Palm Beach County

Water Utilities Department

Maurice Tobon, P.E. Director of Engineering

Stephen McGrew, P.E., Manager Plant Design

May 2011

Climate Change Impacts

and Infrastructure

Adaptation

AWWA Statement on Climate

Change

The American Water Works Association

recognizes that global climate changes will

have major impacts on the hydrologic cycle

and, therefore, have the potential to

significantly affect water supplies.

Global Climate Change Affects

South Florida will be most affected by these

climate change impacts:

Sea Level Rise

Salt Intrusion

Flooding

Inflow & Infiltration

Tropical Storm Activity

Storm Frequency

Storm Intensity

Precipitation Patterns

Wetter wets, dryer dries

Future Demand Forecast

Population Growth/Loss

Sea Level Rise

Source: A Unified Sea Level Rise Projection for Southeast Florida,

Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact Counties April 2011

Increased Tropical Activity

Emanuel, 2007 “Power Dissipation Index” (PDI) of tropical cyclones, defined

as the sum of the cubed estimated maximum sustained surface wind speeds at 6-hour

intervals accumulated over each Atlantic tropical cyclone from the late 1940s to 2003.

Increased Tropical Activity

Modeled Impact of Anthropogenic Warming on the Frequency of Intense Atlantic Hurricanes

Morris A. Bender, Et al. 2010

.

Greater Rainfall Variability

Source: Climate Change & Water Management, SFWMD Nov, 2009

Utilities Infrastructure Adaptation

Diversification of Water Resources

(Lack of Regional Storage and Herbert Hoover Dike

Repair at Lake Okeechobee)

Hurricane Hardening and Disaster Recovery

Salt Water Intrusion/Inland Supply

Facility Planning

Reducing Infiltration/Inflow

Diverse Water Resources

ASR (Aquifer Storage and Recovery)

C-51 Reservoir (surface water storage)

Wastewater Reuse (supplement local

groundwater, multiple use water)

C-51 Reservoir

WEAP Model Created a Dynamic Decision Support System (D2S2) in

conjunction with Water Research Foundation (WRF)

UF, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research

(NCAR) and PBS&J

Used Water Evaluation and Planning Tool (WEAP)

platform, developed by the Stockholm Institute

Includes 112 climate change projections

High level planning model, calibrated with over 20

years of past climate data and canal levels

Incorporates population projections and the PBC WUD

Capital Improvement program

WEAP Model Results

Reservoir Storage

Dry

Wet

Reservoir Storage Volume

All Reservoirs (7), All months (12)

May

2009

Apr

2010

Mar

2011

Mar

2012

Mar

2013

Mar

2014

Feb

2015

Feb

2016

Feb

2017

Feb

2018

Feb

2019

Jan

2020

Jan

2021

Jan

2022

Jan

2023

Dec

2023

Dec

2024

Dec

2025

Dec

2026

Nov

2027

Nov

2028

Nov

2029

Nov

2030

Oct

2031

Oct

2032

Oct

2033

Oct

2034

Sep

2035

Sep

2036

Sep

2037

Sep

2038

Aug

2039

Aug

2040

Aug

2041

Aug

2042

Aug

2043

Jul

2044

Jul

2045

Jul

2046

Jul

2047

Jun

2048

Thousand A

cre

-foot

8,900

8,800

8,700

8,600

8,500

8,400

8,300

8,200

8,100

8,000

7,900

7,800

7,700

7,600

7,500

7,400

7,300

7,200

7,100

7,000

6,900

6,800

6,700

6,600

6,500

6,400

6,300

6,200

6,100

6,000

5,900

5,800

5,700

5,600

5,500

5,400

Includes: Kissimmee Lakes, Lake Okeechobee, C-51, L-8

Reclaimed Water – 25 MGD

Created Wetlands – 5 MGD

Industrial Cooling Water Reuse for the FP&L West County Energy Center- 27 MGD

Palm Beach County Water Utilities Water Conservation Leader in South Florida – over 13 billion gallons/year

Alternative Water Supply

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Hurricane Preparedness

Hardening of Facilities

Water and Wastewater Plants

Regional Pump Stations

Operations Centers

Designing Cat 5 Communications and Server Rooms

Post Disaster Recovery

FlaWARN - Mutual Aid

Design-Build Contract for Emergency

Rebuilding

Hurricane Hardening Treatment

Facilities

Removing Skylights

Hurricane Hardening Treatment

Facilities

Removing Older Shutters and

Installing Impact Windows

Hurricane Hardening Treatment

Facilities

Intake Wall to Block Wind Blown Rain

Salt Water Intrusion/Inland Supply

Salt water intrusion will limit water supplies

to the coastal communities.

Maintain excess water treatment capacity to

allow supply of coastal communities with

potable water.

Salt Water Intrusion will affect Reclaim

Water Quality due to Inflow and Infiltration

Salt Water Intrusion

Source: USGS

Excess WTP Capacity

Water Interconnects

Have a plan to

address rapid

increase in

population.

– Future Northern

Region WTP, site

plan approved.

Facility Planning

Reducing Infiltration/Inflow

Increase in Infiltration/Inflow in to the sewer

systems caused by higher GW levels and more

intense rainfall.

In some areas up to 50 percent of the wastewater

flow is caused by infiltration/inflow. As GW levels

and storm intensity increase this will worsen.

Infiltration/Inflow Reduction

Gravity Sewer Lining

Manhole Lining

Best Water, Best Service,Best Environmental Stewardship