Climate Change: Federal Efforts Under Way to Assess Water Infrastructure Vulnerabilities and Address Adaptation Challenges
Published: 2013-11-14T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The effects of climate change on water resources have already been observed and are expected to continue. The Corps and Reclamation own and operate key water resource management infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs. Adaptation-- adjustments in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects--can be used to help manage the risks to vulnerable resources. In 2009, a law--commonly referred to as the SECURE Water Act--and a presidential executive order directed federal agencies to address the potential impacts of climate change.
GAO was asked to review agency actions to address climate change impacts on water infrastructure. This report examines (1) actions taken by the Corps and Reclamation since 2009 to assess and respond to the potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure and (2) challenges, if any, faced by the Corps and Reclamation in assessing and responding to the potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure, and the steps the agencies are taking to address them. GAO analyzed the agencies' climate change adaptation guidance and planning documents and interviewed agency officials and other key stakeholders, including water users, environmental groups, and researchers.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The Department of Defense's U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) have assessed water resource and infrastructure vulnerabilities and taken steps to develop guidance and strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change. Specifically, since 2009, the Corps has completed a high-level assessment of the vulnerabilities to climate change of various agency missions. The assessment found, for example, that the effects of increasing air temperatures on glaciers could negatively impact mission areas including navigation and flood damage reduction. The Corps has also conducted pilot studies to help identify adaptation guidance and strategies; it has completed 5 of the 15 pilot studies initiated and plans to start another study in 2013. Similarly, Reclamation has completed baseline assessments of the potential impacts of climate change on future water supplies for the major river basins where it owns and operates water management infrastructure. Reclamation, in collaboration with nonfederal entities, is now conducting more focused assessments, known as Basin Studies, through which Reclamation seeks to identify water supply vulnerabilities and project future climate change impacts on the performance of water infrastructure. According to agency officials, these studies will also help Reclamation develop adaptation strategies to address these impacts, such as operational or physical changes to existing water infrastructure or development of new facilities. Three Basin Studies have been completed, an additional 14 are under way, and 2 more are planned. Reclamation next plans to initiate feasibility studies for adaptation strategies identified in completed Basin Studies. Both agencies are incorporating what they have learned from their efforts into agency policies, planning, and guidance, according to agency officials.
In 2009, the Corps, Reclamation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), jointly published a study that identified several challenges that climate change poses for water resource managers, and the Corp and Reclamation are collaboratively addressing these challenges. Specifically, these agencies are
identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address climate change, which will help guide federal research efforts;
obtaining needed climate data by collaborating with other agencies to help ensure that the data are collected, such as by sharing some costs associated with maintaining USGS's stream flow measurement activities, which are valuable to Corps water planning and management;
integrating climate science into water resource management decision making through activities such as developing and communicating science to inform climate adaptation strategies; and
collaborating in the development of a climate change science training program for federal and nonfederal water resources managers.
The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated together and with others in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that GAO has identified as important to enhancing and sustaining collaboration among agencies. The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a key element of their policy and plans for adapting to the effects of climate change and have reinforced accountability for collaboration through agency performance management systems.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO is not making any recommendations.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: According to recent scientific studies, including those conducted by the  U.S. Global Change Research Program, climate-related changes— including increases in air and water temperatures, changes in  precipitation patterns, reduced snow cover, retreating glaciers, and rising  sea levels—will likely adversely affect many aspects of the natural  environment in the United States. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s  (Interior) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has reported that of all the  potential threats posed by climate change, those associated with water  resources are arguably the most consequential for both society and the  environment. The effects of climate change on water resources have  already been observed and are expected to continue. For example, a shift  in the form of precipitation from snow to rain and earlier melting of  mountain snowpack has been documented in western states. This  change in precipitation is expected to result in a decrease in the amount  of reliable water supply in areas where snow has been a major source. As  we reported in October 2009, policymakers are increasingly viewing  adaptation—defined by the National Research Council as adjustments in  natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits  beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects—as a risk- management strategy to protect vulnerable resources that might be  affected by changes in the climate. GAO added limiting the federal  government’s fiscal exposure by better managing climate change risks to  our 2013 update of high-risk areas because of the government’s role,  among other things, as the owner or operator of extensive infrastructure.
The Department of Defense’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and  Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) own and operate key  water resource management infrastructure, such as canals, dams, and  reservoirs, that may be affected by climate change. The Corps is the  largest and oldest federal water management agency, with water  resources and infrastructure in every state authorized for specific  purposes such as navigation, flood and coastal storm damage reduction,  hydropower, and water supply, among other things. Established in 1902,  Reclamation constructed dams, reservoirs, power plants, and canals in  17 western states, and today is the second largest producer of  hydroelectric power in the western United States and the largest  wholesaler of water in the nation. The Corps and Reclamation work with  each other and with other federal agencies, such as the Department of  Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  and USGS, which collect and interpret weather and climate information  that is valuable for effective water resource management. In addition, the  Corps and Reclamation coordinate with state and local water resource  managers and other stakeholders who are responsible for water  resources activities within their jurisdictions to manage water for  agricultural, municipal, and conservation uses, among others.
Congress and the Executive Office of the President have directed federal  agencies to address the potential impacts of climate change. In 2009, a  law—commonly referred to as the SECURE Water Act—was enacted,  requiring, among other things, that Reclamation establish a climate  change adaptation program to (1) assess the effect of and risk resulting  from global climate change on the quantity of water resources and (2)  develop strategies to address potential water shortages and other  impacts. Reclamation was also required to report to relevant  congressional committees its progress implementing the act within 2  years of passage and every 5 years thereafter. Also in 2009, the  President signed Executive Order 13514, calling for federal agencies to  participate in the existing Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task  Force (Task Force). The executive order directed the Task Force to  develop federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts  both domestically and internationally and to recommend key components  to include in a national strategy. Based on the Task Force  recommendations, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality  issued implementing instructions directing federal agencies to, among  other things, establish an agency climate change adaptation policy and  deliver to the council and the Office of Management and Budget a climate  adaptation plan for implementation in fiscal year 2013.
