Dr. Sarah Fletcher - Adaptive and affordable urban water supply for a changing climate

Overview

Climate change threatens water security in cities worldwide, necessitating widespread adaptation measures. At urban planning scales, climate change impacts on the water cycle are deeply uncertain, with 40% of the earth facing uncertainty even in the direction of precipitation change. Traditional approaches to water infrastructure planning under uncertainty, which rely on large projects and safety factors, carry high economic and environmental costs. Under-resourced communities face the greatest risk – from both water insecurity and the burden of costly adaptation measures. In this talk, I first assess the potential for adaptive infrastructure planning, in which planners develop infrastructure incrementally if-and-when needed, to enable water reliability in a changing climate with less infrastructure and lower cost. Second, I present approaches to quantify and mitigate the impact of climate change on affordable water access for low-income urban households. I present case studies in California aimed at developing local solutions in partnership with planners as well as theoretical work aimed at scaling solutions across locations. I highlight collaborations in law, economics, public policy, climate science, environmental justice, and public health, reflecting the multidisciplinary approach needed to develop tractable climate solutions.