advance current and future work on climate adaptation of communities,
water infrastructure, and water resources.
• Training and outreach priorities to engage and support OW's stakeholders.
"From fires in the West, to widespread drought, and the wide path of
destruction left by Hurricane Ida from Louisiana to New York, recent and
current events show the impact our changing climate is having on our
lives and livelihoods."
- EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan
Purpose and Intent of this Implementation Plan
This Implementation Plan outlines priority actions that will help OW further integrate climate
change considerations into the daily fabric of its work and build resilience to a wide range of
water-related climate vulnerabilities. In addition, each EPA regional office has developed a
Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan that complements the plans of OW and the other
national program offices. The EPA regional offices' plans incorporate climate resilience into their
core programmatic work, recognizing the unique geographic climate challenges facing each
region.
OW's plan seeks to leverage its regulatory and non-regulatory, financial assistance, and scientific
programs to meet the climate challenge. OW will adaptively manage its implementation to
track progress toward achieving our goals and identify future actions that meet the adaptation
needs of our water community. This plan is both a roadmap for OW's programs and staff and
a communication to partners about OW's goals. Many of the priority actions focus on better
incorporating climate resilience into the programs that are jointly administered by EPA and the
states, such as water infrastructure programs and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) program, and into programs and projects that can help states, tribes, commu-
nities, utilities, and others build climate resilience on the ground (e.g., Creating Resilient Water
Utilities and Urban Waters Federal Partnership). Partnerships across the water community are
critical for efficient, effective, and equitable implementation of climate adaptation strategies.
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OW commits to working closely with its co-regulators and stakeholders across the water
community to implement the priority actions and amplify the impact of these actions.
In that spirit, OW will engage affected and interested partners and stakeholders—including
states, tribes, territories, environmental justice organizations, community groups, businesses,
and other federal agencies—to successfully implement the actions in this Implementation Plan.
OW will coordinate across its programs, as well as with EPA's regions, to more effectively align
its work with plans and initiatives developed by offices across EPA. Additionally, under the
whole-of-government approach embodied by the Biden-Harris Administration, OW will work
with other federal agencies on adaptation efforts that cut across organizations to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of this combined federal endeavor. As part of that effort, OW will
actively support the America the Beautiful initiative to conserve, protect, connect, and restore
our lands and waters across the country Together, we can help address the climate crisis,
protect water quality, and provide equitable environmental outcomes in communities across the
country.
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Climate Vulnerabilities
of Water Resources,
Communities, and Office of
Water Programs
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times to recover. OW staff in EPA Headquarters and Regional Emergency Operations Center
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) National Response Coordination
Center will be required to work longer and be activated more often to handle this situation.
Already, limited staff are working on multiple efforts on response or long-term recovery which
often lasts months to years.
Core Climate Vulnerabilities
Critical Water Infrastructure. Throughout the United States, communities rely on clean and safe
water from an extensive network of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.
The impacts of climate change are stressing the operation of our country's already aging infra-
structure. For example, alterations in precipitation patterns and flooding due to intense storms
are overwhelming or damaging existing water infrastructure. Increased stormwater runoff
and flooding is also washing pollutants and other chemical contaminants into drinking water
sources, requiring additional or alternative methods of treatment and placing greater pressure
on already constrained systems to meet water quality standards. Extreme events also accelerate
erosion and sedimentation of streams and rivers, reservoirs, and port facilities, adversely
affecting aquatic organisms and requiring more frequent dredging and the disposition of poten-
tially contaminated sediment. These infrastructure challenges have real implications for public
health and communities, especially those that are underserved or already have heightened
exposures to pollutants. The frequency and magnitude of heavy precipitation and runoff events
is expected to increase in all parts of the country (Coffey et al., 2018). However, today's infra-
structure designs, operations, financing principles, and regulatory standards typically do not
account for the impacts of a changing climate. With a historic influx of federal funding to build
and modernize our nation's water infrastructure, it will be more important than ever for OW to
help ensure investments are made in projects that will withstand the impacts of climate change
and reliably provide clean and safe water to all Americans.
Most Impacted Water Programs in
Drinking Water
Standards
Surface Water
Standards
Technology Based
Standards
Emergency
Planning
Drinking Water
Planning
Clean Water
Planning
Water
Monitoring
Water Restoration/Total
Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDLs)
Underground Injection
Control Permits
Wastewater
Permits
Stormwater
Permits
Wetlands Protection and
Restoration
Source Water
Protection
Nonpoint Pollution
Control
Estuarine and Coastal
Management
Partnership
Programs
Infrastructure
Funding and
Financing Programs
Combined Sewer
Overflow Plans
Ocean
Protection
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Impacts to the Availability of Water for Human Use. Climate change is impacting both the
quality and volume of the supplies we rely on for clean, safe water. One of EPA's primary roles
is protecting drinking water sources from contamination. Climate change makes those sources
more vulnerable to contamination in two ways: more intense storms result in larger pulses of
pollution and drought dwindles water supplies, both of which result in concentrated pollutant
loads. EPA does not have a direct role in ensuring adequate water supplies. Nonetheless,
changes in water quantity can affect water quality and its availability for human use. Water
quantity is already a significant issue for many communities, and these trends will continue,
as most regions of the United States are projected to experience a higher frequency of severe
droughts and longer dry periods (Vose et al., 2019). Warming air temperatures will cause
precipitation in some areas to fall more as rain rather than snow, along with shifts to earlier
springtime snowmelt. Shrinking snowpack, higher evaporation, and reduced precipitation can
all reduce water supplies and lead to more drying that intensifies the risk of wildfires (Lall et
al., 2018). Wildfires and erosion following fires create significant impacts on surface drinking
water sources (Bladon et al., 2014). A growing number of communities are expected to grapple
with challenges to their water supplies year-round. These communities will need to manage
competition between municipal supplies, energy production, industrial use, agricultural use,
and ecological needs. OW's programs may be called on to support local and regional deci-
sion-making around water quality issues related to water supply availability (e.g., implementing
water reuse actions to enhance water supply availability).
Most Impacted Water Programs in
Drinking Water
Standards
Surface Water
Standards
Technology Based
Standards
Emergency
Planning
Drinking Water
Planning
Clean Water
Planning
Water
Monitoring
Water Restoration/
Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs)
Underground Injection
Control Permits
Wastewater
Permits
Stormwater
Permits
Wetlands Protection
and Restoration
Source Water
Protection
Nonpoint Pollution
Control
Estuarine
and Coastal
Management
Partnership
Programs
Infrastructure Funding
and Financing Programs
Ocean
Protection
Combined Sewer
Overflow Plans
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Waterborne Illness and Water Treatment Needs. Increasing air and water temperatures,
combined with greater pollutant loads reaching sources of drinking water and other water
bodies, will continue to threaten the health of people and ecosystems. In the coming decades,
climate change is expected to increase risks from harmful algal blooms (HABs) related to
drinking water sources and recreational activities (Ebi et al., 2018). Increased air and water
temperatures will also affect the survival of waterborne pathogens that present water safety
concerns to people, pets, and aquatic organisms (Coffey et al., 2018). Rising waters, storm
surge, higher tides, and altered runoff amplify the risk of salinity intrusion in aquifers, leading
to additional drinking water infrastructure and treatment needs. Industrial facilities and
contaminated sites located near waterways experiencing flooding and extreme weather may
become more prone to release toxic materials that further threaten the quality of waterways
and sources of drinking water. The increased mobilization of various pollutants and prevalence
of waterborne illnesses can affect other services valued by the public, including economic and
recreational opportunities. OW's programs are designed to help ensure that water systems are
sustainable and secure by developing and revising water quality standards, ensuring compliance
with these standards, and protecting sources of drinking water from contamination. OW also
helps to build the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of systems. Demand on OW
programs is likely to increase as climate change requires local systems to expand treatment in
response to rising risks from waterborne illness and contamination.
Most Impacted Water Programs in
Drinking Water
Standards
Surface Water
Standards
Technology Based
Standards
Emergency
Planning
Drinking Water
Planning
Clean Water
Planning
Water
Monitoring
Water Restoration/
Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs)
Underground Injection
Control Permits
Stormwater
Permits
Wetlands Protection
and Restoration
Source Water
Protection
Nonpoint Source
Management
Estuarine
and Coastal
Management
Partnership
Programs
Infrastructure Funding
and Financing Programs
Ocean
Protection
Combined Sewer
Overflow Plans
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Aquatic Ecosystem Health, Variations in temperature, precipitation, and acidity (pH) will
likely have wide-ranging effects on water chemistry, ecosystem health, habitat, and suitability
for human use (see inset). Increasing air and water temperatures will alter the condition of
waterways, potentially resulting in additional water bodies not meeting water quality standards.
More intense rainfall, storms, wildfires, and other extreme weather and events will also amplify
the amount of runoff carrying greater pollutant loads to water bodies (Lall et all, 2018). Water
temperatures are expected to continue to increase throughout the United States, with the
greatest changes occurring in locations where high summer air temperatures coincide with
low streamflow volumes (Coffey et al., 2018). Warming waters and other ecological shifts will
threaten the functions of aquatic habitats and the survival of aquatic species (e.g., cold water
fisheries, coral reefs), particularly affecting communities that depend on the availability of
these resources as part of their economy, subsistence, and social or cultural traditions. Warming
water also increases the potential for HABs and hypoxia. Nutrient enrichment of coastal
waters exacerbates the acidification of nearshore waters, while increased atmospheric carbon
dioxide and warmer temperatures lead to acidification in open ocean waters. Protecting and
restoring water quality is fundamental to OW's mission, but existing approaches to water quality
management are being tested by changes in climate across the nation. In developing better
climate adaptation strategies to support local decision-making, OW and its partners may need
to adjust and expand implementation of water quality management programs under the CWA.
In the United States, historically wetter regions (i.e., northern and
eastern regions) are likely to receive increased annual precipitation with
corresponding increases in runoff, whereas historically drier regions (i.e.,
the arid Southwest, southern Great Plains, and parts of the Southeast)
will likely receive less precipitation, resulting in decreased runoff. In
addition, more frequent heavy precipitation events—even in areas
that receive substantial annual precipitation—and longer dry periods
between precipitation events are projected (Coffey et al., 2018).