You requested that we review the climate adaptation efforts of the Corps  and Reclamation. This report examines (1) the actions the Corps and  Reclamation have taken since 2009 to assess and respond to the  potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure and (2) what  challenges, if any, the Corps and Reclamation face in assessing and  responding to the potential effects of climate change on water  infrastructure, and the steps the agencies are taking to address them.
To describe what actions the Corps and Reclamation have taken to  assess and respond to the potential effects of climate change since 2009,  we reviewed and analyzed federal law, an executive order, and relevant  guidance to identify the climate change impact assessment and  adaptation activities that the Corps and Reclamation are directed to  perform. We reviewed and analyzed the agencies’ orders, policy, and  program guidance and interviewed agency officials to determine how the  Corps and Reclamation have interpreted and implemented federal laws  and orders. We also reviewed and analyzed documentation, such as  reports, studies, and plans, and interviewed agency officials, as well as  other water resource managers and climate science specialists to gather  information on what the Corps and Reclamation have done to assess and  respond to the potential effects of climate change on existing and planned  federal water infrastructure investments. We identified and selected the  resource managers and climate science specialists using an iterative  process, soliciting names from agency officials and others we  interviewed, and selecting those identified as having a high level of  participation and knowledge. From among those identified, we conducted  semistructured interviews to obtain their views on the Corps’ and  Reclamation’s efforts to assess and respond to the potential effects of  climate change. We did not assess the Corps’ and Reclamation’s actions  to implement specific climate change adaptation planning frameworks or  steps because their efforts are in the early stages. We used in-house  scientific expertise to analyze the soundness of the methodological  approaches utilized in selected documents, and we determined them to  be sufficiently sound for our purposes. Relevant assessments, reports,  and studies are cited throughout this document.
To describe what challenges, if any, the Corps and Reclamation face in  assessing and responding to the potential effects of climate change on  water infrastructure, as well as steps these agencies are taking to  address these challenges, we reviewed and analyzed agency documents,  including planning documents and assessments of efforts to date. We  also reviewed and analyzed documentation of actions taken by the Corps,  Reclamation, and other water managers to help mitigate these  challenges, and we assessed the extent to which these efforts have been  collaborative based on prior GAO work. In addition, we spoke with  agency officials, as well as sought the perspectives of state and local  water managers and climate specialists, to learn about the challenges  faced by the Corps and Reclamation and the steps the agencies have  taken to address them. We selected these managers and specialists  using an iterative process, based on recommendations of agency officials  and others we interviewed. From among those identified, we conducted  semistructured interviews about challenges and potential steps to  address them and conducted a content analysis of their responses.
We conducted this performance audit from October 2012 to November  2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Climate change is having a variety of impacts on natural resources in the  United States, ranging from more severe drought to increased flooding,  and is altering assumptions that have been central to water resource  planning and management. Congress and the Executive Office of the  President have directed federal agencies to address the potential impacts  of climate change. The two key federal water resource management  agencies included in this review—the Corps and Reclamation—have  similar yet distinct roles in managing water for a wide variety of purposes.  In addition to the water management challenges posed by climate  change, both agencies are dealing with aging water management  infrastructure with limited funding for maintenance and construction.
subsections: section_title: Potential Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources Can Be Addressed through Adaptation Planning
paragraphs: According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, changes in the  climate in the United States and its coastal waters have altered—and will  continue to alter—the water cycle, affecting where, when, and how much  water is available for all uses. Changes in the climate—including warmer  temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and  more frequent and intense storms—affect water resources in a number of  ways such as increased flooding in some areas and drought in others,  and inundation and erosion in coastal areas. Precisely how and to what  extent changes in the climate will affect particular water resources in the  future is uncertain, but climate-related changes are expected to continue  and increase in intensity in some areas of the nation.
Climate change has the potential to affect many aspects of the  environment and society in which water resource management plays an  active role. A 2011 federal interagency review of the potential impacts of  climate change on water resources identified four interrelated areas of  concern for water resource managers as follows: assuring an adequate water supply for multiple needs, such as  drinking water, agriculture, energy production, industrial uses,  navigation, and recreation; protecting life, health, and property in the face of risks posed by protecting the quality of freshwater resources, including the quality of  surface water and groundwater, and the health of fisheries and  aquatic habitat; and protecting coastal and ocean resources as rising sea levels and  changes in storm frequency, intensity, and duration impact coastal  infrastructure.
Adaptation—defined by the National Research Council as adjustments in  natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that exploits  beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects—is an element of  the proposed responses to climate change that is gaining more attention.  More specifically, policymakers are increasingly viewing adaptation as a  risk-management strategy to protect vulnerable sectors and communities  that might be affected. As we reported in our May 2013 report on land  resource management agency adaptation efforts, climate change  adaptation planning frameworks generally consist of four key elements  that are reviewed and revised as needed as new information emerges.  These four elements are the following:
Establish a mandate to address climate change with clearly  articulated adaptation goals, objectives, and measures of success  toward meeting goals.
Assess and understand the risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities  posed by climate change by determining (1) what aspects of the  climate are changing and over what periods, (2) which resources will  be most at risk, (3) why these resources are likely to be vulnerable,  and (4) what uncertainties are associated with the predicted climate  change impacts and how this may impact adaptation efforts.
