NYCDEP poster FINAL

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Adapting New York City’s Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Systems to Climate Change David C. Major1, Cynthia Rosenzweig2, Kate Demong3, and Christina Stanton1 Columbia University Center for Climate Systems Research1, NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies2, and NYC Department of Environmental Protection3 In August 2004, the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (NYCDEP) established the NYCDEP Climate Change Task Force (Task Force) to develop responses to climate change and climate variability. The Task Force, working in partnership with Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) and other institutions, serves to ensure that potential impacts of and adaptations to climate change on the New York City (City) water supply and wastewater systems are factored into the Department’s long-term strategic and capital planning. In conjunction with its adaptation activities, the Task Force is investigating the development of a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions management program. The Task Force is an agency-wide endeavor whose members are NYCDEP employees from all bureaus. NYCDEP CLIMATE CHANGE TASK FORCE MISSION: 'Ensure that NYCDEP’s strategic and capital planning takes into account the potential effects of climate change—sea level rise, higher temperature, increase in extreme events, and changing precipitation patterns—on the City’s water supply and wastewater treatment systems'. ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT INCLUDES: Identifying impacts Applying future climate scenarios: utilize scenarios to analyze possible impacts for which adaptations are needed Characterizing options: operations, capital investments, and/or policy Conducting initial screening: engineering, institutional, regulatory feasibility Linking to capital cycle Evaluating options: costs/benefits, ensure no regret adaptations Creating implementation plans: time scales - short, medium, long-term Monitoring and Reassessing: use of indicators, continue to refine science CLIMATE CHANGE VARIABLES IMPORTANT TO NYCDEP Surface Air Temperature (min, max, mean) Precipitation Extreme Events (Storms, Floods, Droughts) Sea Level Rise Models andamp; Forecasts Global Climate Models (GCMs) Regional Climate Models (RCMs) Greenhouse Gas Emission Scenarios Sea Level Rise Storm Surge Watershed andamp; Terrestrial Models Drought andamp; Flood Indices POTENTIAL ADAPTATION EXAMPLES Bureau of Water Supply (policy and capital investment): Modify dam infrastructure to allow for water releases to create a short-term void in anticipation of a storm event. Photo of Croton Falls spillway. Bureau of Wastewater Treatment (capital investment): Construct Flood Walls in response to sea level rise and associated storm surge levels. Photo of treatment tanks overflowing at a Bronx WPCP during March 2001 storm; unusually high tidal elevations blocked discharge of treated sewage into East River and caused back-up. Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations (operations): Inventory existing tide gates; identify priority locations most vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surges to support long-term maintenance and possible future installation programs. Photo of NYCDEP tide gate. MITIGATION References: NYC Department of Environmental Protection, www.nyc.gov/dep; Columbia Center for Climate Systems Research, www.ccsr.columbia.edu; Stony Brook Storm Surge Group, http://msrc.sunysb.edu; and HydroQual Inc., www.hydroqual.com November 2005 The Task Force’s mitigation activity serves to aid in the development of a GHG emissions management program. Efforts focus on producing a GHG mitigation assessment framework and process, and an initial agency-wide GHG inventory conducted in cooperation with the city-wide GHG inventory. NASA/GISS Climate Impacts Group Model-Based Probability for Climate Change in 2050s New York City Based upon 8 Global Climate Models* * Downscaled from the following global climate models: CSIRO, CCCma, GFDL, GISS, HCCPR, CCSR, MPIFM, and NCAR Coordinated Science Example Interdisciplinary research project on coastal flooding. Uses sea level rise forecasts with storm surge andamp; elevation models to analyze impact on NYCDEP coastal facilities. Initial runs of the sea level model using a low-level (B1) and mid- level (A1B) GHG emissions scenarios suggests sea level rise increase in the 2050s may range from 16.6 to 47.2 cm (6.1 to 18.8 in) in comparison to the 1990s decadal mean.