RESILIENCY RESOURCES

• How Green Infrastructure Could Help Sewers Overwhelmed By Climate Change

  Increasing population means sewers are sometimes overwhelmed without any rainfall at all. Then, add climate change to the mix. Heavier downpours are becoming more common, which spells trouble for sewer systems that simply cannot cope with increasing volumes of water. A combined sewer system is especially vulnerable.
• No Flood Gauges, No Warning: 99% Of U.S. Streams Are Off The Radar Amid Rising Flash Flood Risks — We Saw The Harm In 2024

  Flooding is one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage each year. In 2024 alone, floods destroyed homes in over a dozen states and claimed more than 165 lives, underscoring the importance of fast, accurate flood warnings.
• 2025 Brings Focus On Critical Water Infrastructure Modernization

  Local municipalities' water workers will be working hard in 2025 to install infrastructure upgrades. Modernization is long overdue, and the consequence of holding onto the old is stalling the implementation of the new. How will cities and utility companies collaborate to ensure the coming year breathes new life into water infrastructure?

• Ensuring Urban Water Security

  A key aspect of achieving urban water security is the implementation of demand management, which involves the better use of existing water supplies before plans are made to further increase supply. In particular, demand management promotes water conservation during times of both normal and atypical conditions, through changes in practices, culture, and people's attitudes towards water resources.

• Water Management Tips For Natural Disasters

  Remote water shut-off valves and preemptive planning enable municipalities to protect water infrastructure and respond effectively during natural disasters, ensuring public safety and service continuity.

• Coastal Cities Have A Hidden Vulnerability To Storm-Surge And Tidal Flooding — Entirely Caused By Humans

  Centuries ago, estuaries around the world were teeming with birds and turbulent with schools of fish, their marshlands and endless tracts of channels melting into the gray-blue horizon. Fast-forward to today, and in estuaries such as New York Harbor, San Francisco Bay, and Miami's Biscayne Bay — areas where rivers meet the sea — 80% to 90% of this habitat has been built over. The result has been the environmental collapse of estuary habitats and the loss of buffer zones that helped protect cities from storm surge and sea-level rise. But the damage isn't just what's visible on land.
• Building Resilient Water Systems In The Face Of Climate Change

  Water utility professionals are facing critical challenges due to the increasing variability of the water cycle, driven by climate change.

• At The Waterfront Of ESG And Environmental Responsibility

  Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy can yield a powerful outcome when integrated into a corporate strategy. Though strategizing and rolling out this assessment can be time- and resource-intensive, when done correctly, companies will realize several benefits in the short and long term.
• Seawall Will Raise Quality Of Life For Shore Communities In Staten Island, New York

  During the intense winds and flooding of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Joseph McAllister, an electrician, was driving around South Beach, Staten Island, New York trying to help his neighbors stranded in the dark.

• In Storms Like Hurricane Helene, Flooded Industrial Sites And Toxic Chemical Releases Are A Silent And Growing Threat

  Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants were in Hurricane Helene’s path as the powerful storm flooded communities across the Southeast in late September. In disasters like these, the industrial damage can unfold over days, and residents may not hear about releases of toxic chemicals into water or the air until days or weeks later, if they find out at all. Yet pollution releases are common.