Develop and prioritize management adaptation actions; that is,  determine how to respond to the identified risks by considering a wide  array of possible adaptation measures and identifying the highest  priority adaptation measures.  Implement management options, evaluate the results to determine the  actions’ effectiveness, and makes adjustments as necessary. As  climate continues to change, adaptation actions need to be regularly  monitored for effectiveness and plans need to incorporate new  information about risks, lessons learned, and modified priorities.
According to a 2009 study collaboratively produced by the Corps, NOAA,  Reclamation, and USGS, a variety of water-management options might  be considered to facilitate adaptation to climate change, including  operational changes, demand management, and infrastructure changes.  The study concluded that the options for responding to the effects of  climate change will vary by location, and that evaluating options will likely  require a partnership between federal, state, and local interests to attain  consensus among water managers and users.
section_title: Federal Agencies Have Been Directed to Address Climate Change Adaptation
paragraphs: In 2009, Congress passed the SECURE Water Act, requiring  Reclamation to establish a climate change adaptation program to (1)  assess the effect of and risk resulting from global climate change on the  quantity of water resources and (2) develop strategies to address  potential water shortages and other impacts. To assess the effect of  climate change, the law requires Reclamation to analyze the extent to  which changes in water supply will impact several areas, including  Reclamation’s ability to deliver water to its customers, hydroelectric power  generation, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation. The law requires  Reclamation to assess specific risks to the water supply of each of its  major river basins, including risks related to, among other things, changes  in snow cover and the timing and quantity of runoff. To develop strategies  to address impacts, the law requires Reclamation, in consultation with  nonfederal stakeholders such as appropriate state water resource  agencies, to consider and develop appropriate strategies to mitigate the  impacts of water supply changes, such as strategies for modifying  reservoir storage or operating guidelines and water conservation.
Also in 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13514, Federal  Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance which,  among other things, directs agencies to participate in the Interagency  Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task Force), which was already  developing a strategy for adaptation to climate change, and to develop  approaches through which the policies and practices of the agencies can  be made compatible with the Task Force’s strategy. In October 2010,  the Task Force delivered a progress report to the President through the  Council on Environmental Quality containing overarching policy goals to  advance climate adaptation and recommending the development of a  national action plan to strengthen climate change adaptation for  freshwater resources. Based on the work of the Task Force, the Council  on Environmental Quality subsequently issued detailed adaptation  planning implementation instructions in March 2011. The instructions  directed the agencies to issue an agency-wide climate change adaptation  policy statement, complete a high-level analysis of agency vulnerability to  climate change, and submit to the Council on Environmental Quality and  the Office of Management and Budget their climate adaptation plans by  June 4, 2012, for implementation in fiscal year 2013.
section_title: The Corps and Reclamation Construct, Operate, and Manage Federal Water Infrastructure
paragraphs: For over 230 years, the Corps has led the development and stewardship  of much of the nation’s public water resources. The Corps’ Civil Works  Program plans and manages water for transportation, recreation, energy,  wildlife habitat, aquatic ecosystems, and water supply, while reducing the  impacts of flood damages and other natural disasters. Specifically, the  Corps has constructed—and continues to operate, maintain, and  rehabilitate—a large inventory and wide variety of water management  infrastructure, including reservoirs, hydropower facilities, commercial  inland waterways, harbors, and levee systems. In June 2011, in response  to the implementing instructions for Executive Order 13514, the Corps  established its adaptation policy statement for addressing the effects of  climate change, which called for the integration of climate change  adaptation in all Corps activities. Two Corps programmatic efforts—the  Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force/Hurricane Protection  Decision Chronology Lessons Learned Implementation Team (also  known as Actions for Change) and the Responses to Climate Change  Program—support the Corps’ ongoing adaptation activities.
Since 1902, Reclamation has carried out its mission to manage, develop,  and protect water and related resources in 17 western states. The agency  has led or provided assistance in constructing most of the large dams and  water diversion structures in the West for the purpose of developing water  supplies for irrigation—that is, “reclaiming” these lands for human use. In  2009, Reclamation directed its Office of Research and Development and  its Office of Policy and Administration to take the lead in implementing the  actions required by the SECURE Water Act. Reclamation’s climate  adaptation efforts fall within the larger effort by Interior to, among other  things, implement Executive Order 13514. In 2013, Interior adopted a  policy directing the agency to integrate climate change adaptation  strategies into its operations, policies, programs, and planning. See  appendix I for more information on the Corps’ and Reclamation’s  organization and infrastructure.
In addition to each agency’s individual efforts, the Corps and Reclamation  established a partnership in 2007—the Climate Change and Water  Working Group (CCAWWG)—to address their mutual concerns about the  potential effects of climate change on their agencies’ missions. In 2009,  the CCAWWG partners jointly produced a preliminary assessment of how  climate could impact federal water resources management, which  explored strategies to improve water management by tracking,  anticipating, and responding to climate change, and identified adaptation  challenges.
section_title: Agencies Manage Climate Change Risk While Facing Aging Infrastructure
paragraphs: According to a 2012 National Research Council report on Corps  infrastructure, large portions of the Corps’ water resources infrastructure  were built over 50 years ago and are experiencing various stages of  decay and disrepair, making project maintenance and rehabilitation a high  priority. The report also found that federal funding over the past 20 years  has consistently been inadequate to maintain the Corps’ infrastructure at  acceptable levels of performance and efficiency. Similarly, most of  Reclamation’s water infrastructure facilities are more than 50 years old  and, according to a 2011 Congressional Research Service report, with  limited budgetary resources and aging infrastructure, Reclamation’s  maintenance needs are likely to increase, as is competition for limited  funding.
