Smart One Water - Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency

PANEL 3: CLIMATE CHANGE, SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCY

PANEL QUESTIONS

Sustainability and resilience of water services is increasingly impacted by a number of biophysical, economic, and societal stresses. How can those stresses be best identified, prioritized, and cost-effectively managed?
How will the Smart One Water approach and its technology-enabled coordination help provide for more sustainable and resilient water services?
How can we act now, locally (i.e., even in the absence of national, regional, or state policy), given the value proposition offered by the Smart One Water approach? For example, water reuse, water storage, flood management, have been identified as essential community needs. What are barriers for their local implementations, and how can those barriers be overcome through a Smart One Water approach?

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

The panel’s primary objectives were:

To best identify, prioritize and cost effectively manage stresses on water services due to climate change
Develop mechanisms within the SOW approach to enhance resiliency and sustainability
Identify near-term strategies to develop resiliency in the water services.

PANEL OUTCOMES

Participants explored Smart One Water as a pathway towards transformation for a holistic climate response, paying particular attention to culture shifts that minimize unintended consequences and maximize progress toward water equity, climate justice, community resilience, and a circular economy. This session informed participants with a better understanding of what cultivating climate action looks like and how we can shape water processes and investments for both people and the planet.