This workshop was originally developed by the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) as a training to help water sector professionals use climate information in planning work. While this overarching goal remains the same today, the water sector’s understanding of climate change and adaptation has evolved, and, consequently, so too has this workshop. This 2024 edition is designed around a need identified by WUCA member utility Seattle Public Utilities to build a shared awareness of best available climate science, scenario-based planning, and implementation. This two-day workshop will increase stakeholders’ collective understanding of both water sector and climate change planning challenges and provide tools and case studies on how to overcome these challenges and successfully adapt, even amid deep uncertainty.

Workshop Objectives

1. Foster an understanding of regional climate impacts, climate science, and water utilitymclimate planning challenges.
2. Learn from other utilities’ processes through case studies.
3. Lay the groundwork for a scenario-based planning approach for SPU, focused on the Future Water Supply Alternatives Planning Process.
4. Develop strategies to address institutional barriers and generate engagement around utility climate adaptation and resilience.

This workshop was designed around a need identified by two WUCA member agencies, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), to build stronger connections among water agencies and climate scientists who focus their work in the Delaware River Basin.

The workshop increased Basin stakeholders' collective understanding of both water sector and climate change planning challenges and provided tools and case studies on how to overcome these challenges and successfully adapt, even amid deep uncertainty.

In July 2022, WUCA hosted a free virtual technical training course. The course was attended by drinking water professionals primarily from the Colorado River basin in the Southwest U.S.

Attendees enhanced their understanding of the capabilities and limitations of climate science, learned best practices for using it in long-term water agency planning, reviewed planning frameworks that address deep uncertainty, learned about different communication tools, and more.

Meeting Recordings

• Pre-training webinar
• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3

• Welcoming Remarks and Agenda Review - Kavita Heyn - Portland Water Bureau, Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority, Alyssa Hall - Cadmus
• Decisions for the Decade: A "Serious Game" for Water Planners 
• Practical Considerations for Climate Analysis and Adaptation: Know Before You Go... - Laurna Kaatz - Denver Water, Julie Vano - Aspen Global Change Institute
• Climate Science for Water Professionals: What Insight Do We Get from the Climate Models? - Joel B. Smith - Independent Consultant
• Key Takeaways, Reflections, and Wrap-Up - Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority, Alyssa Hall - Cadmus

• Welcome, Reflections and Agenda Review - Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority
• A Practical Look at Downscaling, Bias Correction, and Translating Climate Science into Hydrology in the Colorado River Basin - Julie Vano, Aspen Global Change Institute
• Downscaling Approaches and Hydrologies Developed for the Colorado River Simulation System - James Prairie, PhD - Modeling and Research Group Chief, Upper Colorado Basin Region
• Decision Making in the Face of Uncertainty: SNWA Case Study - Zane Marshall - Director of Water Resources, Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Key Takeaways, Reflections, and Wrap-Up - Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority, Alyssa Hall - Cadmus

Presentations - Day 3

• Welcome, Reflections and Agenda Review - Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Water Utility Climate Adaptation and Resilience Planning: Some Guiding Principles - Joel B. Smith - Independent Consultant
• Methods for Decision Making Under Conditions of Deep Uncertainty - Robert Lempert - RAND
• Adaptation Decision Making at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - Brandon Goshi - Metropolitan Water District
• Confronting Common Challenges and Addressing Institutional Barriers to Change - Heidi A. Roop - University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, Heidi Roop Climate Consulting
• Key Takeaways, Reflections, and Wrap-Up - Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority, Alyssa Hall - Cadmus

In December 2019, WUCA hosted a free technical training course. Held in Austin, Texas, the course was attended by drinking water and wastewater utility managers and consultants from across the U.S.

Attendees learned about climate modeling, reviewed case studies, took a practical look at downscaling, and more.  

• Welcoming Remarks and Agenda Review - Greg Meszaros - Director, Austin Water and WUCA, Laurna Kaatz - Climate Program Manager, Denver Water and Chair of WUCA, Brad Spangler - Senior Mediator and Program Manager, Meridian Institute
• From Conservation to Climate Change: Planning for an Uncertain Future - Daryl Slusher, Austin Water
• Practical Considerations for Climate Analysis and Adaptation: Know Before You Go... - Laurna Kaatz - Denver Water/WUCA
• Climate Science for Water Professionals: What Do We Know About How the South Central's Climate Will Change? - Joel B. Smith - Abt Associates
• Modeling 101 - Abby Sullivan - Philadelphia Water Department/WUCA
• Climate Science for Water Professionals: What Insight Do We Get from Climate Models? - Joel B. Smith - Abt Associates
• A Practical Look at Downscaling, Bias Correction, and Translating Climate Science into Hydrology - Julie Vano - Aspen Global Change Institute
• Integrating Climate Data Into Forecasting Hydrologic Inflow - Tarrant Regional Water District in Collaboration with Hydros Consulting
• Water Utility Climate Adaptation and Resilience Planning: Some Guiding Principles - Joel B. Smith - Abt Associates
• EPA's CREAT: Decision Support Example - EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU)
• Houston Strong: Building Resilience to Climate Change - Sharon Citino, Maureen Crocker
• Key Takeaways from Day 1 - Heather Dalrymple - Austin Water, Brad Spangler - Meridian Institute

• Scenario Design: An Accelerated Introduction to Scenario Planning - Laurna Kaatz - Denver Water/WUCA
• Methods for Decision Making Under Conditions of Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) - Robert Lempert - RAND
• Adaptation Decision-Making at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - Brandon Goshi - Metropolitan Water District
• Using Communication Best Practices to Engage Audiences & Address Institutional Barriers - Abby Sullivan - Philadelphia Water Department/WUCA, Keely Brooks - Southern Nevada Water Authority/WUCA, Heidi A. Roop - University of Washington Climate Impacts Group & School of Public Health
• Key Takeaways, Reflections, and Wrap-Up - Heather Dalrymple - Austin Water/WUCA, Laurna Kaatz - Denver Water/WUCA, Brad Spangler - Meridian Institute

In May 2019, WUCA hosted a free technical training course. Held in Tampa Bay, Fla., the course was attended by drinking water and wastewater utility managers and consultants from across the U.S.