Despite the ongoing challenges of operating and maintaining aging  infrastructure under budgetary constraints, it is important that the Corps  and Reclamation address the challenge of managing climate change risk  in order to limit the fiscal exposure of the federal government. As noted in  our 2013 high-risk update, climate change poses a significant financial  risk to the federal government, including, but not limited to its role as the  owner or operator of extensive infrastructure vulnerable to climate  impacts. State and local authorities are responsible for planning and  implementing many types of infrastructure projects, and decisions at  these levels of government can affect the federal government’s fiscal  exposure. While implementing adaptive strategies to protect  infrastructure may be costly, there is a growing recognition that the cost of  inaction could be greater and—given the government’s precarious fiscal  position—increasingly difficult to manage given expected budget  pressures, which will constrain not just future ad hoc responses, but other  federal programs as well. As stated in a 2010 National Research Council  report, increasing the nation’s ability to respond to a changing climate can  be viewed as an insurance policy against climate change risks.
section_title: Efforts Under Way by the Corps and Reclamation to Assess Water Resource and Infrastructure Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Develop Adaptation Strategies
paragraphs: Since 2009, as directed by executive order or required by law, the Corps  and Reclamation have taken steps to assess water resource and  infrastructure vulnerabilities and develop guidance and strategies for  adapting to climate change, as shown in table 2. Officials from both  agencies told us that as they develop the necessary guidance, they plan  to implement specific adaptation strategies and share costs with state and  local partners.
Since 2009, the Corps has broadly assessed how climate change could  affect its missions. Specifically, a phased assessment of the vulnerability  of coastal projects is under way, more refined watershed-level  vulnerability assessments are being developed, and pilot studies are  being conducted to develop adaptation guidance and strategies. In March  2012, responding to guidance for implementing Executive Order 13514,  the Corps provided the President’s Council on Environmental Quality with  a high-level analysis of the vulnerability of the Corps’ missions and  operations to climate change. The Corps’ analysis included an  assessment of whether the potential effects of climate change on the  Corps’ business areas would likely be negative, positive, or a mix of  both. The analysis found, for example, that increasing air temperatures  may have an effect on glaciers that could negatively impact Corps  business areas such as navigation, flood and coastal storm damage  reduction, ecosystem restoration, and emergency management, but the  effect of increasing air temperatures on river ice could have both positive  and negative impacts on those same four business areas.
As part of the high-level analysis, the Corps also identified a number of  adaptation priorities. To address its priority of developing more refined  vulnerability assessments, the Corps is currently undertaking coastal  project vulnerability assessments and is developing and testing a  methodology for nationwide, watershed-level vulnerability assessments of  its inland missions, operations, programs, and projects. The nationwide  watershed-level vulnerability assessments will, according to Corps  officials, help them make initial screening-level determinations of where  adaptation strategies are needed or not needed, and then to prioritize  accordingly. The agency officials expect to complete the first phase of  screening assessments in 2013, with more refined assessments to come  in future years. Ultimately, the Corps plans to combine the coastal and  inland assessments into a unified methodology. In addition, Corps Civil  Works officials told us that they are developing syntheses of literature to  provide up-to-date information about regional climate impacts in order to  support project-specific planning and help implement adaptation  strategies.
As part of its efforts to address the adaptation priorities of developing a  risk-informed decision-making framework for climate change adaptation  and a portfolio of adaptation approaches, the Corps is conducting 15 pilot  studies nationwide to test different methods and frameworks for adapting  to climate change. The Corps has completed 5 of these studies and 10  others are ongoing. According to Corps Civil Works officials, the pilot  studies were proposed by Corps district staff and selected by senior  Corps staff in a competitive, internal process. The 15 pilots are led by 13  different Corps districts and address project planning, engineering,  operations, and maintenance for 6 different Corps business areas,  involving a variety of different infrastructure types, such as flood risk  reduction projects, reservoirs, and canals. Some of the pilots are being  conducted collaboratively with federal, state, and university partners.  Taken together, Corps officials expect the pilot projects to provide a body  of knowledge and tested methods that will serve as the foundation for its  guidance and future adaptation efforts. See appendix II for additional  information on the locations and results of the Corps’ pilot studies.
subsections: section_title: Reclamation Assessed Vulnerabilities in Major Western River Basins and Is Developing Potential Adaptation Strategies
paragraphs: Reclamation has broadly assessed how climate change may affect water  resources in the western United States as part of the Basin Study  Program it established to meet the requirements of the SECURE Water  Act. Specifically, responding to the Act’s requirement to assess specific  risks to water supplies, Reclamation reported to Congress in 2011 its  assessments of the potential effects of climate change on water supplies  in the major river basins in the West. The studies, known as West-Wide  Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRA), are high-level, baseline  assessments of the potential impacts of climate change on future water  supplies—including impacts on Reclamation’s ability to deliver water and  hydropower—for each of the major river basins where Reclamation owns  and operates water management infrastructure. According to agency  officials, Reclamation is now conducting WWCRAs that focus on future  water demand and will combine this information with its water supply  assessments to form a more complete picture of the potential impacts of  climate change on its water infrastructure. Reclamation policy officials  told us that these combined assessments will be included in  Reclamation’s next SECURE Water Act report that is due in 2016. These  assessments will also be updated based on the latest climate science as  water uses and conditions change, and they will be included in future  reports that are due to Congress every 5 years.
In addition to its WWCRAs, Reclamation is partnering with nonfederal  entities to conduct more focused assessments, known as Basin Studies,  to identify specific water resources vulnerabilities and to implement the  SECURE Water Act’s requirement that Reclamation consider and  develop strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on water  supplies. Reclamation selects the Basin Studies through a competitive  process and shares their costs with nonfederal partners. Through the  Basin Studies, Reclamation intends to identify basin-wide water supply  vulnerabilities, project climate change’s impacts on the performance of  water infrastructure, and develop adaptation strategies—such as  operational or physical changes to existing water infrastructure or  development of new facilities—to address these impacts. According to  Reclamation guidance, the Basin Studies are to develop long-term  projections of water supply and demand that take into account specific  climate change risks identified in the SECURE Water Act. The studies  will analyze how well existing water and power infrastructure are meeting  current demands and then forecast their performance in light of projected  water supply and demand. To address projected imbalances in supply  and demand, the studies are to identify adaptation strategies that include  strategies for nonstructural (i.e., management and operations) and  structural (i.e., capital expenditures) changes.
