Image courtesy of Moorefam.
This report, commissioned by Sydney Water and published by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), presents the preparation and synthesis of ten global case studies that demonstrate how diverse actors are increasing resilience by adapting their assets to climate induced shocks.
The case studies cover locations from almost all continents, and across several sectors (e.g. water, transport and electricity) and actors (e.g. companies, utilities, and government). The main objective of this document is to provide examples that will:
• provide a learning opportunity for Australian and New Zealand water and wastewater service providers (water utilities)
• provide an opportunity to consider alternative approaches for responding to climate shocks
• identify methods to make the business case for resilient infrastructure within water utilities and with the relevant state/territory regulatory bodies.
The recommendations from this review are listed below:
1. |
Water utilities’ senior management should, in collaboration with key stakeholders, drive the embedding of climate adaptation into the organisation’s processes for proactive and cost-effective investment in resilience. |
2. |
Advocate for city/state/national leadership to support climate adaptation within water utilities (leverage any climate shock event to highlight this need), for example, through city/regional/state climate adaptation strategies and funding support. |
3. |
Leverage off or align with existing internal and external leadership initiatives (e.g. strategies) to gain funding approval for climate adaptation investigation, design and construction. |
4. |
Advocate with state or federal government to implement state or national reporting requirements to help utilities implement long-term planning of climate adaptation. |
5. |
Work together with your state/territory pricing regulator to agree on an approach to enable investment in climate change adaption activities. |
6. |
Identify regulations that indirectly support water utilities’ climate adaptation approach. |
7. |
Incorporate the cost of climate adaptation into the cost of delivering an operationally reliable asset or agreed service levels; and strengthen funding requests by quantifying the risk and cost of “doing nothing” to adapt to climate shocks. |
8. |
Determine the avoided costs of undertaking climate adaptation/building resilience into water utilities’ assets, including costs associated with emergency responses, clean-up, asset repairs and replacement, customer compensation and potential reputational damage. |
9. |
In collaboration with your state/territory pricing regulator, consider the different economic assessment approaches used in the case studies (e.g. Ofwat’s Value Framework) to understand how best to represent the costs and benefits of addressing climate adaptation requirements, and gain customer support for any additional costs. |
10. |
Ensure stakeholder engagement in the benefits of climate adaptation investment occurs as early as possible and includes a diverse range of stakeholders. |
11. |
Understand customer/community expectations when determining the level of service and operational reliability that water utilities plan to maintain during climate shock events. Include key stakeholders in this process, for example, the state/territory pricing regulator and bulk water supply authority. |
12. |
Strengthen the coordination and collaboration between multiple actors with a stake in city-wide climate adaptation, to support effective and good value climate adaptation. |
13. |
Consider working with key stakeholders to develop a sector-wide standard for climate resilient measures to enable a sound and consistent approach to funding approval and adaptation. Stakeholders could include for example: bulk water supply authorities, water/wastewater utilities, state/territory pricing and environmental regulators, and WSAA. |
14. |
Consider developing international partnerships such as the Copenhagen and NYC collaboration. To get support from countries/organisations that are further along on the climate adaptation journey. |
15. |
Consider where climate change knowledge (to understand risks, impacts, and appropriate measures) can be strengthened internally or through external support. |
16. |
Consider the common steps undertaken to implement climate adaptation from the case studies and determine what might be applicable for water utilities (common steps in brief: 1. understanding climate risk; 2. determining acceptable levels of service; 3. resilience measures needed; and 4. when to implement measures). |
17. |
Work with external organisations that have knowledge in climate change (e.g. BOM) to support water utilities with building a sound understanding of climate risks and predicted impacts for their assets and services. |
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Building utility resilience to climate shocks: Lessons from global case studies (2022) (Report)
Building utility resilience to climate shocks: Lessons from global case studies (2022) (Case studies)
Researchers
-
Professor and Research Director -
Ebony HeslopResearch Principal
Year
- 2022
Location
- Australia
Client
- Sydney Water
- Water Services Association of Australia
Funder
- Sydney Water