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Most Impacted Water Programs in
Blue
Drinking Water
Standards
Surface Water
Standards
Technology Based
Standards
Emergency
Planning
Drinking Water
Planning
Clean Water
Planning
Water
Monitoring
Water Restoration/
Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs)
Underground Injection
Control Permits
Discharge
Permits
Storm Water
Permits
Wetlands Protection
and Restoration
Source Water
Protection
Nonpoint Pollution
Control
Coastal
Zone
Partnership
Programs
Infrastructure
Funding and
Financing Programs
Ocean
Protection
Combined Sewer
Overflow Plans
Transportation and Energy Infrastructure Interfacing with Water. Climate change poses
additional vulnerabilities for the development, maintenance, and longevity of transportation
infrastructure (e.g., bridges, culverts, dams, port facilities, navigation channels). Damage to and
hardening of transportation infrastructure can impact the quality and quantity of hydrologic
flows. Increased precipitation and extreme weather events have already had a significant impact
on transportation and energy infrastructure where roads, railroads, dams, bridges, causeways,
stream crossings, and other important transportation structures intersect with waterways. These
structures are often not built or repaired to be resilient against the effects of climate change.
As a result, they may impair water quality, be unable to withstand floods or pass flows, create
barriers to aquatic life, hinder critical ecological functions, and impact public safety. Elevating
and adapting transportation and energy infrastructure to withstand more intense storms,
particularly in places where it intersects waterways, can increase its impacts on wetlands and
other sensitive areas. Extreme rainfall and storm events can also damage groins, jetties, and
breakwaters and cause shoaling of navigation features in ports that are essential to shipping of
goods and services. These structural vulnerabilities have the potential to exacerbate existing
stressors from hydrologic alteration, which further reduces the overall resilience of water
resources to climate change while eliminating other economic and social functions communities
depend on. These stressors are likely to increase demand on OW programs intended to protect
water quality and mitigate the hydrologic impacts of constructed facilities.
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Most Impacted Water Programs in
Blue
Drinking Water
Standards
Surface Water
Standards
Technology Based
Standards
Emergency Planning
Drinking Water
Planning
Clean Water
Planning
Water
Monitoring
Water Restoration/
Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs)
Underground Injection
Control Permits
Stormwater Permits
Wetlands Protection
and Restoration
Source Water
Protection
Nonpoint Pollution
Control
Estuarine
and Coastal
Management
Partnership
Programs
Infrastructure Funding
and Financing Programs
Ocean
Protection
Combined Sewer
Overflow Plans
Impacts of Climate Change on Vulnerable
Communities and Populations
Climate change poses risks to our nation's water resources that, in turn, create significant
vulnerabilities for public health and the economic and social wellbeing of communities. Certain
communities and populations are uniquely and disproportionally vulnerable to climate change
impacts due to a variety of factors, including higher pollution burdens, greater exposure to
environmental contaminants, lack of financial resources, limited access to quality health care,
and other issues. While communities of color, low-income communities, children, persons with
disabilities, the elderly, tribes, and indigenous people may experience the same water-focused
climate threats described in the previous sections, these groups face unequal and often greater
risks from climate change. In addition, these populations generally have fewer resources to
prepare for or cope with climate-related events—including those that impact the quality and
quantity of their water resources—and are expected to experience greater hardships from
climate change in the future (Lall et al., 2018; Gillespie-Marthaler et al., 2019). The whole-of-gov-
ernment emphasis on addressing environmental justice and equity through the Justice40
Initiative is a critical element to providing adaptation opportunities to these communities. OW
plans to identify and prioritize program actions that help support populations most vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change, including programs covered by Justice40 such as the State
Revolving Funds (SRF) program, geographic programs, and the National Estuary Program (NEP).
"Development of effective, equitable adaptation plans and strategies
will require EPA to identify how pre-existing social inequities limit a
community's adaptive capacity and respond accordingly."
- EPA's 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan
14
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Overburdened, Underserved, and Disadvantaged Communities. Communities of color,
low-income communities, and rural populations face disproportionately high pollutant
exposures, including exposure to drinking water contamination and impaired water quality
(Schaider et al., 2019). Because of existing impairments, these communities will face greater
challenges in meeting water quality goals for drinking water and surface waters as the climate
changes. Increasing costs for water treatment and water infrastructure upgrades and repairs will
create a significant barrier for protecting and improving water quality. For example, rate hikes to
cover increased costs can decrease water service affordability and jeopardize access to clean,
safe water for low-income customers or those already facing economic hardships. Low-income,
underserved, or rural communities with decentralized water infrastructure may face greater
risks from sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and flooding that can impair drinking water quality
from individual wells and the functioning of detached septic systems. Furthermore, commu-
nities of color and low-income communities often experience capacity barriers in securing
financing for water management projects that offer climate resilience. Decision-makers in these
communities often lack the staff and access to the information needed to secure resources for
climate risk assessment, planning, and project implementation. Rural water systems frequently
have fewer ratepayers to share the cost of system improvements. Furthermore, rural, agricultur-
ally-focused communities may face additional economic hardship as climate variability makes
crop production—and associated water quality management challenges—more uncertain and
difficult. The Appendix includes examples that further illustrate how the existing constraints and
water quality challenges experienced by these communities or populations will be amplified by
a changing climate.
Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples. The wellbeing of tribal and indigenous communities is
at risk from climate change. Climate change is affecting water resources that are often critical
to their cultures, traditional lifeways, spiritual practices, and economies. The ecological effects
of climate change, such as shifts in aquatic species and their habitat ranges, as well as the
quality and amount of snowpack, are already affecting the economic and social welfare of tribal
and indigenous communities across the country (Lall et al., 2018). These impacts threaten the
protection of tribal treaty rights to fish, hunt, and gather at usual and accustomed grounds
and stations. Indigenous communities represent diverse cultures, histories, governments, and
environments, so their individual experiences with climate change will differ. Indigenous peoples
and their partners have undertaken a wide range of adaptation projects over the last decade
(see inset), but the inequitable burden of adaptation costs and sociopolitical barriers are leaving
tribal nations at a disadvantage for implementing climate adaptation efforts.
Case studies of tribal adaptation activities are included in the Institute
for Tribal Environmental Professionals' Tribal Profiles and tribal case
studies within the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit.
15
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"EPA recognizes that tribes are disproportionately vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change, due in part to their dependence on specific
geographic areas for their livelihood; unique cultural, economic and
political characteristics; and limited resources to prepare for, respond to,
and recover from climate-related hazards (i.e., limited adaptive capacity)."
- EPA's 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan
Territories and Island States. Territories and island states have unique characteristics that make
them especially vulnerable to climate change impacts, such as their dependence on limited local
sources of freshwater, concentration of infrastructure along coastlines, and general isolation
(Gould et al., 2018). Sea level rise threatens low-lying critical assets, including drinking water
supplies, coastal ecosystems, cultural sites, businesses, and infrastructure. Coastal island areas
can also be subject to more frequent and intense extreme weather events that threaten life and
property (Lall et al., 2018). For these areas, climate change will exacerbate existing challenges
to water infrastructure, including protecting and maintaining drinking water supplies and unique
aquatic resources.
The Tribal Water Action Plan outlines the steps OW is taking to deliver on
the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to upholding the United
States' tribal trust responsibility by strengthening the nation-to-nation
relationship between the United States and tribes, and empowering tribal
nations to govern their communities. The plan is organized around four
priority focus areas: 1) promoting robust coordination and meaningful
consultation with tribal nations; 2) strengthening and expanding water
governance in Indian Country; 3) increasing infrastructure funding and
capacity development; and 4) honoring the federal trust responsibility
and protecting tribal reserved rights related to water resources.
16
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Priority Actions
-------
OW will leverage its funding, authorities, and convening power
to help the United States become more resilient to the impacts of
climate change. We will! use CWA and SDWA tools, develop and deploy the
latest science, and promote water-oriented climate adaptation strategies to advance
climate goals. OW will partner with tribes, states, and territories to help ensure our priority
actions support the climate adaptation needs of vulnerable and underserved people in commu-
nities across the country.
As it works to adapt to the impacts of climate change, OW will advance the following goals and
objectives:
GOAL 1
IMPROVE CLIMATE
RESILIENCE OF
AMERICA'S WATER
INFRASTRUCTURE
OBJECTIVES
Q Deploy Grant and Loan Programs to Advance
Climate Objectives
^ Incorporate Climate Planning Resources into
Technical Assistance Programs
© Promote Resilient Infrastructure Solutions
GOAL 2
PROTECT NATION'S
WATERS FROM THE
IMPACTS OF A
CHANGING CLIMATE
OBJECTIVES
©
©
e
Integrate Climate Considerations in CWA and
SDWA Actions and Programs
Invest in Ecosystem Protection and Restoration
Leverage Strategic Research
GOAL 3
ADVANCE ADAPTIVE
CAPACITY OF WATER
SECTOR AND CLIMATE
KNOWLEDGE OF ALL
COMMUNITIES AND
DECISIONMAKERS
OBJECTIVES
Q Support Assessment of Climate Risks and
Climate-Informed Decision Making
Q Improve Availability of Data and Information to
Support Climate-Informed Decisions
18
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To pursue the objectives outlined above, OW has identified priority actions in the following
section as specific steps OW will take to help prepare water programs, partners, and stake-
holders for the current and future impacts of climate change. Each action has a concrete
timeline and measures for tracking progress toward completion, recognizing that there may be
additional work that cannot be easily measured or ongoing work beyond the identified timeline
(e.g., managing a new grant program.) Taken together, many of these actions reinforce each
other, deliver significant co-benefits, and represent an expansion and acceleration of the OW's
long-term climate response.
OW will take steps to ensure the outcomes of infrastructure investments using Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law [BIL]) funds are resilient to
the impacts of climate change. OW will provide technical assistance to recipients of BIL funds
to help them make climate smart infrastructure investments. OW will also explore additional
opportunities to integrate climate change considerations into our financial assistance programs
in order to expand support for projects that increase climate resilience while delivering co-ben-
efits for public health, the mitigation of greenhouse gases, and the reduction of other pollution.
OW's climate change efforts are not limited to the priority actions listed here. OW develops
regulations, provides training, and administers a broad range of programs that directly and
indirectly address climate impacts, including climate mitigation and disaster response, OW will
continue to support climate adaptation opportunities across all programs and engage with
partners and stakeholders on additional areas for focus. As new needs are identified, more
resources become available, and science and tools advance, OW will update this plan to include
additional actions.
-------
Goal 1: Improve Climate Resilience of
America's Water Infrastructure
Climate change threatens essential drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.