As of September 2013, 3 Basin Studies have been completed, and an  additional 14 studies have been funded and are under way.  Reclamation and its partners, including state water management  agencies and local irrigation districts, completed the Yakima River Basin  Study in 2011, and both the St. Mary River and Milk River Basins Study  and Colorado River Basin Study in 2012. Some studies entirely cover the  major river basins specified in the SECURE Water Act—such as the  Colorado River Basin Study, while other studies cover subbasins or  tributaries within the boundaries of the major river basins—such as the  Yakima River Basin Study, covering a tributary of the Columbia River.  Reclamation officials told us that they next intend to initiate feasibility  studies for adaptation strategies identified in completed Basin Studies by  making funds available to nonfederal partners, beginning with an initial  feasibility study in 2013. See appendix II for additional information on the  locations and results of Reclamation’s Basin Studies.
section_title: Both Agencies Are Developing and Enhancing Guidance for Implementing Climate Adaptation Strategies Identified
paragraphs: As recommended by the Task Force in 2010, the Corps and Reclamation  are taking a phased approach to climate adaptation, including developing  agency-wide guidance for adaptation. Specifically, through broad climate  vulnerability assessments, agency officials told us they have expanded  their knowledge of climate change and its impacts, allowing them to  assess, at a high level, how these impacts may affect agency missions,  programs, and operations. These initial vulnerability assessments have  informed the agencies in developing and conducting more detailed  vulnerability assessments, while also identifying specific strategies for  climate change adaptation through the pilots and basin studies. Both  agencies have also begun integrating what they have learned into their  policies and program guidance. For example, beginning in 2009 and  updated in 2011, the Corps issued guidance requiring that potential sea- level changes be considered in all of the agency’s coastal planning,  engineering, operations, and maintenance activities. The Corps is  currently developing guidance for implementing coastal and inland  adaptation strategies. Similarly, in 2013, Reclamation officials told us they  began to incorporate climate change adaptation considerations into its  policies and guidance for project feasibility studies and environmental  impact studies, among other things, using information and lessons  learned from its WWCRA and Basin Study vulnerability assessments.
According to agency officials, as the Corps and Reclamation integrate  climate adaptation considerations into their policies and program  guidance, they will begin to take steps toward implementing the potential  adaptation strategies that they have identified. According to the Corps’  2012 adaptation plan, the agency’s goal is to create a policy and  guidance framework that will support the implementation of practical,  nationally consistent, legally justifiable, and cost-effective adaptation  strategies. Accordingly, Corps Civil Works officials told us that the pilots  conducted to date have been largely focused on informing the  development of policy and guidance, and that no structural or operational  adaptation strategies have been implemented. Similarly, Reclamation  officials told us no structural or operational adaptation strategies have  been implemented in response to the agency’s vulnerability assessments,  and that its efforts to update guidance will be informed by the adaptation  strategy feasibility studies as they are completed.
Corps and Reclamation officials told us that because they are early in the  adaptation process, the extent to which limited budgets and existing  infrastructure maintenance backlogs will affect the implementation of  adaptation strategies remains to be determined. However, the  implementation of adaptation strategies by both agencies will likely rely  on collaborative sharing of costs and resources with federal, state, local,  and nongovernmental stakeholders. Both agencies have already initiated  cost-sharing and resource-leveraging measures. For example, according  to agency officials, the Corps is leveraging resources for adaptation pilot  studies with state, local, and nongovernmental entities, and Reclamation  is splitting the cost of Basin Studies with state and local partners. The  agencies plan to continue such collaborative approaches going forward.  For example, as required under the SECURE Water Act, Reclamation  officials told us they intend to share the cost of the feasibility studies for  adaptation strategies equally with nonfederal partners.
section_title: The Corps and Reclamation Face Several Challenges in Assessing and Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and Are Working Collaboratively to Address Them
paragraphs: In 2009, the Corps and Reclamation—with its CCAWWG partners NOAA  and USGS—published a study, (referred to in this report as the  CCAWWG study). This study identified several challenges that climate  change poses for water resource managers, including (1) identifying the  data and tools needed by water managers to address climate change,    (2) ensuring the sustained collection of climate data, (3) incorporating  climate science into water management tools, and (4) educating water  managers to use climate data and tools. We found that the Corps and  Reclamation are addressing these challenges, making collaboration a key  element of their efforts, and doing so in a manner generally consistent  with best practices for sustained collaboration.
subsections: section_title: The Corps and Reclamation Are Addressing Several Challenges to Climate Adaptation
paragraphs: The CCAWWG study identified a number of challenges faced by the  Corps and Reclamation in adapting to climate change, and the agencies  have taken a variety of actions to address these challenges.
Identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address  climate change: The CCAWWG agencies are collaborating to produce  a series of four documents identifying their common data and tool  needs and a strategy for meeting them, with the objective, among  other things, of guiding and fostering federal and nonfederal research  and technology investments toward meeting these needs. The first  document, published in 2011, described the water management  community’s needs for climate change information and tools to  support long-term planning for time scales of 5 years and more. The  second document, published in 2013, described the data and tools  needed to support short-term planning of less than 5 years. For both  documents, the Corps and Reclamation asked their water resource  managers to identify the information and tools most relevant to their  programs, and they also consulted with other federal, state, and local  agencies and stakeholders with a role in water resource management  about their needs. The documents summarized the information and  tools needed into categories and identified the users’ most pressing  needs within each category. According to these documents, the  CCAWWG agencies plan next to prepare two companion documents  to identify a scientific strategy for meeting the research needs  identified in the two initial documents. The two completed documents  note that USGS and NOAA will jointly prepare the companion  documents, incorporating perspectives from other federal and  nonfederal representatives of the scientific community.
