Potential Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources Can Be Addressed through Adaptation Planning

According to the U.S. Adaptation—defined by the National Research Council as adjustments in  natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits  beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects—is an element of  the proposed responses to climate change that is gaining more attention. Federal Agencies Have Been Directed to Address Climate Change Adaptation

In 2009, Congress passed the SECURE Water Act, requiring  Reclamation to establish a climate change adaptation program to (1)  assess the effect of and risk resulting from global climate change on the  quantity of water resources and (2) develop strategies to address  potential water shortages and other impacts. Efforts Under Way by the Corps and Reclamation to Assess Water Resource and Infrastructure Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Develop Adaptation Strategies

Since 2009, as directed by executive order or required by law, the Corps  and Reclamation have taken steps to assess water resource and  infrastructure vulnerabilities and develop guidance and strategies for  adapting to climate change, as shown in table 2. Since 2009, the Corps has broadly assessed how climate change could  affect its missions. The Corps has completed 5 of these studies and 10  others are ongoing. The studies, known as West-Wide  Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRA), are high-level, baseline  assessments of the potential impacts of climate change on future water  supplies—including impacts on Reclamation’s ability to deliver water and  hydropower—for each of the major river basins where Reclamation owns  and operates water management infrastructure. Through the  Basin Studies, Reclamation intends to identify basin-wide water supply  vulnerabilities, project climate change’s impacts on the performance of  water infrastructure, and develop adaptation strategies—such as  operational or physical changes to existing water infrastructure or  development of new facilities—to address these impacts. Reclamation officials told us that they next intend to initiate feasibility  studies for adaptation strategies identified in completed Basin Studies by  making funds available to nonfederal partners, beginning with an initial  feasibility study in 2013. Both  agencies have also begun integrating what they have learned into their  policies and program guidance. Both agencies have already initiated  cost-sharing and resource-leveraging measures. The  agencies plan to continue such collaborative approaches going forward. The Corps and Reclamation Face Several Challenges in Assessing and Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and Are Working Collaboratively to Address Them

In 2009, the Corps and Reclamation—with its CCAWWG partners NOAA  and USGS—published a study, (referred to in this report as the  CCAWWG study). This study identified several challenges that climate  change poses for water resource managers, including (1) identifying the  data and tools needed by water managers to address climate change,    (2) ensuring the sustained collection of climate data, (3) incorporating  climate science into water management tools, and (4) educating water  managers to use climate data and tools. The Corps and Reclamation Are Addressing Several Challenges to Climate Adaptation

The CCAWWG study identified a number of challenges faced by the  Corps and Reclamation in adapting to climate change, and the agencies  have taken a variety of actions to address these challenges. Reclamation officials  told us that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are  partnerships of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, will  focus on developing and communicating science to inform climate  adaptation strategies for ecological regions, or “landscapes.” In  collaboration with academia, other federal agencies, local and state  partners, and the public, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives  will provide products and services, such as climate change computer  models and vulnerability assessments, coordinate with Interior’s  regional Climate Science Centers to synthesize existing climate  change impact data and management strategies, and help resource  managers put them into action on the ground. The Corps’ and Reclamation’s Collaborative Efforts Are Generally Consistent with the Best Practices for Enhanced and Sustained Collaboration

The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated with each other and other  agencies in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that we  have previously identified as important to helping enhance and sustain  collaboration among federal agencies. The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a key element of  their adaptation policies and plans and have reinforced accountability for  collaboration through agency performance management systems. Appendix II: Locations and Initial Results of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Pilot Studies and Bureau of Reclamation’s Basin Studies

The Corps is conducting pilot studies nationwide to support the  development of adaptation guidance and a portfolio of adaptation  approaches.
Why GAO Did This Study

The effects of climate change on water resources have already been observed and are expected to continue. The Corps and Reclamation own and operate key water resource management infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs. Adaptation-- adjustments in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects--can be used to help manage the risks to vulnerable resources. In 2009, a law--commonly referred to as the SECURE Water Act--and a presidential executive order directed federal agencies to address the potential impacts of climate change.
GAO was asked to review agency actions to address climate change impacts on water infrastructure. This report examines (1) actions taken by the Corps and Reclamation since 2009 to assess and respond to the potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure and (2) challenges, if any, faced by the Corps and Reclamation in assessing and responding to the potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure, and the steps the agencies are taking to address them. GAO analyzed the agencies' climate change adaptation guidance and planning documents and interviewed agency officials and other key stakeholders, including water users, environmental groups, and researchers.

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense's U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) have assessed water resource and infrastructure vulnerabilities and taken steps to develop guidance and strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change. Specifically, since 2009, the Corps has completed a high-level assessment of the vulnerabilities to climate change of various agency missions. The assessment found, for example, that the effects of increasing air temperatures on glaciers could negatively impact mission areas including navigation and flood damage reduction. The Corps has also conducted pilot studies to help identify adaptation guidance and strategies; it has completed 5 of the 15 pilot studies initiated and plans to start another study in 2013. Similarly, Reclamation has completed baseline assessments of the potential impacts of climate change on future water supplies for the major river basins where it owns and operates water management infrastructure. Reclamation, in collaboration with nonfederal entities, is now conducting more focused assessments, known as Basin Studies, through which Reclamation seeks to identify water supply vulnerabilities and project future climate change impacts on the performance of water infrastructure. According to agency officials, these studies will also help Reclamation develop adaptation strategies to address these impacts, such as operational or physical changes to existing water infrastructure or development of new facilities. Three Basin Studies have been completed, an additional 14 are under way, and 2 more are planned. Reclamation next plans to initiate feasibility studies for adaptation strategies identified in completed Basin Studies. Both agencies are incorporating what they have learned from their efforts into agency policies, planning, and guidance, according to agency officials.
In 2009, the Corps, Reclamation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), jointly published a study that identified several challenges that climate change poses for water resource managers, and the Corp and Reclamation are collaboratively addressing these challenges. Specifically, these agencies are
identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address climate change, which will help guide federal research efforts;
obtaining needed climate data by collaborating with other agencies to help ensure that the data are collected, such as by sharing some costs associated with maintaining USGS's stream flow measurement activities, which are valuable to Corps water planning and management;
integrating climate science into water resource management decision making through activities such as developing and communicating science to inform climate adaptation strategies; and
collaborating in the development of a climate change science training program for federal and nonfederal water resources managers.
The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated together and with others in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that GAO has identified as important to enhancing and sustaining collaboration among agencies. The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a key element of their policy and plans for adapting to the effects of climate change and have reinforced accountability for collaboration through agency performance management systems.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making any recommendations.