Disadvantaged communities suffer disproportionately from both inadequate water infrastruc-
ture and the impacts of climate change. OW will work to accelerate efforts to enhance the
resilience of critical water infrastructure, including the use of green and nature-based infrastruc-
ture. Through the BIL, EPA and its state and tribal partners have a transformational opportunity
to modernize and build new infrastructure that can withstand a broad range of climate risks.
By working to ensure equitable implementation of the BIL and other OW funding and financing
programs, OW aims to help make significant progress toward combatting climate inequality
and advancing Justice40 goals through covered programs. Across its infrastructure programs,
OW will deploy grant and loan programs to advance climate objectives, incorporate climate
planning resources to technical assistance programs, and promote resilient infrastructure
solutions that also advance the use of natural infrastructure.
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Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Objective I.A. Deploy Grant and Loan Programs to Advance
Climate Objectives
Priority Action I.A.I. Fund climate adaptation projects in small and disadvantaged commu-
nities through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Grant Drinking
Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program.
In fall 2022, OW will issue a Request for Applications for grant projects in underserved and
disadvantaged communities with populations of less than 10,000 individuals to increase
drinking water system resilience to natural hazards. Eligible grant recipients include public water
systems and states on behalf of underserved communities. Recipients can use funding for water
conservation and efficiency, modification or relocation of infrastructure, or other measures that
increase resilience, increase resilience.
limeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
Partners: EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community
resilience; Equity; Environmental justice; Human
health
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
• FY23: Release Request for Applications for grants
totaling $6.7 million.
• FY23: Track issuance of grants ($6.7 million) and
support recipients.
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne iiiness and
water treatment needs;
Critical water infrastructure;
Availability of water for
human use; Overburdened,
underserved, and disadvan-
taged communities; Tribal
nations and indigenous
peoples
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Priority Action I.A.2. Incorporate climate change considerations into infrastructure grant
and loan guidance and programs.
OW will identify opportunities to further incorporate climate risks and adaptation priorities,
including the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, throughout Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law and core infrastructure funding and financing programs, including the Drinking Water and
Clean Water SRF programs and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA).
OW will also work with its state partners to evaluate how SRF programs can effectively promote
climate-smart pre- and post-disaster resilience and recovery actions.
Timeframe: FY22-24
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management, Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water
Partners: EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Equity; Environmental
justice; Community resilience; Climate mitigation
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Complete examination of updates needed for
nearly $50 billion in core grant and loan processes,
criteria, or guidance over FY22-26.
• FY 22: Issue memorandum to SRF programs
regarding reinstatement of the Federal Flood Risk
Management Standard, which includes a list of EPA
climate adaptation tools and resources.
• FY22: Incorporate information on the Federal Flood
Risk Management Standard into the WIFIA program
handbook.
• FY22: Establish and hold monthly meetings
of a resilience subgroup of the State-EPA SRF
Workgroup to share experiences and case studies
related to climate risk and adaptation.
• FY22: Release fact sheets on SRF funding for
drought, flood, and wildfire resilience.
• FY23: Incorporate climate resilience into SRF BIL
guidance for more than $40 billion in grant and loan
programs from FY23-26.
• FY23: Develop case studies demonstrating WIFIA-
financed projects for climate resiliency.
EPA CAAP Goals
Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities
Addressed: Critical water
infrastructure; Availability
of water for human
use; Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged commu-
nities; Tribal nations and
indigenous peoples;
Territories and island
states
22
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B Goal 1: Objective C
Priority Action I.A.3. Collaborate with other federal agencies to demonstrate how federal
funding can support small system resilience and improve the capacity of rural communities
to respond more quickly from natural disasters.
Interagency partnerships and collaboration provide important synergies to support adaptation
actions in rural and small communities. For example, OW will leverage its 2019 EPA-FEMA
Memorandum of Understanding on the SRFs and Disaster Assistance Grants, under which
EPA will work with FEMA to clarify frameworks and educate stakeholders on program funding
eligibilities enabling states to quickly deploy SRF funds after natural disasters, to be later
reimbursed through FEMA's disaster assistance programs. In another area, OW will seek
opportunities with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to advance key work under
an EPA-USDA Memorandum of Agreement to work with the USDA Rural Utilities Service to
highlight how small and rural water systems can successfully incorporate climate resilience into
their infrastructure and utility management.
Timeframe: FY22-24
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management, Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water
Partners: EPA regions, USDA, FEMA, states, tribes,
territories, technical assistance providers
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community
resilience; interagency coordination
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Initiate two separate webinar series with
FEMA to clarify program funding eligibilities that
enable states to quickly deploy funds after disasters.
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Critical water infrastructure;
Availability of water for
human use; Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged communities
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Objective I.B. Incorporate Climate Planning Resources into
Technical Assistance Programs
Priority Action I.B.I. Highlight climate resilience tools and resources in EPA's water infra-
structure technical assistance programs.
As it establishes an unprecedented technical assistance program to support underserved
communities in applying for more than $43 billion in BIL SRF funds, OW will work with technical
assistance providers to provide communities information and tools to assess climate risks,
identify solutions, and explore SRF and other funding options.
Timeframe: FY22-24
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management, Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water
Partners: EPA regions, states, territories, Environmental
Finance Centers, other technical assistance providers
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience, Environmental
justice, Equity, Community resilience, Stakeholder
engagement
Resource Need: New and existing
Measures:
• FY22: Launch EPA community technical assistance
initiative to support implementation of more than
$43 billion in SRF grants and loans available through
the BIL.
• FY22: Release Request for Applications for
Environmental Finance Centers Grant Program,
which includes potential climate-related technical
assistance.
• FY23: Award grants.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Critical water infrastructure;
Availability of water for
human use; Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged communities;
Tribal nations and indigenous
peoples
24
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Priority Action I.B.2. Support holistic integrated planning for climate impacts on existing
wastewater and stormwater systems.
OW will deliver technical assistance to states, tribes, territories, and municipalities to support
asset owners and planners to develop integrated planning frameworks that incorporate climate
adaptation practices into clean water infrastructure.
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Critical water infrastructure;
Availability of water for
human use; Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged communities;
Tribal nations and indigenous
peoples
Measures:
• FY22: Publish state permitting toolkit, case studies,
and factsheets.
• FY22-23: Provide technical assistance to states
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management
Partners: OECA, EPA regions, states, territories,
Environmental Finance Centers, Green Infrastructure
Federal Collaborative
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community
resilience; Environmental justice and equity;
Stakeholder engagement; Education and training
Resource Need: Existing
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Priority Action I.B.3. Expand access to climate risk assessment through the Creating
Resilient Water Utilities Program.
OW will increase the capacity of the Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative to
provide outreach, training, and workshops to water systems to evaluate and understand their
long-term climate risk and adaptation options, especially with those applying for federal funds.
Using a suite of tools, including EPA's Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool. CRWU
will help more communities and utilities complete climate risk assessments.
Timeframe: FY22-25
Lead: Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
Partners: Office of Wastewater Management, Office
of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
non-governmental organizations, water sector asso-
ciations, territories, states, tribes, local government
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Climate
mitigation; Environmental justice and equity
Resource Need: New and existing
Measures:
• FY22: Publish state permitting toolkit, case
studies, and factsheets.
• FY22-25: Provide outreach, training, and
workshops to utilities, with a focus on outreach
to systems in small or underserved communities.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Critical water infrastructure;
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities
26
-------
Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Objective I.C. Promote Resilient Infrastructure Solutions
Priority Action I.C.I. Advance green infrastructure and nature-based solutions across nearly
$2.5 billion in investments to improve climate resilience, water quality, and public access to
natural spaces.
OW will leverage a variety of pathways to advance and invest in nature-based infrastructure,
including through the Clean Water SRF Green Project Reserve, its geographic programs and the
NEP, CWA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Program, and through its interagency participation in
the Green Infrastructure Federal Collaborative.
Timeframe: FY22
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management; Office of
Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: Other federal agencies, states,
tribes, territories, American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community
resilience; Environmental justice and equity;
Stakeholder engagement; Education and training
Resource Need: New and existing
Measures:
• FY22: Incorporate green infrastructure and
nature-based solution priorities into the
NEP BIL guidance and Geographic Program
Infrastructure Program Implementation Plans
for the more than $1.8 billion BIL funds from
FY22-26.
• FY22: The CWA Section 319 Nonpoint Source
Program will publish training modules
promoting green infrastructure and nature-
based solutions opportunities across more than
$170 million in annual grants.
• FY22: The Green Infrastructure Federal
Collaborative will host six forums addressing
equity and environmental justice in climate
adaptation.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Critical water infrastructure;
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities
27
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Goal 1: Objective A
Goal 1: Objective B
Goal 1: Objective C
Priority Action I.C.2. Advance water reuse in agricultural applications.
In the United States, an estimated 20 percent of existing irrigation demand can be met through
reused water from municipal wastewater treatment plants, making water reuse a powerful tool
to preserve, maintain, and restore declining freshwater supplies from climate related stressors.
OW, working with members of the Water Reuse Interagency Work Group (i.e., U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, USDA), will develop resources describing potential on-farm water sources,
pathways, and reuse opportunities and solutions.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Science and Technology
Partners: Office of Wastewater Management;
Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds;
Office of International and Tribal Affairs; Office of
Research and Development; U.S. Food and Drug
Administration; USDA
Benefits: Climate adaptation; Energy/water
efficiency; Community resilience; Drought resilience;
Water conservation; Interagency coordination;
Stakeholder engagement
Resource Need: New
Measures:
• FY22: Launch the Water Reuse Interagency
Workgroup.
• FY23: Release interagency infographic illus-
trating potential on-farm municipal water reuse
opportunities.
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
1. 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and water
treatment needs; Availability
of water for human use;
Overburdened, underserved,
and disadvantaged commu-
nities; Tribal nations and
indigenous peoples
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Goal 2: Protect America's Waters
from Impacts of a Changing Climate
Wetlands, coastlines, inland waterways, and oceans all provide important climate resilience
benefits. At the same time, these waters and the communities and ecosystems that rely on
them are vulnerable to stressors amplified by a changing climate. OW plans to integrate climate
change considerations throughout its national CWA and SDWA programs. To help advance
holistic approaches to adaptation, we also will encourage investments in ecosystem protection
and restoration that support the goals of Justice40 for covered programs, as well as strategic
research.
Objective 2.A. Integrate Climate Considerations in CWA and
SDWA Actions and Programs
Priority Action 2.A.I Advance a "Climate-Ready" NPDES program.