Attendees learned guiding principles for resilience planning, communication strategies, tactics for decision making under conditions of uncertainty, and more. 

• Welcome, Agenda Review, and Training Participant Introductions - Laurna Kaatz, Climate Program Director, Denver Water (DW) and Chair, Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) Tirusew Asefa, Ph.D., Manager, Planning & System Decision Support, Tampa Bay Water (TBW), WUCA, Florida Water and Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA) Matthew Jordan, General Manager, TBW Lisette Staal, Coordinator, University of Florida Water Institute (UF Water Institute) and FloridaWCA
• Decisions for the Decade: Understanding Deep Uncertainty - Michelle Miro, Ph.D., Associate Engineer, RAND Corporation
• Decision-Making in the Face of Uncertainty: Tampa Bay Water - Tirusew Asefa,TBW/WUCA/FloridaWCA
• Practical Considerations for Climate Analysis and Adaptation - Laurna Kaatz, DW/WUCA
• Climate Science and Modeling for Water Sector Professionals - Joel Smith, Principal Associate, Environment and Natural Resources, Abt Associates
• Climate Science and Modeling for Water Sector Professionals: Florida - Vasu Misra, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Meteorology, Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS), Florida State University
• A Practical Look at Downscaling, Bias Correction, and Translating Climate Science into Hydrology - Julie Vano, Ph.D, Project Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Hydrometeorological Applications Program
• Case Study: Evaluation of Future Climate and Water Use Scenarios for Water Supply Planning in the Tampa Bay Region - Wendy Graham, Ph.D., Professor and Director, UF Water Institute
• Guiding Principles for Adaptation and Resilience Planning - Joel Smith, Abt Associates
• EPA's CREAT: Decision Support Example – Steve Fries, EPA
• Case Study: Broward County – Water Resources Resilience - Ana Carolina Coelho Maran, Ph.D., P.E., Water Resources Manager, Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division, Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department
• Key Takeaways from Day 1 - Ivana Kajtezovic, Planning Program Manager, TBW / WUCA, Lisette Staal, UF Water Institute/Florida WCA

• Reflections on Day 1 and Review of Day 2 Agenda - Lisette Staal, UF Water Institute/Florida WCA
• Case Study: Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority (PRMRWSA) - Chris Martinez, Ph.D., University of Florida
• Scenario Design (Accelerated Introduction to Scenario Planning) - Laurna Kaatz, DW/WUCA
• Methods for Decision-Making Under Deep Uncertainty - Michelle Miro, Ph.D., RAND Corporation
• Adaptation Decision-Making at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - Brandon Goshi, Manager of Water Policy and Strategy, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California/WUCA
• Using Communication Best Practices to Engage Audiences and Address Institution Barriers - Heidi A. Roop - University of Washington Climate Impacts Group & School of Public Health, Abby Sullivan - Philadelphia Water Department/WUCA
• Key Takeaways from Day 2 - Ivana Kajtezovic, Planning Program Manager, TBW/WUCA, Lisette Staal, UF Water Institute/Florida WCA

In December 2018, WUCA hosted a free technical training course. Held in Portland, Ore., the course was attended by drinking water and wastewater utility managers and consultants from across the U.S.

Attendees learned different methods for incorporating climate change information into water resource planning, walked through one method for planning for multiple scenarios, and developed communication strategies to convey concepts to different audiences.

• Decision-Making in the Face of Uncertainty: The evolution of supply planning and climate adaptation at the Portland Water Bureau - Kavita Heyn, Portland Water Bureau
• Practical Considerations for Climate Analysis and Adaptation: Know before you go... - Laurna Kaatz, Denver Water/WUCA
• Climate Science for Water Professionals: What Do We Know About How the Climate of the Northwest Will Change? - Joel B. Smith, Abt Associates
• A Practical Look at Downscaling, Bias Correction, and Translating Climate Science into Hydrology - Julie Vano, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• Conveyance System Stress Testing Pilot Study - Nicholas McCullar, Bureau of Environmental Services
• Water Utility Climate Adaptation and Resilience Planning: Some Guiding Principles - Joel B. Smith, Abt Associates
• EPA's CREAT: Decision Support Example
• Seattle Public Utilities Case Study
• Key Takeaways from Day 1 - Kavita Heyn, Portland Water Bureau/WUCA and Brad Spangler, Meridian Institute

• Methods for Decision Making Under Conditions of Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) - Robert Lempert, RAND
• Robust Decision Making in Metropolitan's IRP - Brandon Goshi, Metropolitan Water District
• Using Communication Best Practices to Engage Audiences & Address Institutional Barriers - Heidi A. Roop - University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and Abby Sullivan - Philadelphia Water Department/WUCA
• Key Takeaways, Reflections, and Wrap-Up - Kavita Heyn, Portland Water Bureau/WUCA and Brad Spangler, Meridian Institute