Practical Considerations for Climate Analysis and Adaptation

Adapting your water resources for climate change can be a challenge! Know, going into the process, that:

• You can’t be prepared for everything.
• It’s not financially feasible to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
• You can’t afford to be unprepared.
• WUCA has a four-step process to guide you through the process.

How do you go about assessing water vulnerability and resilience in a time of climate change? WUCA suggests four steps to guide you:

1. Understand: How will climate change affect systems? What are the capabilities and limitations of science? 
2. Assess: How is the water system vulnerable to potential change?
3. Plan: How should utilities incorporate climate uncertainty into water utility planning?
4. Implement: What adaptation strategies can a utility implement?

The saying goes “Plan the work and work the plan.”  To develop a water vulnerability climate assessment, you’ll have to answer a number of questions, starting with: What is your endgame?

Identifying the specific question(s) you are trying to answer helps you determine the data and information you'll need to support your study and how much you need. To avoid “analysis paralysis,” use only the data that support your questions.  

Make sure your assessment is actually necessary and relevant to your operations and/or customers. How will you present the message of your study internally with employees and externally with customers?

After you have developed a plan assessing some aspect of your water resources operation, use these three “DOs” to guide implementation of your plan.

1. DO: use the correct model and right scientific analyses to evaluate your question. 
2. DO: be aware of multiple ways to evaluate future changes and select the one that best fits your question.
3. DO: start by determining the level of detail that fits your needs and your resources.  This will help you sift through the abundance of tools to find the best for your plan.

These DOs are part of a longer list, that also includes some DON'Ts, from a multi-institutional article informing water resource planning and management.