Ensuring the sustained collection of climate data: The Corps and  Reclamation are coordinating with the data collecting agencies and  sharing some costs associated with their efforts. According to the  2009 CCAWWG study, at the same time as the need for observational  data to support climate adaptation is increasing, the observational  networks crucial to increasing understanding are shrinking. For  example, in recent decades, maintenance of long-term monitoring  networks has declined because of a lack of funding—USGS alone has  deactivated or discontinued almost 1,700 surface-water stream  gauges. Corps Civil Works officials told us that stream gauge data is  extremely important, not only to the Corps’ ongoing operations, but  also because science agencies use the data to produce the climate  change information upon which the Corps bases its adaptation  planning. To ensure the needed data is collected, the Corps has a  formal agreement to provide funding to USGS—about $18 million in  fiscal year 2013 according to Corps officials—to operate stream  gauges that provide data for the Corps’ water planning and  management activities. This data is also available for use by all  federal and state agencies, as well as others interested in water  information.
Reclamation policy officials told us, in response to a SECURE Water  Act requirement to consult with federal and applicable state agencies  to develop a monitoring plan for acquiring and maintaining water  resources information, agency staff are currently identifying  information needs and plans to work collaboratively with data  collecting agencies, including NOAA, USGS, and the U.S. Department  of Agriculture, to develop the plan. Reclamation policy officials  stated that the Basin Study Program activities, including the  WWCRAs and Basin Studies, are also contributing to the planning  effort by providing valuable information about how the agency’s  monitoring needs are changing as a result of climate change.  Reclamation officials told us that they intend to work with the U.S.  Department of Agriculture and USGS to initiate the required  monitoring plan in 2014. These collaborative efforts can help ensure  that the long-term water resource monitoring networks critical for  detecting and quantifying climate change and its impacts—as well as  measuring the effectiveness of future adaptation strategies—will be  properly configured and continue to operate.
Incorporating climate science into water management tools: The  Corps, Reclamation, and others are collaborating in a number of  efforts to incorporate climate science into water management tools.
For example, Reclamation research and development, as well as  policy officials told us that as part of their effort to enhance the  capabilities of water resource managers to use climate data, the  agency is coleading two of Interior’s Landscape Conservation  Cooperatives in the Colorado River Basin area. Reclamation officials  told us that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are  partnerships of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, will  focus on developing and communicating science to inform climate  adaptation strategies for ecological regions, or “landscapes.” In  collaboration with academia, other federal agencies, local and state  partners, and the public, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives  will provide products and services, such as climate change computer  models and vulnerability assessments, coordinate with Interior’s  regional Climate Science Centers to synthesize existing climate  change impact data and management strategies, and help resource  managers put them into action on the ground. The Landscape  Conservation Cooperatives will also coordinate with NOAA’s Regional  Integrated Sciences and Assessment program.
Similarly, the Corps is engaged in collaborative efforts with external  partners to integrate climate science into planning tools for water  resource managers. For example, the Corps partnered with NOAA’s  National Ocean Service to create an online sea level change  calculator. According to Corps officials, this collaboration allowed the  rapid integration of climate science into engineering guidance for  coastal projects. Corps Civil Works officials also told us that  collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and  NOAA’s Urban Northeast Regional Integrated Sciences and  Assessment program contributed to the development of a post- Superstorm Sandy sea level rise tool to help affected communities,  residents, and other stakeholders consider risks from future sea level  rise in planning for reconstruction.
In addition, the Corps and NOAA are coleading actions to implement  the Task Force recommendation to develop a federal Internet portal to  provide current, relevant, and high-quality information on water  resources and climate change data applications and tools for  assessing the vulnerability of water programs and facilities to climate  change. As a result, the Corps-hosted Federal Support Toolbox is  now publicly available online. According to Corps Civil Works officials,  the website is a “one stop shop” for technical resources to support  water management. The website states that the Toolbox is an  evolving and comprehensive water resources data portal with direct  links to valuable databases, innovative programs and initiatives, and  state-of-the-art models and tools.
Educating water managers to use climate data and tools: The Corps  and Reclamation are collaborating as coleaders in developing and  implementing a training program as recommended by the Task  Force’s National Action Plan: Priorities for Managing Freshwater  Resources in a Changing Environment. These agencies—joined by  NOAA, USGS, and the Environmental Protection Agency—are  collaborating with the University Corporation for Atmospheric  Research’s COMET Program and the Western Water Assessment to  produce training courses for federal and nonfederal resource  management professionals who need to assess the impacts of climate  change on water and related resources. Specifically, in 2012, the  agencies implemented an online course on incorporating climate  change into water resource planning, which was a prerequisite for  participating in the first two pilot residence courses—addressing  climate impacts on surface hydrology and on water demand for  irrigated crops—offered in early 2013. According to the program’s  website, the online course was designed to provide students with  water resource planning knowledge, while the residence courses offer  opportunities for gaining hands-on experience in applying that  knowledge. According to the website, these courses and the  numerous planned future classes are collectively designed to provide  a professional development and training series that will help  managers assess climate change impacts across the spectrum of  natural resources.
section_title: The Corps’ and Reclamation’s Collaborative Efforts Are Generally Consistent with the Best Practices for Enhanced and Sustained Collaboration
paragraphs: The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated with each other and other  agencies in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that we  have previously identified as important to helping enhance and sustain  collaboration among federal agencies. In 2005, we reported that  collaboration—broadly defined as any joint activity that is intended to  produce more public value than could be produced when organizations  act alone—can be enhanced and sustained by engaging in eight key  practices: (1) defining and articulating a common outcome; (2)  establishing mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; (3) identifying and  addressing needs by leveraging resources; (4) agreeing on roles and  responsibilities; (5) establishing compatible policies, procedures, and  other means to operate across agency boundaries; (6) developing  mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results; (7) reinforcing  agency accountability for collaborative efforts through agency plans and  reports; and (8) reinforcing individual accountability for collaborative  efforts through performance management systems. Running throughout  these practices are a number of factors, such as leadership, trust, and  organizational culture, which are necessary elements for a collaborative  working relationship.