The NPDES program establishes nationwide permit limits, monitoring, and reporting require-
ments on the point sources that discharge pollutants into U.S. waters. OW will incorporate
climate data into multiple tools and models to account for thermal discharges, controls for wet
weather programs (e.g., stormwater and combined sewer systems, concentrated animal feeding
operations), precipitation, critical flow, and other environmental measures. These data, along
with technical assistance, will provide permit writers with the latest information to support
climate adaptation when developing pollutant limits and implementing permit-related activities.
Timeframe: FY22-24
Lead: Office of Wastewater Management
Partners: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and
Watersheds; Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance; EPA regions; states;
territories
Benefits: Human health; Ecosystem protection;
Education and training; Environmental justice
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY23: Publish multiple tools to determine
thermal discharges, controls for wet weather
programs, precipitation, critical flow, and other
measures that will provide permit writers with
the information to support climate change
adaptation.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities
29
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Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Priority Action 2.A.2. Advance the adoption of nonpoint source water quality actions that
provide climate resilience and adaptation co-benefits under the CWA Section 319 Nonpoint
Source Grant program.
In FY22 and 23, the CWA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Grant program will improve internal
processes for tracking and documenting the climate co-benefits of nonpoint source water
quality actions. Working with grantees in the states, tribes, and territories, the program will
identify opportunities for promoting greater adoption of these practices through training,
outreach, technical assistance, and potential enhancements to the CWA Section 319 Nonpoint
Source Grant program guidance.
Timeframe: FY22-25 EPA GAAP Goals
Supported:
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds ^ 2 4
Partners: EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Conservation; Human health; Economic resilience;
Ecosystem protection; Community resilience; Drought resilience;
Recreational opportunities; Environmental justice and equity;
Stakeholder engagement; Education and training
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY22-25: Support at least 500 on-the-ground projects
that provide climate adaptation and resilience co-benefits
as reported by CWA Section 319 Nonpoint Source grant
recipients in the Grants Reporting and Tracking System.
• Projects may include but are not limited to projects that
offset increases in water temperature, enhance ecological
flows and groundwater recharge, or improve soil health, as
well as green infrastructure that reduces urban runoff and
increases groundwater infiltration, and wildfire restoration
and prevention projects.
Vulnerabilities
Addressed:
Availability of
water for human
use; Aquatic
ecosystem
health;
Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged
communities;
Tribal nations
and indigenous
peoples
-------
Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Priority Action 2.A.3. Advance a "Climate-Ready" CWA section 303(d) assessment, listing,
and TMDL program.
Under EPA's regulations and CWA section 303(d), states, territories, and authorized tribes
identify waters that do not meet CWA water quality standards and develop TMDLs showing
pollutant reductions needed to meet those standards. OW will take several steps to further
integrate climate change considerations into the CWA Section 303(d) program and will
continue to engage states, territories, tribes, and stakeholders in training and information
sharing on climate change and the CWA Section 303(d) program. OW also plans to discuss
climate change considerations in the 2024 Integrated Reporting Memorandum (which will
support EPA regions, states, territories, and authorized tribes in assessing water quality) and
distribute a document to support consideration of climate change in developing and imple-
menting TMDLs. By undertaking these activities, OW will promote improved consideration of
changing environmental conditions (e.g., precipitation, flow, temperature) to produce water
quality assessment and planning actions that are more resilient and adaptive.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Community resilience; Conservation; Energy/
water efficiency; Climate mitigation
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Complete CWA Section 303(d) long-term
program vision, including a climate focus area.
• FY22: Develop draft 2024 Integrated Reporting
Memorandum.
• FY22: Develop draft document to support the
consideration of climate change in developing and
implementing TMDLs.
• FY22: Hold national training and stakeholder
meeting covering multiple climate-related section
303(d) topics.
• FY23: Issue 2024 Integrated Reporting
Memorandum, including discussion of climate
change considerations.
• FY23: Issue document to support the consideration
of climate change in developing and implementing
TMDLs.
EPA CAAP Goals
Supported:
1
Vulnerabilities
Addressed: Waterborne
illness and water
treatment needs; Aquatic
ecosystem health; Tribal
nations and indigenous
peoples; Territories and
island states
31
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Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Objective 2.B. Invest in Ecosystem Protection and Restoration
Priority Action 2.B.1. Leverage the BIL's historic funding of OW's Gulf Hypoxia Program,
geographic programs, and the NEP to enhance ecosystem and community resilience to
climate change.
As EPA place-based programs receive more than $1,8 billion in new funding in the BIL they will
prioritize investments in planning, community capacity-building, ecosystem restoration and
nature-based infrastructure, and other climate adaptation activities. EPA will work with grantees
to identify and track climate resilience and adaptation projects over the lifetime of the BIL
funding.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 4
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities; Tribal nations
and indigenous peoples;
Territories and island states
y
Timeframe: FY22-26
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds;
geographic programs; EPA regions
Partners: States, tribes, territories, local govern-
ments, NEPs, nongovernmental organizations,
universities, other federal agencies
Benefits: Community resilience; Conservation;
Climate mitigation; interagency coordination
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Incorporate adaptation priorities into the
Infrastructure Program Implementation Plan
for the more than $1.7 billion in geographic
program BIL funding.
• FY22: Incorporate climate adaptation priorities
into guidance for more than $130 million in NEP
BIL project funding.
• FY22-26: Gulf Hypoxia Program grantees to
identify nutrient reduction actions with climate
benefits.
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Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Priority Action 2.B.2. Release and implement the "Interagency Coastal Wetlands
Workgroup Recommendations for Reducing Wetland Loss in Coastal Watersheds of the
United States."
Coastal wetlands provide valuable flood storage, buffer storm surge, and help protect coastal
infrastructure from storms and rising sea levels. OW will release recommendations to inform
cross-federal efforts to address coastal wetland losses. OW will create a regional protocol to
identify, assess, and prioritize removing hard infrastructure that restricts tidal flow to restore
natural habitats and strengthen ecosystem resilience
Timeframe: FY22-26
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Patners: EPA regions; states; territories
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community
resilience; Climate mitigation; Conservation;
Interagency coordination
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Release recommendations report.
• FY24: Produce regional protocol to support
removal of tidal restrictions.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Tribal nations and indigenous
peoples; Territories and
island states
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Goal 2: Objective A Goal 2: Objective B Goal 2: Objective C
Objective 2.C. Leverage Strategic Research
Priority Action 2.C.I. Incorporate climate considerations into EPA's Water Quality Standards
(WQS) program and handbook.
WQS serve as the foundation for achieving national and state water management goals. OW
will conduct analyses and assessments necessary to issue updated WQS Handbook chapters
and an updated WQS Priorities Memorandum to EPA regions, states, tribes, and territories. The
handbook and memorandum will provide important direction to states and tribes for building
climate adaptation into WQS updates and supporting the adoption of robust, climate-sensitive
WQS, including criteria for nutrients, HABs, and hydrologic flow.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Science and Technology
Partners: EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Conservation; Community resilience;
Human health; Drought resilience; Education and
training
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and water
treatment needs; Availability
of water for human use;
Aquatic ecosystem health
comment
• FY22: Provide draft WQS Handbook for state
review and tribal consultation.
• FY23: Issue updated WQS Priorities
Memorandum.
• FY23: Publish draft WQS Handbook for public
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Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Priority Action 2.C.2. Develop an agencywide strategic plan to address HABs in fresh and
coastal marine waters that will include an objective to evaluate the impacts of climate
change on their occurrence, magnitude, and spatial extent.
As warming water temperatures lead to larger arid more frequent occurrences of HABs, OW will
identify actions it can take to understand their formation as well as strategies to monitor and
mitigate their impacts on drinking water supplies, human and ecological health, and recreational
and economic activity.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Science and Technology, Office of
Research and Development, Office of Wetlands,
Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water, Office of Wastewater Management, EPA
regions, states, tribes, territories, Association of
Clean Water Agencies
Benefits: Conservation; Human health; Economic
resilience; Ecosystem protection; Community
resilience; Recreational opportunities
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Develop draft HAB strategic plan for
internal review.
• FY23: Finalize HAB strategic plan.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and water
treatment needs; Availability
of water for human use;
Aquatic ecosystem health
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Goal 2: Objective A
Goal 2: Objective B
Goal 2: Objective C
Priority Action 2.C.3. Develop CWA Water Quality Criteria recommendations that protect
aquatic life from an imbalance of salts in water due to climate change.
Aquatic species depend on specific waterbody conditions and habitats to thrive. Shifting
climatic patterns are altering the levels of salts which are then reaching our waterways, OW's
recommendations will support states and tribes in establishing water quality protections that
account for alterations in precipitation and streamflow and their impacts on salinity levels.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Science and Technology:
Partners: OW offices, Office of Research and
Development, EPA regions, states, tribes, territories
Benefits: Conservation; Ecosystem protection
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
• FY22: Develop draft criteria for internal review.
• FY23: Publish draft CWA Section 304(a) Water
Quality Criteria for chloride for scientific input.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Transportation and energy
infrastructure interface with
water
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Goal 3: Advance Adaptive Capacity
of Water Sector and Climate
Knowledge of Communities and
Decisionmakers
OW must interpret and communicate the latest climate data, science, and information, and
make it accessible and usable for all stakeholders—from state and tribal co-regulators to
disproportionately impacted communities. OW plans to work internally and with partners to
incorporate climate adaptation data, information, and best practices into its outreach programs,
decision support tools, and other resources in ways that address barriers to access, such as
geography and language. Our goal is to help national and local partners assess climate risks and
impacts to make informed choices about the actions they will take.
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Goal 3: Objective A
Goal 3: Objective B
Objective 3.A. Support Assessment of Climate Risks and
Climate-informed Decision-Making
Priority Action 3.A.I. Support and integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into
decision-making tools.
Honoring and working with our tribal partners requires EPA to incorporate knowledge acquired
by tribes and indigenous peoples through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge
is important both to understanding how Indian Country and tribal ways of life may be impacted
by climate change, and to informing our broader understanding of ecological systems.
Consistent with the November 2021 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and
the Council on Environmental Quality memo "Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and
Federal Decision Making," OW will support the application of TEK in grant programs, future
water program operations, technical assistance, and decision support tools.
EPA CAAP Goals
Supported:
1 2
Vulnerabilities
Addressed:
Waterborne illness
and water treatment
needs; Aquatic
ecosystem health;
Overburdened,
underserved, and
disadvantaged
communities;
Tribal nations and
indigenous peoples
Timeframe: FY22-26
Lead: Office of Water
Partners: OW offices, Office of International and Tribal
Affairs, Office of Research and Development, Office
of Mission Support, EPA regions, National Tribal Water
Council, National Tribal Operations Council, Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA), tribes
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Community resilience;
Environmental justice; Ecosystem protection; Stakeholder
engagement
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY24: Convene tribal officials and national water
program staff to discuss potential needs and
opportunities for supporting TEK in water program
decision-making.
