Investing in Drought Resilience

Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (WDCWA) is a joint powers authority responsible for managing a sustainable, high-quality water supply for the City of Woodland, City of Davis, and UC Davis. WDCWA has experienced extreme drought conditions in recent years. With projections of increased temperatures and decreased precipitation, WDCWA could see lower reservoir levels and continued curtailments of surface water flows. WDCWA is acting to improve its overall resilience by installing automated meters, implementing a purchase agreement for 2,000 acre-feet of additional water, and building three aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells. 

To better understand the vulnerability of their infrastructure and operations, WDCWA assessed potential climate impacts using the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT). Developed under EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative, CREAT assists water utilities in identifying future extreme weather and other environmental threats, assessing risks from these threats, and evaluating and comparing measures to adapt to these threats. The CREAT assessment brought together individuals from the City of Woodland, the City of Davis and EPA to critically evaluate potential climate impacts, prioritize assets, consider possible adaptation options, and compare monetized risk reduction across plans and climate scenarios. Using the results of the CREAT assessment, WDCWA was able to evaluate the performance and costs of several drought management strategies that, if implemented, could further strengthen the operational resilience of the system. 

For more details on WDCWA and other utilities addressing climate impact, visit EPA’s Case Studies and Information Exchange map.