AwwaRF Sponsors Meeting on Climate Change and Drinking Water
Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF), the nonprofit water research
foundation dedicated to advancing the science of drinking water, has
announced it is sponsoring a workshop on the potential effects of
climate change on water resource availability. The workshop is being
held September 19-20 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is co-sponsored by
U.K. Water Industry Research (UKWIR).
This workshop will bring together representatives from water
utilities, climate-change researchers, and regulators in the United
State and Europe to develop a state-of-the-science report on how
climate change may impact the availability of source waters used by
drinking water suppliers. The participants will also create a research
plan for future climate change studies. The workshop is part of a
project funded by AwwaRF and UKWIR.
"By working with international partners, we are able to
leverage the ideas and resources of our counterparts in other
countries," said Robert C. Renner, executive director of AwwaRF. "The
report developed in the workshop will identify the high-priority issues
drinking water utilities may be dealing with because of climate change.
Prioritizing these issues allows AwwaRF to sponsor research that
tackles the most pressing needs of the water supply community."
"Although the implications of climate change on any particular
water utility aren?t known, utility managers need to be prepared for
changes in the total amount of water available or the frequency and
intensity of precipitation events that feed the world?s water-supply
systems," Renner said.
The workshop is one of several ongoing studies AwwaRF is
currently sponsoring to examine issues related to climate change and
drinking water.