The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a key element of  their adaptation policies and plans and have reinforced accountability for  collaboration through agency performance management systems. For  example, the Corps’ climate adaptation policy states that collaborations  are the most effective way to develop strategies to identify and reduce  vulnerabilities to potential future climate change, and it calls for continued  collaborative adaptation efforts. As stated in the Corps’ 2012 Climate  Adaptation Plan and Report, it is the objective of the agency to facilitate  and promote closer and more fruitful interagency cooperation and to  promote sharing of impact and adaptation data and information between  federal, state, and local partners. Finally, to reinforce accountability, the  draft performance metrics for climate adaptation in the Corps’ 2013 Army  Campaign Plan includes a target for the number of products developed in  collaboration with other water resource agencies for adaptation planning  and action.
Reclamation has similarly included collaboration as a key element of its  adaptation policy, plans, and performance metrics. Under Interior’s 2013  Climate Change Adaptation Policy, Reclamation is to integrate climate  change adaptation strategies into its policies and practices by, among  other actions, collaborating with stakeholders through Landscape  Conservation Cooperatives, Climate Science Centers, and other  partnerships to increase understanding of climate change. Furthermore,  Reclamation’s strategic plan for its adaptation and conservation programs  states that collaborative partnerships must be developed to identify the  adaptive strategies needed to address climate change. Finally, through its  climate adaptation efforts, Reclamation is contributing to Interior’s goal of  identifying resources that are particularly vulnerable to climate change  and implementing coordinated adaptation responses for half of the nation  by September 30, 2013.
We also found that the Corps and Reclamation have collaborated  together and with others in accordance with best practices for  collaboration among agencies. For example, in their key collaborative  effort—CCAWWG—each agency’s role is well defined; the Corps and  Reclamation provide water engineering and management expertise, and  their partner agencies provide climate science expertise. CCAWWG has  clearly defined common objectives, including the development of working  level relationships between federal water management and federal  science agencies, and it leverages resources across agencies to meet  common needs. The CCAWWG agencies also have mutually reinforcing  strategies. For example, the operating needs of the Corps and  Reclamation drive the direction of science inquiries by the science  agencies, resulting in improved operations, while at the same time the  data collected and compiled by the water management agencies for a  specific purpose can be used by the science agencies for alternative  objectives. Outside of CCAWWG, as mentioned elsewhere in this report,  the agencies have also followed key collaborative practices, such as the  Corps leveraging resources to fund maintenance of the USGS’s stream- flow monitoring networks, and Reclamation establishing joint strategies  with state agencies and others to conduct Basin Studies.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided a draft of this product for review and comment to the  Departments of Defense and the Interior. The Department of Defense  provided technical comments that were incorporated, as appropriate.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of  this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the  report date.  At that time we will send copies to the Secretaries of  Defense and the Interior; the appropriate congressional committees; and  other interested parties. In addition, the report will be available at no  charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff members have questions about this report, please  contact me at (202) 512-3841 or morriss@gao.gov. Contact points for our  Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on  the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix III.
section_title: Appendix I: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ and the Bureau of Reclamation’s Organization and Infrastructure
paragraphs: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)—an agency within the  Department of Defense and a Major Command within the Army—is  composed of four program areas including Civil Works, Military  Construction, Real Estate, and Research and Development. To carry out  its Civil Works missions nationwide, the program is organized into eight  geographic divisions composed of 38 districts, as shown in figure 1.  Division and district geographic boundaries are generally aligned with  watershed boundaries.
The Corps’ Civil Works Program is implemented through nine business  areas that represent the diversity of the nation’s water resource  management needs as follows:
Navigation—provides safe and reliable commercial waterways;
Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction—reduces risks to  people, homes, and communities from flooding and coastal storms;
Environment—restores and protects wetlands and other aquatic
Hydropower—generates hydroelectric power for distribution to
Regulatory—regulates work in navigable rivers and the discharge of  dredges and fill materials in U.S. waters;
Recreation—provides recreational and educational opportunities;
Emergency Management—prepares for natural disasters and acts
Water Supply—provides water storage for multiple purposes; and
Executive Direction and Management—provides leadership, strategic  planning and performance measurement.
To implement its responsibilities in the business areas, the Corps has  constructed—and continues to operate, maintain, and rehabilitate—a  large inventory and wide variety of water management infrastructure. For  example, according to Corps records, as of September 2012, its inventory  includes 702 reservoirs that, among other things, provide water supply  storage and help reduce flood risk, and 75 hydropower facilities with 353  generating units that produce hydroelectric power for homes, businesses,  and communities. In the area of navigation, the Corps’ inventory includes  12,000 miles of commercial inland waterways, 193 lock sites with 239  chambers, and 926 harbors. For flood reduction, the Corps inventory  includes 14,501 miles of levee systems. For recreation, the Corps’  inventory includes 54,879 miles of lakeshore and recreation areas that  support 370 million annual visitors, 270,000 jobs, and $16 billion of  economic activity. In 2012, the National Research Council reported that  the Corps’ infrastructure had an estimated value of approximately $164  billion.
