Drought Resilience and Water Conservation

In many areas of the United States, the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought events is increasing. This pattern is expected to continue and shift outside of historical trends, making forecasting our water supply and quality more difficult.

EPA is conducting research and working with stakeholders to better understand the impact of drought on water quality and availability, and to provide solutions to help communities become more resilient.

Drought Resilience and Water Conservation Technical Brief (pdf) (348.9 KB)

Water Efficiency and Aging Infrastructure

EPA supports innovative plumbing products that help conserve water and energy through its WaterSense program. By purchasing products with a WaterSense label, consumers can save money, while conserving water and energy. EPA also works with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to incorporate water efficiency into HUD programs. Advances in low-flow plumbing and fixtures for water quantity conservation present new challenges for maintaining water quality in systems designed for higher flows. EPA is funding research to support water conservation and healthy drinking water in distribution and premise plumbing systems (plumbing in homes and other buildings) under lower-flow conditions

Aging infrastructure, such as leaky pipes and water mains, is estimated to result in the loss of 2.1 trillion gallons of treated drinking water in the U.S. each year. Replacing our Nation's failing water infrastructure is expected to cost approximately $500 billion. EPA is helping by providing water loss training workshops to public and tribal water utilities and collaborating with states and tribes to leverage Drinking Water State Revolving Funds--EPA's largest funding source for drinking water infrastructure--for water loss control auditing.

Aquifer Recharge

Prolonged drought can deplete groundwater aquifers that many communities rely on for drinking water and irrigation. Through the National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP), EPA will work with municipalities and utilities to promote stormwater and rainwater capture to augment water supplies and replenish aquifers. EPA scientists and partners are conducting field studies to explore the influences of innovative green infrastructure practices, such as dry wells and infiltration basins, on water movement into aquifers. They are also evaluating the quality of the recharged water.

Water Reuse

Water conservation practices promoting water reuse--also known as fit-for-purpose water--for potable (drinking) and nonpotable (not for drinking) water are becoming increasingly important. Such practices are especially critical in parts of the western U.S. where climate change, extreme drought, increased evaporation, and population growth are decreasing water availability. To help states achieve water supply resiliency, EPA is promoting water reuse and the expansion of nontraditional water supplies (for example, impaired, alternative, or reclaimed water) previously not considered for reuse, while continuing to protect human and environmental health. EPA is also working with other federal agencies to address sustainability at the federal level, including water resource management and drought response.

To advance innovative water reuse, EPA is assessing approaches for controlling waterborne contaminants associated with built infrastructure; evaluating treatment, monitoring, and risks to human health; advancing water systems that encompass the entire water cycle; developing approaches to evaluate transformative water systems (systems that meet public health and environmental goals while optimizing treatment and maximizing resource recovery and system resiliency); and evaluating rainwater harvesting systems for nonpotable water supplies. EPA has awarded grants to five institutions to better understand potential human and ecological health effects associated with water reuse and conservation practices. Their research will evaluate how reclaimed water applications, such as direct and indirect potable reuse, aquifer recharge, and irrigation, might affect public and ecological health.

Desalination

Brackish and salt water can augment water supplies in areas impacted by drought. EPA scientists are growing salt-tolerant algae that remove salts from these waters, which could reduce the energy footprint and costs of desalination. The algae could then be harvested and used as raw material for biofuel production. EPA scientists are also identifying, designing, and demonstrating cost-effective options that will enable the recovery of water from compromised sources, with an added goal of managing the brine concentrates produced by desalination systems.

EPA has given Small Business Innovation Research awards to companies developing and testing new cost-effective technologies. These include a microdevice to desalinate water off grid, allowing its use where it is needed most, and a system that will enable small water utilities to include lower water quality source water (such as salt water) at their intakes, further reducing the demand on groundwater and surface water.

Response, Recovery, and Restoration

EPA is participating in partnerships across the Nation and providing research grants, tools, support, and training to help communities become more drought resilient. Through the National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP), EPA is collaborating on the development of tools and guides that water and wastewater utilities can use to prepare for, respond to, and recover from droughts. EPA's Climate Ready Utilities Program is working nationwide while using the Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool to help utilities conduct climate change risk assessment to identify utility-level strategies that will build readiness and resilience. EPA and the Indian Health Service are convening federal and state partners to coordinate information on infrastructure needs and funding, technical assistance, emergency drought relief, and conservation opportunities for tribes.

To advance drought-related research even further, EPA has awarded grants to four institutions to investigate how drought and wildfire--and projects for managing wildfires--might impact the quality of surface water and its treatment at drinking water facilities. The research also includes reducing risks associated with preparedness for pre-drought planning and emergency response.