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Goal 3: Objective A
Goal 3: Objective B
Priority Action 3.A.2. Leverage the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) to address
climate adaptation in urban communities.
The UWFP, co-chaired by EPA, is a landmark partnership of 15 federal agencies working across
20 urban locations to revitalize urban waters and greenspaces and promote their environ-
mental, economic, and social benefits. Through the UWFP and Urban Waters Learning Network,
OW will help municipalities and communities across the United States (including those beyond
the UWFP) understand climate impacts, share best practices, and learn about successful
adaptation techniques to address climate stressors in urban communities.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: Urban Waters federal partners and locations,
EPA regions
Benefits: Community resilience; Interagency coordina-
tion; Climate justice
Resource Need. Existing
Measures:
• FY23: Issue white paper study of climate resilience
program in UWFP locations.
• FY22; Establish Climate Resilience Community of
Practice within Urban Waters Learning Network.
• FY23: Issue Story Map or report on supporting
equitable climate resilience planning with Grand
Rapids Federal Partnership in collaboration with
the Office of Research and Development and the
Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
I 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Aquatic ecosystem; health;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities
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Goal 3: Objective A
Goal 3: Objective B
Priority Action 3.A.3. Advance coastal climate resilience and adaptation through EPA's
Climate Ready Estuaries (CRE) Program.
OW's CRE program develops decision support tools that enable EPA staff and partners to
integrate climate adaptation into their work. CRE shares climate adaptation knowledge and
strategies with EPA's place-based programs and the broader coastal management community.
Working with OW's NEP, the UWFP, and other coastal managers and programs, the CRE
program will help coastal communities assess climate change vulnerabilities, develop adaptation
strategies, and engage and educate coastal community stakeholders. The CRE program will
leverage the NEP and UWFP networks to share best practices, technical guidance, and other
climate adaptation assistance.
Timeframe: FY22-26
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: EPA regions, NEP, geographic programs,
UWFP, Office of Research and Development
Benefits: Infrastructure resilience; Energy/water
efficiency; Community resilience; Drought resilience;
Conservation; Environmental justice and equity;
Human health; Interagency coordination; Stakeholder
engagement; Education and training
Resource Need: New
Measures:
• FY23: Publish an online estuary temperature
climatology tool with NOAA.
• FY24: Publish a sea level rise scenarios guide for
agency staff and water community.
• FY26: Publish sector supplements and decision
guides for the "Being Prepared for Climate Change"
workbook.
• FY26: Partner with place-based programs to
provide CRE technical assistance in at least two
regions.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities; Tribal nations
and indigenous peoples;
Territories and island states
40
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Goal 3: Objective A
Goal 3: Objective B
Objective 3.B. Improve Availability of Data and Information to
Support Climate-Informed Decisions
Priority Action 3.B.I, Improve the accessibility and transparency of water and climate data
through How's My Waterway.
How's My Waterway is a critical data and mapping integration platform used by water
managers, educators, students, and the public. OW will engage partners and stakeholders to
identify, prioritize, and grow the underlying foundation of climate-specific data and information
for the How's My Waterway app. These efforts will improve the accessibility and transparency
of water and climate data and the discoverability of data sets for climate change and water
resource research, as well as support climate-informed decision-making across SDWA and CWA
programs.
Timeframe: FY22-24
Lead: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Partners: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other
federal partners, EPA regions, Office of Research and
Development
Benefits: Interagency coordination; Stakeholder
engagement; Education and training; Community
resilience
Resource Need Existing
Measures:
EPA GAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Availability of water
for human use; Aquatic
ecosystem health; Tribal
nations and indigenous
peoples; Territories and
island states
• FY22: Complete addition of cyanobacteria and
USGS current weather and water conditions data
into How's My Waterway.
• FY24: Complete inventory and incorporate priori-
tized climate data and information into How's My
Waterway.
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Goal 3: Objective A
Goal 3: Objective B
Priority Action 3.B.2. Update and maintain the EPA website, "Climate Change in the Water
Sector."
This website will be a platform to widely share water program information, tools, trainings,
technical assistance opportunities, and other resources to support state, tribal, and local
decision-makers in accessing climate adaptation resources.
Timeframe: FY22-23
Lead: Office of Water
Partners: EPA regions, Office of Research and
Development, Office of Policy
Benefits: Interagency coordination; Stakeholder
engagement; Education and training; Community
resilience
Resource Need: Existing
Measures:
• FY23: Update website.
EPA CAAP Goals Supported:
1, 2, 5
Vulnerabilities Addressed:
Waterborne illness and
water treatment needs;
Critical water infra-
structure; Availability
of water for human use;
Aquatic ecosystem health;
Overburdened, under-
served, and disadvantaged
communities; Tribal nations
and indigenous peoples;
Territories and island states.
OW will continue to adapt and refine this Implementation Plan over time, in collaboration with
the Office of Policy Climate Adaptation Program and the Regions, to deliver on cross-agency
priorities that seek to incorporate climate change into rulemakings, cross-program projects, and
policies, as outlined in the CAAP. Throughout its implementation process, OW will consult and
partner with states, tribes, territories, environmental justice organizations, community groups,
businesses, and other federal agencies to strengthen the adaptive capacity of the Nation.
Outside of the actions expressed in this Plan, OW will continue to implement a broad array of
activities to tackle the climate crisis.
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Evaluating and Tracking Our Progress
OW will track and evaluate its progress toward achieving the actions identified in this
Implementation Plan. As it implements these actions, OW will regularly assess its effectiveness
at achieving its climate adaptation goals, areas that can be improved, and remaining infor-
mation and resource gaps. Since results often come months or years after implementation, in
the near term, OW will use interim, action-specific measures to capture progress. OW will also
support the long-term performance goals identified in EPA's CAAP and Strategic Plan.
Measuring Progress in EPA's Strategic Plan and Climate
Adaptation Action Plan
At the agency-level, EPA has established long-term performance measures to evaluate its
progress on climate change activities under the FY2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan. The Strategic
Plan includes important new goals for climate change and environmental justice with an
emphasis on embedding these priorities in all of EPA's work. Strategic Plan Goal 1, "Tackle the
Climate Crisis," includes as a key objective, Accelerate Resilience and Adaptation to Climate
Change Impacts. OW's plan outlines our commitments to fulfill this Strategic Plan goal. (For
more information on the Strategic Plan goals and long-term performance goal measures related
to climate change, visit the EPA Strategic Plan weboage.)
Similarly, EPA recognizes the importance of monitoring and evaluating performance and acting
on lessons learned in Priority Action 4 of its 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan, "Using
Measurement, Data and Evidence to Evaluate Performance." EPA will evaluate its climate
change adaptation actions on an ongoing basis to assess its progress toward:
1. Integrating climate adaptation throughout EPA's programs, policies, rules, enforcement and
compliance assurance activities, and operations.
2. Modernizing financial assistance programs in ways that encourage climate-resilient
investments.
3. Providing the information, tools, training, and technical support communities need to
increase resilience and adapt to climate change.
4. Advancing equity and environmental justice to support the needs of the most overburdened
and vulnerable communities in responding to climate change.
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Identifying Science Needs
to Advance Adaptation and
Resilience
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OW must have and use the best available science on climate change risks, impacts, and
vulnerabilities when implementing its programs or formulating strategies to adapt to a changing
climate. As that science continues to evolve, OW's programs, and the decision-makers they
support, need the latest data, models, and tools. In addition, as efforts to address climate
change impacts continue to evolve, the need for regional and localized information is more
important than ever. As part of its adaptation planning process, OW and EPA regional staff
identified a wide range of research needs, informed by both the climate-related vulnerabilities
and programmatic actions identified in this Implementation Plan. The science needs identified
will support EPA's Office of Research and Development in prioritizing exploratory and applied
climate adaptation research, as well as communicate research needs to other federal agencies
and the scientific community. OW's climate science needs include the following:
Advance Modeling Methods to Include and
Regionalize Climate Change Information
• Advance existing models and methods used to simulate water quality responses to future
climate scenarios, support risk-based modifications, and provide additional confidence in
projections (in partnership with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR),
NOAA, BIA, USGS, and others).
• Advance existing downscaled model development (in partnership with NCAR, NOAA, BIA,
USGS, and others) to provide forecasting and scenario information on site-specific issues
with high spatial resolution, including altered precipitation patterns that drive hydrological
alterations and other water quality changes.
• Work with tribes to incorporate TEK data inputs when developing downscaled models
specific to tribal lands.
• Develop forecasting methods to assess current and future changes to permafrost, including
the impacts to water infrastructure, in Alaska Native Villages.
• Refine monitoring, assessment, and modeling approaches to manage large river systems,
versus state by state, to understand long-term alterations from climate change.
Build Resilient Water Infrastructure
• Analyze impacts of changes in precipitation in different regions of the country on pollutant
loading from combined sewer overflow (CSO) events and stormwater runoff to provide
guidance for CSO controls and stormwater management programs.
• Identify options for designing climate-smart water infrastructure that is both structurally
resilient to the impacts of climate change and provides significant opportunities to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in operations.
• Identify risks to wastewater treatment plant outfalls, drinking water treatment plant intakes,
and CSO sites from flooding or tidal inundation and drought or low-flow conditions.
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Support Climate-Smart Investments with
Economic and Finance Data
• Research the effectiveness and co-benefits of green infrastructure or nature-based solutions
(e.g., water quantity, water quality, habitat, temperature stabilization, socioeconomic
factors) under future climate scenarios.
• Quantify the value of green infrastructure or nature-based solutions in mitigating and
adapting to climate change (e.g., economic cost savings, quantification of co-benefits,
valuation/return on investment of certain projects).
Safeguard Human Health and Community
Wellbeing
• Undertake additional assessments to improve understanding of compounding stressors
and their impacts on communities' public health and resources, and to improve EPA's
approaches to work effectively with communities to build resilience, especially commu-
nities disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts, including tribal and Pacific Island
communities.
• Model and predict population migration patterns due to climate change, including the
impacts of the current or potential movement of people on ecosystems and surrounding
water bodies.
