Implications of Climate Change for Adaptation by Wastewater and Stormwater Agencies

The purpose of this project was to perform a review of best practices in utility programs to assist payment-troubled customers and assemble the results into a reference guide for use by utility management teams in developing and improving such programs. The project entailed review of prior industry survey results on this topic, review of industry research and literature, consultations with utilities and other organizations involved in providing assistance to low-income and other difficult-to-reach populations, consideration of commercial collections practices, examination of practices employed by electric and gas utilities, and examination of practices in Europe and Australia.

Click on the link below to learn more about the publication.

Cromwell III, John E., Roger D. Colton, Scott J. Rubin, Jane Mobley, Kelly Reinhardt, Rea Wilson, and Charles N. Herrick. 2009. Implications of Climate Change for Adaptation by Wastewater and Stormwater Agencies. Water Environment Research Foundation, Denver, CO. Project No. CC2R08.

Climate Change and Water: International Perspectives on Mitigation and Adaptation

Stratus Consulting employees Joel Smith and Jim Henderson helped to edit this new publication which is available from the American Water Works Association. The book is a collection of international scientific papers about the effects of climate change on urban water and wastewater utilities. It offers the latest scientific findings on climate change and its increasingly important impacts on fresh water resources and water quality. Additionally, case studies provide actual examples of how climate change and global warming are beginning to impact water resources and water utilities.

Click here to purchase this publication.

Identifying, Scaling, and Evaluating Groundwater Restoration Projects as Compensation for Groundwater Injuries

Restoration of natural resources is the ultimate goal of natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). According to the U.S. Department of Interior regulations for NRDA (43 CFR Part 11), Trustees of natural resources develop alternatives that will “restore, rehabilitate, replace, and/or acquire the equivalent of the injured resources.” Identification, scaling, and evaluation of groundwater restoration projects has proven challenging. This paper describes potential categories of groundwater restoration projects, including: 1) Generating clean water, 2) Conserving water, 3) Storing water for times of scarcity, and 4) Accessing new sources of water that were previously inaccessible or unusable. Examples of specific types of projects within these broad categories are provided, together with discussion of the particular challenges associated with scaling and evaluating these projects.

To see the complete publication, please click on the link below:

Lane, Diana; Carney, Karen; and Chapman, David (2009) "Identifying, Scaling, and Evaluating Groundwater Restoration Projects as Compensation for Groundwater Injuries," International Journal of Soil, Sediment and Water: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 3.

An Analytical Tool for Evaluating the Impacts of Sea Level Rise Response Strategies

Over the past century, the rate of sea level rise (SLR) has increased more than twice the average historical rate and the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by 2100 the sea level will increase nearly two feet in many coastal areas. Property owners and municipalities typically respond to SLR by constructing seawalls and similar structures to protect shoreline property (a practice known as “armoring”). The degree to which SLR and armoring threaten key coastal habitats has not been well studied, however. This study aims to develop an inundation model to examine anticipated habitat changes in coastal Ocean County, New Jersey.

To see the complete publication, please click on the link below:

Jones, R. and L. Strange. 2009. An analytical tool for evaluating the impacts of sea level rise response strategies. Management of Environmental Quality 20(4):383-407.

Aquatic Invasive Species and Property Values

A study conducted by Eric Horsch, an associate at Stratus Consulting, and David Lewis, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been published in the current issue of Land Economics. The study uses hedonic analysis to estimate the effects of a common aquatic invasive species—Eurasian watermilfoil (milfoil)—on property values across an extensive system of over 170 lakes in the northern forest region of Wisconsin. Since milfoil is inadvertently spread by recreational boaters, and since boaters are more likely to visit attractive lakes, variables indicating the presence of milfoil are endogenous in a hedonic model. Using an identification strategy based on a spatial difference-in-differences specification, results indicate that lakes invaded with milfoil experienced an average 13% decrease in land values after invasion.

To see the complete publication, please click on the link below:

Horsch, Eric J. and David J. Lewis. 2009. The effects of aquatic invasive species on property values: Evidence from a quasi-experiment. Land Economics 85(3):391-409.

Adaptation to Climate Change: An Architecture for Government Action

In the July issue of Climatic Change, Smith, Vogel, and Cromwell present an architecture of government adaptation programs. Components of the architecture include leadership, institutional organization, stakeholder involvement, climate change information, appropriate use of decision analysis techniques, explicit consideration of barriers to adaptation, funding for adaptation, technology development and diffusion, and adaptation research. This architecture is a useful heuristic for identifying, evaluating, and reevaluating the needs of decision makers as they improve management of climate-sensitive resources in a changing environment.

To see the complete article, please click on the link below.

Smith, J.B., J.M. Vogel, and J.E. Cromwell. 2009. An architecture for government action on adaptation to climate change. An editorial comment. Climatic Change 95(1):53-61. DOI 10.1007/s10584-009-9623-1.

Essay describes trade-offs between security and the need for public access to information

Chuck Herrick, an executive vice president of Stratus Consulting, authored an essay entitled "Homeland Security and Citizen Response to Emergency Situations: A Perspective on the Need for a Policy Approach to Information Access," which appears in Policy Sciences.  The essay explores practical and theoretical trade-offs between security and the need for public access to environmental and health-related information.

To see the complete article, please click on the link below.

Herrick, C. 2009. Homeland security and citizen response to emergency situations: A perspective on the need for a policy approach to information access. Policy Sciences 42(3):195-210.  DOI 10.1007/s11077-009-9081-7.