Watershed Sustainability

EPA is supporting community efforts to identify, and find solutions for, issues related to drought resiliency and watershed sustainability. EPA's Centers of Excellence for Watershed Management program works with academia across the Southeast to provide products and services for communities to address watershed problems related to water scarcity and drought and issues of climate resilience and water utility infrastructure sustainability. EPA is supporting projects in vineyards and orchards that are implementing management practices to reduce irrigation demand, retain soil moisture, and minimize soil loss. Other actions include working with partners to decrease the impacts of low flows and climate change on wetland projects, and to provide information on changes in water flow due to drought, floods, and other stresses that impact flow regimes and affect aquatic life.

EPA researchers are also providing tools and conducting studies to better understand how drought affects watersheds, including evaluating drought-related stream salinization effects on the local extinction of aquatic organisms, quantifying the extent and impact of drought conditions affecting watershed resilience and integrity, and assessing influences of drought and water management on lake level decline and habitat quality.

Resources

U.S. Drought Portal – National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). This portal provides early warning on emerging and anticipated droughts, assimilates quality control data for droughts and models, provides information to agencies and stakeholders on risk and impact of droughts; provides information on past droughts for comparison and to understand current conditions, explains how to plan for and manage impacts of drought, and provides a forum for stakeholders to discuss drought-related issues.
WaterSense Program. WaterSense helps people save water with a product label and tips for saving water indoors and out. Products bearing the WaterSense label have been independently certified to perform well; help save water, energy, and money; and encourage innovation in manufacturing.
Water Research Grants. EPA funds water research grants to develop and support the science and tools necessary to develop sustainable solutions to 21st century water resource problems, ensuring water quality and availability in order to protect human and ecosystem health.
Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) Initiative. CRWU provides drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities with the practical tools, training, and technical assistance needed to adapt to climate change by promoting a clear understanding of climate science and adaptation options. Information on training events and links to online resources and tools, including the Extreme Events Workshop Planner and the CRWU Adaptation Strategies Guide, can be found on the homepage.
Drought Incident Action Checklist. “Rip and run” styled checklist that drinking water and wastewater utilities can use to help with emergency preparedness, response, and recovery activities.
Drought Response and Recovery: A Basic Guide for Water Utilities. Published in 2016, this interactive, user-friendly guide provides worksheets, best practices, videos and key resources for responding to drought. It is divided into four main sections: staffing, response plans and funding, water supply and demand management, communication and partnerships, and case studies and videos.
Public Awareness Kit for Utilities. This kit is used to help inform customers and community members about the threats to their water system and motivate them to take action. By using several of the most effective communications methods—print, web, and TV—it will help officials reinforce the message and drive home the call to action.
Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT). CREAT, developed under EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative, assists drinking water and wastewater utility owners and operators in understanding potential climate change threats and in assessing the related risks at their individual utilities. CREAT guides users through identifying threats based on climate change projections and designing adaptation plans based on the types of threats being considered
National Water Program Climate Adaptation Tools. This fact sheet provides a summary of tools developed by EPA for state, tribal, and local governments and others to adapt their clean water and drinking water programs to a changing climate.
Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool. WMOST is a decision support tool that evaluates the relative cost-effectiveness of management practices at the local or watershed scale.
All Hazards Boot Camp. This training course is designed for water and wastewater employees responsible for emergency response and recovery activities. It also explains why and how to implement an all-hazards program. Prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery are all topic covered during the training course.
Environmental Finance Center (EFC). EFCs deliver targeted technical assistance to, and partner with states, tribes, local governments, and the private sector in providing innovative solutions to help manage the costs of environmental financing and program management.
Federal Funding for Utilities in Natural Disasters (Fed FUNDS). Fed FUNDS provides tailored information to water and wastewater utilities about applicable federal disaster funding programs for national-level disasters. The funds could also apply to large-scale and even local disasters that result in service interruptions and significant damage to the critical water/wastewater infrastructure.
State Revolving Fund (SRF) – Green Project Reserve. The American Recovery Act of 2009 requires all Clean Water SRF programs to use a portion of their federal grant for projects that address green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, or other environmentally innovative activities, including practices such as green infrastructure and water reuse.
Sustainability and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) – A Best Practices Guide. This guide contains references to certain documents EPA believes would be helpful to state SRF programs as well as suggestions for new and innovative practices that are not widespread among the states which could promote the goals of the sustainability policy and benefit state CWSRF programs.