Support Community and Watershed-Scale
Adaptation
• Map and visually overlay various data sets to provide a more complete picture of water
quality and quantity, priority climate risks and vulnerabilities, and social and economic
co-benefits of adaptation.
• Identify watersheds and communities at greatest risk of impairment due to extreme weather
and other stressors by linking social, economic, and environmental or climate models. The
goal of this research is to bolster existing indicator work to help explain the connection
between these areas of study, allowing for a comprehensive perspective of how changes
in each domain interact at various scales (e.g., how affordability, access, and equity can
exacerbate water quality conditions within vulnerable communities). These indicators
would include water quality and quantity conditions, as well as economic, land use, or social
metrics.
• Analyze the interplay between climate change, adaptive urban planning, and pollutant
exposure of communities with a focus on environmental justice concerns (e.g., contaminated
sites, water infrastructure, ecosystems, fate and transport of pollutants).
• Identify and share successful water management and adaptation practices used by states,
tribes, territories, localities, federal agencies, and other entities with an emphasis on nutrient
and sediment reduction. This effort could include recommendations to partner with federal
agencies or other program partners on collaborative science efforts.
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• Study the risks and benefits of reusing dredged or fill material for agriculture uses, beach
renourishment, wetland enhancement, marsh restoration, or climate change resilience and
adaptation.
Protect Aquatic Ecosystems and Their Services
• Expand continuous, long-term water quality monitoring networks that can reveal climate-
driven trends and help water resource managers assess the relationship between water
quality and climate over finer scales and longer timeframes. This effort should focus on more
vulnerable water resources like lakes, wetlands, and smaller streams, which are not typically
included in continuous, long-term monitoring networks. The effort should also include
data on water quality and quantity, aquatic life, land use, habitat, and other measures of
watershed health.
• Examine how climate-related impacts (e.g., increases in nutrient runoff from extreme precip-
itation events, warming water body temperatures) are contributing to the rise of benthic
HABs, and share effective management interventions.
• Research the impacts of altered hydrologic flows and warming water temperatures on
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with a particular focus on critical species (e.g., eel grass,
kelp).
• Determine how temperature and hydrologic changes (e.g., increased frequency and intensity
of precipitation, increased drought) will impact species ranges, tolerance, and survival due
to ecosystem shifts and water quality alterations (e.g., cold-water fish species, kelp).
• Collect information on the type, lifespan, and performance of best management practices
for agriculture and concentrated animal feeding operations. This information is necessary
to identify successful approaches to meet water management objectives and maintain their
effectiveness under future climate conditions.
• Identify wetland restoration strategies that effectively account for climate impacts, such
as extreme weather and warming waters, and performance standards to ensure successful
restoration.
Mitigate and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Characterize and model the effects of carbon sequestration technologies on the marine
environment, such as ocean alkalinity enhancement and carbon removal (e.g., using kelp to
sequester carbon on the seafloor), to support permitting responsibilities under the Marine
Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
• Expand data, maps, and inventories of blue carbon habitats (i.e., seagrasses, tidal marshes,
and mangroves), including high-resolution maps, deep core data, and characterization of
vegetation type.
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Evaluate the Nexus of Water Quality and
Availability
• Research the interface between surface waters and groundwater to understand both water
quality and quantity implications from projected changes in climate.
• Identify impacts on water quality (e.g., drinking water supplies) from wildfires and/
or controlled burns.
• Develop effective water reuse approaches (e.g., sustainable aquifer recharge, reuse of
produced water from oil production) that consider impacts and opportunities related to
tribes, equity, and the economy.
Ongoing Collaboration
These recommendations align with existing planning frameworks that allow for strategic, trans-
parent identification of water research needs between the Office of Research and Development
and OW, including those related to climate science. OW will continue to coordinate with the
Office of Research and Development to ensure the latest science is translated into actionable
information for state, tribal, and local partners seeking to build resilience to climate change. In
addition to these efforts, OW will coordinate and collaborate with other federal agencies and
the scientific community to access the best available research, technologies, tools, and data.
EPA's ongoing partnerships with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and other federal
agencies offer additional opportunities to provide feedback on specific climate research needs
and to access new scientific information or resources to guide the implementation of water
management programs. For more information on the climate-specific research that the Office
of Research and Development will perform to help EPA and the nation meet today's complex
environmental and human health challenges, see the Office of Research and Development's
website for updates on the Strategic Research Action Plans for 2023-2026.
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Elevating Employee and Stakeholder
Knowledge of Climate Change
OW will expand and develop training and educational resources to elevate staff, management,
and program partners' awareness of climate science, impacts, and resilience approaches.3
To meet these educational goals for OW programs, OW will complete the following actions in
FY22-26:
• Hold an all-hands meeting upon release of the OW Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan
to highlight the activities OW will pursue.
• Identify opportunities to highlight and provide training, as applicable, on priority actions as
they are completed.
• Update the training module "Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources"
to support ongoing learning by both management and staff of the impacts of climate
change on OW's mission. This publicly available, 45-minute training discusses the causes of
climate change, its impacts on water resources, and the challenges water resource managers
face.
• As OW achieves milestones and completes measures associated with the priority actions in
this Implementation Plan, relevant program offices will host office-wide and public trainings
on the context, impact, and other key information on each action.
• Promote opportunities for program staff to learn about and participate in climate
adaptation efforts as part of the National Water Program Climate Resilience Workgroup.
The workgroup, established in 2007, will continue to feature a variety of federal, state, local,
non-governmental, and private sector presenters as a monthly event open to all EPA staff.
The workgroup can be a source of support for program staff working to institutionalize
climate change in their operations.
• Consider including climate change education in staff and management training require-
ments and track the development of climate-focused trainings..
3 These trainings and educational materials will support two goals of EPA's 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan: "to increase awareness about the importance of
climate adaptation and encourage all EPA staff and partners to consider the changing climate in the normal course of business" and "to introduce its staff and partners
to specific methods and tools for integrating climate adaptation into decision-making processes."
49
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"To respond to climate change, EPA needs its personnel and
partners to adopt new ways of achieving its mission. EPA will build
capacity through ongoing education and training. Equipped with an
understanding of projected climate-related changes and adaptation
approaches and trained on how to use new decision support tools,
EPA and its partners will be better able to incorporate climate
adaptation into their plans and decisions."
- EPA's 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan
To meet these educational goals for OW internal and external partners, in addition to the
priority actions in this Implementation Plan, OW will:
• In FY23, update and maintain the EPA website Climate Change in the Water Sector to widely
share water program information that can support state, tribal, and local decision-making.
• In FY22, OW will work with EPA's regional offices to develop a presentation and commu-
nications materials for all EPA water programs describing climate change and water
issues generally, with a focus on advancing the priorities of EPA's 2021 CAAP and this
Implementation Plan. The presentation will provide consistent baseline messaging during
national program meetings, stakeholder engagement, and training workshops, as well as
other water program events.
• Between FY22-26, OW will develop or revise climate change modules and workshops
as part of national program trainings for water sector audiences. For example, OW will
update the Water Quality Standards Academy's resilience module to include more focus on
climate-related issues like hydrologic flow.
• To provide ongoing educational opportunities for both staff and stakeholders, OW will
develop and update additional climate-focused trainings, which may include the following
actions:
» Offer climate change webinars through OW's Watershed Academy Webcast series, such
as modules on the use of green infrastructure for water quality resilience and the Creating
Co-Benefits Through Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management
webcast.
» Continue development and distribution of resilience focused fact sheets and case studies
that highlight climate focused projects supported by the SRFs programs.
» Continue engaging and educating internal and external stakeholders about climate
change adaptation through the CRE Program through trainings and an online toolkit
of resources that include recorded webinars, video tutorials, and other resources for
environmental professionals.
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» Conduct outreach and training to support workforce development for local "green"
operations and maintenance professionals through the Green Infrastructure Program
and webcast series event, Green Infrastructure Jobs for Operations and Maintenance to
Help Communities Get Climate Ready.
» Continue public webinars featuring case studies and recommendations for tribes
interested in pursuing water reuse projects, such as the 2020 Implementing Water Reuse
Projects in Tribal Communities webinar. (Additional information can be found on the
National Water Reuse Action Plan Online Platform.)
» Develop a new workshop series, Advancing the Integration of Clean Water Act Programs
with National Hazard Mitigation Planning and Implementation, to build state and local
wetland program capacity on topics related to nature-based hazard mitigation, in
partnership with the National Association of Wetland Managers.
» Partner with EPA's Office of Environmental Justice to host a webinar on OW's programs
to assist underserved, disadvantaged, and disproportionately at-risk communities to
combat current and ongoing climate challenges. The initial audience for these webinars
will be Urban Waters program locations around the country.
Through these actions, OW will help support our water community while also advancing an
agencywide effort to develop and maintain the Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center
(ARC-X) to provide greater access to climate adaptation information.
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Engagement and Outreach
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During the development of this plan and actions
that will follow its release, OW has committed to
reaching out to and engaging our water sector stakeholders.
These stakeholders span states, tribes, territories, local governments,
environmental justice organizations, businesses, and other federal agencies.
OW began informally engaging with several water sector partners in winter 2022,
with formal engagement events held in May and June 2022. For the first round of informal
engagements, OW held dialogues with external partners through existing venues to help
prioritize and shape the draft priority actions that would be most important and impactful!
These conversations also helped OW identify areas where the federal government would
provide the most added value. Details on the formal engagement events that took place during
the development of this plan can be found below.
Water Equity
Engagement
Non-governmental
organizations, tribal
representatives,
environmental
justice advocates,
citizens
• Integrate environmental justice and
Justice40.
• Take opportunities to overlap
climate work with the America the
Beautiful initiative.
• Address language justice in climate
communications.
• Integrate climate into National
Environmental Policy Act analyses.
May 2, 2022
Water Sector
Engagement
Water sector
associations, state
drinking water
and clean water
program directors,
tribal and state
representatives,
water utilities
• Promote green infrastructure/
nature-based solutions, including
through regulatory flexibility for
utilities.
• Work with utility groups to improve
the use of climate-informed deci-
sion-making tools.
• To the extent possible, add localized
data to existing data and mapping
tools.
May 4 and 9,
2022
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Event Name
External
Participant(s)
Key Themes Heard
Date of Event
(continued)
(continued)
(continued)
(continued)
Water Sector
Water sector
• Consider climate change throughout
May 4 and 9,
Engagement
associations, state
the regulatory framework.
2022
drinking water
• Plan additional tribal feedback
and clean water
opportunities.
program directors,
tribal and state
• If funded, integrate the mid-sized
representatives,
and large drinking water system
water utilities
resilience and sustainability program
under the BIL.
