Climate and Water: 2023 Trends

For many of us, access to clean and plentiful water is something we take for granted. The value we attribute to it (and historically have paid for it) falls far below the actual cost of delivering it. We have thought nothing of building cities in deserts with the expectation that their populations would have limitless and cheap water supplies.

We saw real-world impacts of this in 2018 when Cape Town, South Africa, was just days away from running out of water, following prolonged drought. It forced the authorities to take draconian steps to protect the remaining supplies, including the construction of three emergency desalination plants and the removal of non-native and water-hungry plant species.

But most of the burden was put squarely on the city’s consumers, who were asked to cut their daily water consumption to just 50 liters. That’s around a twelfth of the average 590 litres consumed daily per person in the US.

And it worked -- the efforts made by Cape Town’s inhabitants averted the crisis. While the city’s reservoirs have since been replenished, the threat of future shortages remains. It’s impressive to see that continued consumer vigilance has ensured that daily water use in Cape Town is still about half what it was prior to the crisis.

Cape Town’s experience was a wakeup call for cities around the world. With climate change now locked in, coupled with rising demand from global population growth, there is little doubt that we will see more impending Day Zeros in the coming years.

Some metropolitan authorities are already having to make difficult decisions based on regional water availability. Phoenix, the US’s fifth largest city, has announced that it will no longer approve new residential developments that rely only on groundwater.

While the US’s Southwest suffers a multi-decade drought, the Northeast is experiencing more flood and extreme rain events. In recent years, New York State has been repeatedly hit by flash flooding, most recently in July 2023 causing fatalities and leaving a trail of destruction. This, officials have warned, is New York’s “new normal.”

The State is preparing to protect itself from increased flood events coming down the Hudson River Valley. At the same time, its seaboard position leaves it exposed to rising sea levels and hurricane-driven coastal flooding.

This issue requires huge investment, with over $1 billion earmarked for resiliency projects to improve flood resistance in New York. This includes revitalizing waterfronts, flood-proofing critical infrastructure, and redesigning levees, dams and other infrastructure features.

One trend we’re seeing is that with growing recognition of the reality of climate change, there’s a need for these structures to be built with resilience in mind. This includes building them beyond the traditional 50-year design-life, and in a manner that they can be easily upgraded in future years, supporting resilience in the face of more severe storms as expected in current climate models.

We’re seeing a growing understanding that there’s no distinction between water that’s “good” – water we want to use – and water we might consider “bad” such as excess stormwater, industrial effluent or impacted groundwater. It’s all just water. Decisions about water must take into account its many manifestations, including being a domestic utility, an industrial input, a support for food production, a potential source of risk in case of flooding, and an environmental asset.

This is shown in a US state – Florida – that has developed a Watershed Planning Initiative, operated by the Florida Department of Environmental Management (FDEM), funded through a $26.6 million grant under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), as approved by FDEM and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The purpose is to create standardized, cost-effective, and easily replicable Watershed Master Plans (WMP) throughout the state of Florida.

This plan considers threats to a watershed’s water supply – including flooding, nutrients in agricultural runoff, and industrial effluent. Key to the program is considering water in a wholistic way.

Initiatives such as Florida’s lead to a growing understanding that all water must be considered a resource to be treasured and maximized.

Technology improvements support better outcomes

Various technology improvements are supporting better water strategy. 

• Digital twins: We’ll see a continued move towards the use of digital twins – real-time virtual replicas of physical assets - for water and wastewater systems, enabling us to model and simulate a range of variables to help predict outcomes in the real world. In terms of planning for the possible extremes of climate change and record-breaking weather events, or black swans, that’s going to be invaluable. The recent explosion of AI will undoubtably contribute to the application and accuracy of “whole system” digital twins.

• Better data analysis and monitoring: Being able to build large-scale models of water infrastructure is helping understand possible scenarios, allowing for the inclusion of greater resiliency in the face of change.

• Recharging aquifers: Another novel approach gaining attention in water-stressed areas is to pump recycled water (sewage which has been safely treated) back into the ground. This can help restore aquifers, which are underground rock formations that are able to store water for later use. Particularly in coastal areas, this can help keep out infiltration into the aquifer by seawater. And with sea level rise another worrying consequence of climate change, this represents a cost effective – and crucially low carbon – solution to safeguarding and replenishing groundwater.

• Better detection of leaks from pipelines: Better still than recycling treated water, however, is not to lose any potable water in the first place. Up to 30% of drinkable water is leaked from aging water infrastructure long before it gets to our taps (so called non-revenue water). So it’s promising to see emerging technologies ranging from in-line, water powered sensors to the use of satellite imagery.

Holistic Water Management: WSP's Commitment to a Sustainable Future

Every individual and every institution relies on water to some degree. To ensure that they are prepared to face whatever water-related pressures emerge in the coming decades, we have put water services at the heart of WSP’s strategy. Drawing upon the multidisciplinary expertise held across the entire business, our holistic approach to water management enables us to provide a sustainable and comprehensive solution, minimizing the use of this precious resource while maximizing its benefits for communities and the environment.