*>EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation Tool (CREAT) Building Water Utility Resilience Climate change threats such as sea-level rise, shifting precipitation patterns, and temperature changes affect water quality and availability, Managing these events will pose significant challenges to water sector utilities in fulfilling their public health and environmental mission. CREAT, developed under EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative, assists drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utility owners and operators in assessing risk from these events. CREAT... O Provides a flexible and customizable risk assessment framework; O Organizes available historical and projected climate data; O Guides users through a process of identifying threats, vulnerable assets, and adaptation options; O Supports utilities in considering impacts at multiple locations, assessing multiple climate scenarios, and documenting the social and energy use impacts of adaptation measures; and O Informs decision-making as users compare the performance of adaptation options in multiple time periods across climate scenarios. Input Utility location Current concerns Climate data Threats Utility information Priority assets Existing measures Potential adaptive measures Projected scenarios Consequence matrix Assets Adaptation plans MI. €5 P Climate Awareness Scenario Development Consequences & Assets Adaptation Planning ~ Q ~ 43 »p Output • Awareness of potential climate challenges • Threat scenarios for assessment Consequence matrix Critical/vulnerable assets • Plans for assessment • Monetized risk reduction • Adaptation plan comparison Office of Water (4608-T) EPA 817-F-21-002 https://creat.epa.gov/ February 2021 ------- *>EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation Tool (CREAT) Building Water Utility Resilience Conducting a Facilitated CREAT Exercise EPA has collaborated with water utilities across the country to help improve resilience through facilitated CREAT exercises. Each exercise demonstrates CREAT's capabilities to assess diverse challenges and provides a solid foundation for utilities to build upon and fully assess both their long-term needs and potential performance of resilience projects and strategies. Priorities for Water Utilities Water Quality Service Reliability I Flooding I Drought | Ecosystem Changes What does a CREAT exercise require from utilities? Recognizing partner utilities' significant time constraints, EPA makes the process as efficient as possible and provides substantial facilitation support throughout each exercise. Utilities are typically asked to provide a lead that spends around 35 to 40 hours to serve as a point-of-contact, participate in webinars and coordinate the working sessions. Other staff and experts (such as hydrology modelers, engineers, and treatment plant managers) may spend 5 to 15 hours collecting data and providing feedback on meeting notes and the final report. The total process takes 4 to 6 months, depending on the frequency of meetings and availability of utility staff and local partners. What is the CREAT exercise process? Kickoff Call Working Session 1 Call to understand context, introduce CREAT, and start defining exercise objectives Walk through CREAT platform and start working through initial modules Working Sessions 2 & 3 Exercise Wrap-up Remote working sessions or field visit to priority asset(s) Call to integrate additional data and finalize CREAT modules Final Report Comprehensive summary of process and findings for stakeholders and decision-makers Case Study Two-page summary published on EPA's Case Study and Information Exchange website Office of Water (4608-T) EPA 800-F-19-003 https://creat.epa.gov/ February 2021 ------- |