• Incorporate climate considerations
into SRFs and permitting.
• Ensure equity and environmental
justice in implementing the plan's
actions.
• Provide grant funding opportunities
to address climate impacts.
• Provide additional opportunities to
comment on the plan.
• Provide support to underserved
communities to apply for grants.
• Engage cross-sector partners
in ecosystem protection and
restoration.
• Take opportunities to address
climate in failing and aging infra-
structure, especially in Justice40
communities.
• Integrate actions to address HABs.
• Measure success of actions.
• Provide training and build institu-
tional capacity for climate adaption
work.ordinate climate resiliency and
adaptation efforts at the interna-
tional level.
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Event Name
External
Participant(s)
Key Themes Heard
Date of Event
National
Tribal
• Consider tribal treaty rights.
June 1, 2022
Tribal
Webinar and
representatives
• Consider TEK.
Listening
Session
(Cross-EPA)
State and
National state and
• There is a general appreciation for
June 9, 2022
Local
local government
EPA providing an overview of the
Government
associations
various plans and opportunities for
Association
future engagement.
Listening
Session
(Cross-EPA)
55
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Conclusion
Water is essential to our everyday lives. It supports public health, economic opportunity, recre-
ational activity, and the ecosystems upon which we depend. As the impacts of climate change
on water resources and the hydrologic cycle increase, OW is committed to working to advance
climate adaptation to protect water quality, improve water resource management, and expand
resilient water infrastructure investment.
This Implementation Plan represents a course shift toward bold and coordinated action to
embed climate adaptation and resilience across OW's financial assistance programs, policies,
regulatory actions, training, and outreach. The priority actions within this plan will help ensure
our programs continue to deliver services essential to supporting the adaptive capacity of
communities. The priority actions are also fundamental to OW's mission and long-term CWA
and SDWA goals. Critically, as the Biden-Harris Administration and EPA work to implement the
largest investment in water infrastructure in American history, OW will support communities
and water systems in modernizing and building new infrastructure prepared for future climate
conditions.
Coordination across OW, EPA, and other federal agencies will be key to the success of this
endeavor. As OW leads in areas of infrastructure investment, regulatory modernization, and
strategic research, we will also leverage its partnerships and convening power to help bolster
the climate resilience of its partners. States, tribes, local communities, utilities, businesses, and
nonprofit organizations all play important roles in ensuring OW effectively supports resilient
outcomes in communities and their environments. OW commits to meaningful and continuous
dialogue with its partners as it implements this plan. OW will pursue deeper engagement
with those communities most vulnerable to or least able to prepare for the impacts of climate
change, including tribes, indigenous peoples, and underserved and disadvantaged communities.
As OW makes progress toward completing the priority actions identified in this Implementation
Plan, it will continue to set higher bars and new measures for success. As it does so, OW looks
forward to pursuing the goals of Justice40 and supporting, collaborating with, and learning
from the communities and partners it serves to help them prepare for a changed climate—now
and in the future.
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Appendices
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Acknowledgements and Responsibility for
Overseeing the Implementation of this Plan
OW, under guidance from EPA's Office of Policy, is responsible for developing, managing,
and executing this Implementation Plan. Benita Best-Wong, OW's Career Deputy Assistant
Administrator, will oversee implementation of the activities described in this plan.
The following OW and EPA regional staff serve as members of the Water Climate Committee
(WCC) and were instrumental in developing this Implementation Plan. The WCC will further
facilitate implementation of this plan by supporting cross-program coordination, measuring
progress, and advancing this plan's (and other) priority actions to address climate change
across EPA's water programs.
Office of the Assistant Administrator
• Benita Best Wong, Deputy Assistant
Administrator
• Zachary Schafer, Senior Advisor and
WCC Co-Chair
Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and
Watersheds
• Mindy Eisenberg, Oceans, Wetlands and
Communities Associate Director and
WCC Co-Chair
• Stephanie Santell, OW Climate Change
Coordinator
• Laura Shumway, Special Assistant
• Michael Craghan, Climate Ready
Estuaries Program
Office of Science and Technology
• Sara Hisel-McCoy, Standards and Health
Protection Division Director
• Lars Wilcut, National Branch Team Lead
• Office of Wastewater Management
• Raffael Stein, Water Infrastructure
Division Director
• Veronica Blette, WaterSense Branch
Chief
Office of Policy, Management, and
Engagement
• Macara Lousberg, Office of Policy,
Management, and Engagement Director
• Roger Gorke, Senior Policy Advisor
Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water
• Debbie Newberry, Water Security
Associate Division Director (retired)
• Ron Bergman, Drinking Water Protection
Associate Division Director
• Curt Baranowski, Creating Resilient Water
Utilities initiative
• Kirsten Anderer, Acting Sustainable
Systems Team Leader
Office of General Counsel
• MaryEllen Levine, Assistant General
Counsel for Technology and Wet Weather
Geographic Program Offices
• Peter Murchie, Geographic Programs
Manager, Puget Sound and National
Estuary Programs, Columbia River Basin
Restoration Program
58
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Region 1
• Mel Cote, Surface Water Protection
Branch Chief
• Anne Leiby, Water Permits Branch Senior
Advisor
Region 2
• Javier Laureano, Water Division Director
• Alyssa Arcaya, Deputy Director
• Soffa Olivero Lora, Wetlands Protection
Section
Region 3
• Leslie Gillespie-Marthaler, Water Division
Deputy Director
• Matt Konfirst, Regional Mitigation
Coordinator
Region 4
• Tom McGill, Ocean, Wetlands, and
Streams Protection Branch Chief
• Robert Burns, Water Climate Resilience
and Adaptation Coordinator
Region 5
• Kate Balasa, Climate Change Adaptation
Coordinator
• Candice Bauer, Ground Water and
Drinking Water Branch Chief
• Ryan Graydon, Ground Water and
Drinking Water Branch
Region 6
• Claudia Hosch, Assistance Programs
Branch Chief
• Patricia Taylor, Assistance Programs
Branch
Region 7
• Amy Shields, Standards and Water
Quality Branch Manager
• Megan Maksimowicz, Water Quality
Standards
Region 8
• Andrew Todd, Water Quality Section
Chief
• Joshua Baker, Water Quality Standards
Branch
Region 9
• Gail Louis, Watersheds Section Manager
(retired)
• Suzanne Marr, Watersheds Office
Region 10
• Dan Opalski, Water Division Director
• Angela Adams, Science Lead and
Geographic Programs Section, Puget
Sound National Estuary Program
-------
A History of Ongoing Efforts to Address Climate
Change Risks and Vulnerabilities
OW and the water programs in EPA's regional offices (along with the National Water Program)
have been working to address climate change since 2007, developing and employing both
regulatory and non-regulatory programs to assist a variety of partners with building their
adaptive capacity. OW initially advanced climate activities under three foundational planning
documents (highlighted in blue, below). These strategies integrated climate change consider-
ations into many near-term and long-term water management practices, building the adaptive
capacity of both our state, tribal, and local partners, and of our own water programs.
The first National Water
Program Climate
Workgroup was formed
EO 13514 (and 13653) - Implementing
Instructions for Federal Agency Climate
Change Adaptation Planning
Office of Water Climate
Change Adaptation
Implementation Plan
2008
2012
2007
National Water Program Strategy:
Response to Climate Change
2011
National Water Program 2012 Strategy:
Response to Climate Change
National Water Program Annual
Workplan and Highlights report begin
2014
• A 2008 National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change identified 44 key
near-term actions to address climate impacts to our national programs and water resources.
• A successive National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change, which
established long-term goals and priority actions under five core vision areas.
• An Office of Water Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan (2014). released
under agencywide direction per EO 13514, helped implement the 2012 Strategy by outlining
activities that would further institutionalize OW's climate change goals and priorities.
Over the past several years, the National Water Program Resilience Workgroup worked
to implement many of the recommendations in these planning documents, in addition to
developing several Annual Workplans and Highlights reports, which captured progress under
the 2012 Strategy. Over the years, OW has facilitated numerous planning efforts and activities
to support the long-term operation of our federal programs that protect water resources and
drinking water. Our programs have provided technical assistance, funding, training, decision
support resources, and communications expertise to co-regulators and stakeholders seeking to
bolster their resilience to climate change. While the pace and scale of climate change impacts
have accelerated, and much progress remains to be made, these efforts have collectively made
EPA's water programs, its partners, and the resources and communities they protect more
resilient. These efforts have also built important foundations for future action upon which this
Implementation Plan will build.
60
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More information about many of OW's ongoing actions to address the vulnerabilities of its
programs and partners is provided in Resources for Resilience: A Catalogue of EPA's National
Water Program. The Catalogue will be updated periodically to ensure our partners can continue
to learn about the work of our programs and the federal resources available to help them plan
for or implement water management projects that build climate resilience.
Detailed Assessment of Vulnerabilities to OW
Programs, Stakeholders, and National Water
Resources
Waterborne Illness and Water Treatment Needs
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in the Fourth National Climate Assessment
(NCA4) chapters 3, 7, 8, and 14:
Warmer water temperatures, expanded seasonal windows, and the frequency and intensity
of extreme weather events contribute to greater occurrences of HABs, pathogens, and
nuisance plant growth that threaten ecosystem functioning and human health.
Increased risk of human illness from recreation near, ingestion of, and contact exposure to
water-related diseases (e.g., algal toxins, pathogens, pests).
Increased episodic loading of nutrients, sediment, and pathogens from stormwater and
nonpoint sources to surface waters, which can exacerbate favorable conditions for HABs
(Coffey et al„ 2018).
Greater spread of disease among aquatic organisms due to warming waters, changing strati-
fication, and seasonal shifts.
Increased salinity of both surface water and ground water that amplifies impacts from
saltwater intrusion and limits coastal drinking water supplies, often in areas where demand
is currently increasing or peaking.
Increased contamination of drinking water supplies and waterways due to sea level rise,
flooding, permafrost melt, or storm events that mobilize or release toxic contaminants into
nearby surface waters, groundwater, or soil.
Additional strain on drinking water and wastewater facilities from increased treatment needs
due to rising pathogens, contaminants, salinity, and pollutants.
Critical Water Infrastructure
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 8, and 11:
Additional pressure on drinking water programs and infrastructure operators to meet water
quality standards due to increased point and nonpoint pollutant loading to source waters.
