The federal government should focus resources on developing region-specific data on climate change impacts and helping water systems adapt their infrastructure to the changing hydrological conditions that will result, AMWA wrote to members of the congressional Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change this month.
AMWA’s comments came in response to an inquiry the Task Force sent in late January to more than 300 associations and business groups whose expertise touches on climate-related issues. Led by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) the Task Force sought input from stakeholders on how to use existing federal authorities and new legislative initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the nation’s resilience to climate change. Waxman and Whitehouse said the feedback could form the basis of new climate change policy proposals, though the chances of any advancing through Congress this year are slim.
AMWA’s comments, which were developed with input from the association’s Sustainability Committee, stressed the importance of providing local and regional-level data that could be used by water utility managers to develop their own plans for adapting infrastructure and operations to changing hydrological conditions.
“Because the impacts of global climate change will vary widely from region to region, water utility managers require region-specific climate information and monitoring data that illustrate changes that are already occurring, as well as advanced models that forecast what additional changes will come with time, and what they will mean for their communities and their water supplies,” AMWA wrote.
AMWA’s letter also reiterated the association’s support for the “Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act” (H.R. 765) recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Lois Capps. AMWA encouraged Waxman and Whitehouse, as co-chairs of the Task Force, to support the legislation, saying that it could “represent an important first step toward spurring discussions on more wide-ranging climate change legislation.”