In 2008, EBMUD incorporated climate change into its Strategic Plan, and has developed and implemented a climate change monitoring and response plan to inform future water supply, water quality, and infrastructure planning.
Led by a staff-level climate change committee, EBMUD's response to climate change focuses on:
- keeping current with science and assessing potential effects of climate change in the Mokelumne and East Bay watersheds
- determining water supply and infrastructure vulnerabilities
- monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by the District's operations
- integrating climate change in strategic planning and budgeting decisions
- advocating for new legislation and regulations that help water and wastewater agencies better respond to climate change
- developing adaptation and mitigation strategies as part of a water supply management program
The Climate Change Action Plans (below) evaluate EBMUD's future water supply, water quality, and water and wastewater-infrastructure planning, to support “no regrets” infrastructure investment decisions, and to guide mitigation of EBMUD greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
An article authored by EBMUD staff and published in the June 2008 edition of the American Water Works Association Journal (Climate Change: Charting a Water Course in an Uncertain Future) presents a comprehensive case study of strategies to deal with climate change mitigations and adaptations, and concludes that water utilities can plan for the uncertainties of climate change and its impacts on water supplies and operations.
| Document | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change: Charting a Water Course in an Uncertain Future 2008 | <1 MB | |
| Climate Change Monitoring and Response Plan 2014 | 2.6 MB | |
| Wastewater Climate Change Plan June 2020 | 7.1 MB |
Article reprinted from Journal AWWA, Vol. 100, No. 6, by permission. Copyright © 2008, American Water Works Association.