More frequent and prolonged failures of drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities
from damage caused by sea level rise, flooding, storm surge, and other natural disaster
events.
61
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Water quality impacts to groundwater supplies from increased withdrawals and to surface
sources of drinking water, as well as to drinking, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure
from wildfires.
Decreased overall functioning and performance of stormwater control infrastructure
(e.g., sanitary sewers, combined sewers) from intense precipitation and extreme weather,
leading to more frequent overflows and wastewater bypasses that fuel runoff, flooding, and
water-related illness.
Increased risk from invasive species, algal mats, and other pests that disrupts drinking water,
stormwater, and wastewater system operations.
Impediments to the functioning of drinking water intakes and wastewater outfalls from
greater variation in rising or falling water levels, as well as system blockage due to debris
from extreme weather or wildfire events.
Greater need for advanced and innovative drinking water treatment approaches, monitoring
systems, and technologies to address the increased growth of HABs, microbes, and
pathogens.
Rising temperatures that increase local or regional demand for limited water supplies,
placing additional pressure on water infrastructure to plan for adequate, safe drinking water
supplies.
Decreased access to and reliability around the provision of safe, clean drinking water from
systems that are not currently designed to withstand the current or long-term effects of
climate change.
Transportation and Energy Infrastructure Interface with Water
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 8, and 12:
Pressure on aging or obsolete transportation structures from extreme weather events,
variable seasonal temperatures, intense precipitation, sea level rise, and flooding may lead to
system failure and pose dangers to downstream communities.
Rising sea levels and intense storms will inundate and damage the integrity of coastal
transportation systems.
Growing post-wildfire debris flows may inundate transportation infrastructure during severe
precipitation events and carry additional nonpoint source pollution to nearby waterways.
Exacerbated water quality stressors and hydrologic variability from manmade transporta-
tion structures can increase aquatic ecosystem decline and the loss of critical ecosystem
services.
More frequent erosion of banks and shorelines due to flooding from intense precipitation or
storms decreases vegetative cover and habitat that helps keeps sediment and other water
pollutants from entering waterways.
Increases in repairs to groins, jetties, and breakwaters from climate change impacts
adversely affects the integrity of submerged aquatic vegetation and other surrounding
habitats.
Increased sedimentation and shoaling of navigation channels and berthing or mooring
areas will require more frequent dredging and dredged material placement, which further
degrades coastal ecosystems and water quality.
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Impacts to the Availability of Water for Human Use
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 7, and 8:
Declining or highly variable water supplies and drinking water sources from regional
changes in the amount and timing of precipitation and streamflow is leading to water
scarcity.
Increased overall demand for water with rising air temperatures, resulting in more surface
water, groundwater, and aquifer withdrawals.
Shifts in water demand to underground aquifers or underground storage of treated water
may raise safety concerns around these drinking water sources.
Increased need to develop new water supply plans to meet current and projected water use
demands in areas that rely on snowpack as a primary water supply.
Greater sedimentation caused by extreme precipitation that may cause aging water supply
reservoirs to reach their service life earlier than anticipated.
More frequent periods of high streamflow that may increase erosion and the amount of
runoff carrying pollutants into waterways, which decreases drinking water quality
Declining precipitation and streamflow that enhances drought events, lowers hydrologic
flows, and limits ground water recharge, resulting in less water for the dilution of permitted
discharges as well as rising water temperatures.
More frequent and intense wildfires that may release polluted runoff from fire-scorched
areas into waterways pose additional water quality threats to water supplies.
Reduced glaciers, snowfall, and snowpack, as well as earlier spring runoff, lead to drier soils
and vegetation that are more susceptible to wildfires, which increase the polluted runoff
entering waterways.
Rising climate sequestration technologies and approaches to store carbon dioxide under-
ground may have unintended or unforeseen impacts on drinking water sources.
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Aquatic Ecosystem Health
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 7, 8, and 9:
Changing water quality conditions (e.g., salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, tempera-
ture, water boundaries, nuisance plant/algal growth, species composition) can result in more
water quality impairments and the loss of key ecological functions.
Amplified runoff to waterways due to heavier precipitation, storms, and extreme weather
events will alter pollutant loadings and the natural flow regimes on which aquatic life
depends.
Loss of aquatic species due to death, disease, and declining water quality conditions, in
addition to other ecological effects of climate change.
Inability of coastal ecosystems and features to successfully migrate in response to sea
level rise and changing shorelines, combined with increases in development and water
withdrawal.
Amplified impacts of saltwater intrusion from sea level rise, impairing freshwater ecosystems
and altering species ranges or survival.
Alterations to the habitat, geographic ranges, and overall survival of fish, vegetation, and
other organisms may also allow for a rise in invasive species.
Amplified water quality impacts from an increase in the intensity, frequency, and duration
of droughts and wildfires that concentrate existing nonpoint source pollution and degrade
aquatic systems.
Increased acidification and hypoxia in waterbodies from higher air and water temperatures
that reduce dissolved oxygen levels and increase carbon dioxide concentrations.
Complete loss of water resources (e.g., wetland migration, headwater streams, coastal
wetlands) and the associated benefits communities receive for water quality and climate
resilience (e.g., ability of wetlands systems to filter pollutants or absorb flooding events).
Overburdened, Underserved, and Disadvantaged Communities
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 8,10, and 14:
Communities of color and low-income populations that have been disproportionately
impacted by environmental pollution face greater challenges in meeting water quality goals
for drinking water and surface waters under climate change.
Low-income communities are at greater risk from increases in extreme weather and natural
disasters due to capacity limitations around responding to emergency events and lack of
access to safe water after they occur.
Already aging or underperforming drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure
will experience greater strain from droughts, sea level rise, and other climate-related events,
heightening public health risks from system failures as drinking water or stormwater are
more likely to become contaminated.
Rate hikes associated with increased water demand and dwindling water supplies can
decrease water service affordability and access to clean, safe water for low-income
customers or those already facing economic hardships.
Low-income, underserved, or rural communities with decentralized water infrastructure
may face greater risks from sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and flooding that will lessen
drinking water quality from individual wells and the functioning of detached septic systems.
Communities of color and low-income communities often experience unique financial
64
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capacity barriers when it comes to financing water management projects that afford
climate resilience, due to federal application inequities, a lack of financial resources, a lack
of financial capacity-building programs, and difficulty navigating the grants application
process, among others.
Communities and regional industries that heavily depend on natural resources and favorable
climate conditions (e.g., agriculture, tourism, fisheries) are expected to experience greater
disruption to their economic vitality and labor productivity.
Practitioners and government officials in communities of color and low-income communities
often have inadequate environmental and socioeconomic information to make decisions on
how to best use limited resources with climate change in mind.
Non-English-speaking individuals may not effectively receive messages and important
information about their water quality and climate-related risks that would otherwise allow
them to proactively address climate change, manage their water resources, and prevent
illness or socioeconomic harm.
Certain groups, such as the elderly, children, and persons with disabilities, may be dispro-
portionately vulnerable to climate change. For example, older adults with lower immunity or
children playing outside may have greater risk of becoming ill from waterborne diseases.
Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 8, 9,14, and 15:
Indigenous peoples face institutional barriers to their self-determined management of infra-
structure, water, land, and other resources that will be impacted increasingly by changes in
climate.
Tribes and indigenous communities disproportionately lack in-home access to safe drinking
water and adequate water supplies, which may be amplified by increases in drought,
decreased groundwater recharge, and shifting pollutant loads due to changing precipitation
patterns
Tribes and indigenous communities are experiencing disproportionate impacts to their water
quality from climate-related events that threaten the functionality of their already strained
drinking water, wastewater, and septic infrastructure.
Many indigenous communities lack sufficient water delivery and treatment facilities and the
operating capital needed to maintain and/or improve those facilities. Unmet infrastructure
and maintenance challenges of tribal communities make them more vulnerable to climate
change.
-------
Tribes and indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by the impact of HABs
on their drinking water sources, subsistence food sources, and cultural resources.
Observed and projected changes of increased wildfire, diminished snowpack, drought,
flooding, ocean and coastal acidification, and sea level rise will uniquely affect traditional
subsistence and commercial sector activities related to agriculture, hunting and gathering,
fishing, forestry, energy, recreation, and tourism enterprises (Taylor et al., 2017; Markon et al.,
2018).
Climate impacts to lands, waters, foods, and other plant and animal species (e.g., risks
to salmon, elk, deer, roots, and huckleberry habitat) threaten cultural heritage sites and
practices that sustain intra- and intergenerational relationships built on sharing traditional or
indigenous knowledges, food, and ceremonial or cultural objects.
Climate-related disasters are causing tribal and indigenous communities to consider or
actively pursue relocation and managed retreat as an adaptation strategy throughout the
United States, which is difficult due to high costs, land constraints, and loss of cultural
institutions.
Thawing permafrost, loss of coastal sea ice, sea level rise, and more intense extreme weather
events are increasing erosion and flooding along Alaska's northwestern coast, which
is causing extensive damage and creating new dangers to Alaskan natives that lead to
relocation as a safety approach.
Indigenous knowledges, such as TEK, are not currently used to help identify climate vulnera-
bilities and adaptation strategies to protect the water resources critical to tribal culture and
livelihood.
Territories and Island States
The following risks and vulnerabilities are referenced in NCA4 chapters 3, 8, 9, 20, 26, and 27:
Concentration of people and infrastructure along coastlines presents notable vulnerabilities
for community safety and critical infrastructure during natural disaster events or other
climate driven impacts (e.g., coastal inundation, erosion, and sea level rise).
Natural disaster impacts may persist longer in territories or on islands due to shortages in
supplies, limitations in emergency responders, and dependence on imported resources.
Fuel, power transmission, and transportation system issues after a major natural disaster
place additional strain on the functioning of island water infrastructure and delivery of safe
water supplies.
Out-of-date and poorly maintained water infrastructure on islands is less resilient to climate
risks and impacts, due in part to ongoing funding and supply chain constraints. Areas with
low-lying land bases have limited options for relocating infrastructure as a way to adapt to
climate change.
Rising temperatures, sea level rise, saltwater contamination, drought, and flooding threaten
access to and the quality of already limited freshwater supplies.
Islands have unique ecosystems high in biodiversity (e.g., coral reefs, mangrove forests)
that provide vital economic marine resources and ecosystem services that protect coastal
communities; however, these assets are threatened by ocean acidification, warming
temperatures, and extreme weather events.
Islands have unique challenges related to data availability and the capacity to develop data
sets compared to those available for the contiguous United States.
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