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is,  according to agency records, the nation’s largest wholesale water  supplier, providing water to over 31 million people and irrigation water to  one out of five western farmers on 10 million acres of farm land, which  produce 60 percent of the nation’s vegetables and one-quarter of its fresh  fruit and nut crops. Reclamation is also the second largest producer of  hydropower in the United States. To carry out its mission and operations,  Reclamation is organized into five regions, as shown in figure 1.
According to agency records as of 2011, Reclamation’s asset inventory  includes 476 dams and dikes, creating 337 reservoirs with a total storage  capacity of 245 million acre-feet of water. Reclamation’s inventory also  includes 53 hydroelectric power plants that it owns and operates. These  plants provide an average of more than 40 megawatt hours of energy per  year. In 2011, Reclamation, estimated that the replacement value of its  assets was approximately $90 billion. According to the Congressional  Research Service, about two-thirds of the assets in Reclamation’s  inventory are “transferred works”—facilities that it owns, but for which it  has transferred operations and maintenance to nonfederal entities. The  remaining one-third of these facilities are “reserved works”—facilities that  are owned, operated, and maintained by Reclamation, where the  nonfederal beneficiaries, such as irrigation districts, are responsible for  repaying construction and maintenance costs.
section_title: Appendix II: Locations and Initial Results of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Pilot Studies and Bureau of Reclamation’s Basin Studies
paragraphs: The Corps is conducting pilot studies nationwide to support the  development of adaptation guidance and a portfolio of adaptation  approaches. Reclamation is conducting Basin Studies—focused  assessments within basins—to develop strategies to mitigate climate  change impacts on water supplies.
subsections: section_title: Corps Pilot Studies
paragraphs: As part of its efforts to address the priorities of developing a risk-informed  decision-making framework and a portfolio of adaptation approaches, the  Corps is conducting 15 pilot studies nationwide to test different methods  and frameworks for adapting to climate change (see fig. 3). As of  September 2013, the Corps has completed 5 of these studies, and 10  others are ongoing. The Corps plans to initiate 1 additional pilot in 2013.
According to the Corps’ September 2012 report on its climate change  adaptation pilots, each study addresses a central question designed to  help the Corps, according to officials, test new ideas, develop and utilize  information at the project-level scale, and to collect information needed to  develop policy and guidance for incorporating adaptation into all agency  activities. For example, because the reliability of a planned flood  reduction project could depend on how climate change affects future  flooding, the Corps launched a pilot study with the goals of determining  (1) whether tools and data are available for the Corps to provide reliable  estimates of future flooding using climate projections and (2) how  changes in precipitation patterns will affect flood events. This pilot study’s  results supports the Corps’ effort to design an approximately $1.8 billion  flood risk reduction project on the Red River of the North, where flooding  has increased in magnitude and frequency since 1942. According to  Corps officials, the pilot study successfully adapted existing tools and  data to project future flooding, while also testing current guidance and  contributing to the development of new guidance for future adaptation  efforts. Specifically, Corps officials told us that climate data indicated a  trend of flooding consistent with climate change projections. In  accordance with existing Corps risk analysis guidance, the pilot study  leader convened an expert panel to review the climate information. Based  on the expert panel’s findings, the pilot team is integrating climate data  into the Corps’ flood model to project future river conditions. In addition, a  member of the pilot study team who is also responsible for developing the  Corps’ guidance for inland adaptation activities told us that he is  integrating his observations and experiences from this study—as well as  from his participation in other Corps pilots—into the guidance.
Corps officials told us that the information developed by the Corps’  climate change adaptation pilots is also contributing to subsequent Corps  studies. For example, the climate change and modeling data for a pilot  study of sediment impacts to Cochiti Dam and Lake in New Mexico is  contributing to ongoing studies in the Corps’ Albuquerque District. One is  the Santa Clara Pueblo Watershed Assessment, which is studying  observed climate trends and projected climate changes to address likely  future changes to watershed hydrology on the Pueblo’s lands, with  particular attention to flood risk and water resources development.
section_title: Reclamation Basin Studies
paragraphs: Reclamation is partnering with nonfederal entities to conduct focused  assessments, known as Basin Studies, to identify specific water  resources vulnerabilities and to implement the SECURE Water Act’s  requirement that Reclamation consider and develop strategies to mitigate  climate change impacts on water supplies. As of September 2013, 3  Basin Studies have been completed, and an additional 14 studies have  been funded and are under way in western states (see fig. 4).
All three of Reclamation’s completed Basin Studies projected climate  change to result in warming and changes in precipitation that will alter the  snow cover and runoff that supply water to the river basins, although the  changes may be difficult to predict with certainty for any particular location  and time. For example, the Colorado River Basin study projected that  snow cover will decrease in the basin as more precipitation falls as rain,  rather than snow, and warmer temperatures cause earlier melting. As a  result, the runoff in the basin is generally projected to decrease—except  in the northern Rockies. The study concluded that without additional  water management actions, a wide range of future imbalances in supply  and demand are plausible, primarily because of the uncertainty in future  water supplies.
The completed Basin Studies also found that climate change is expected  to contribute to long-term imbalances in water supply and demand. The  completed Basin Studies also identified, with varying degrees of  specificity, possible adaptation strategies to address the projected effects  of climate change on water resources. For example, the Colorado River  Basin Study identified various combinations of potential adaptation  strategies to address projected water supply and demand imbalances.  The study noted that the purpose of identifying these strategies was not  to select a single, best strategy, but rather to recognize that there are  various ways to address projected water imbalances in the basin, and  that each approach has positive and negative implications that should be  considered in future planning efforts. Agency officials and study  participants told us that Reclamation has formed workgroups to further  refine the strategies and identify options that should then be evaluated  through feasibility studies. In contrast, the Yakima River Basin Study  identified a more specific set of adaptation strategies for which feasibility  studies are planned. Nonfederal stakeholders, including those  representing agricultural and the environmental interests, told us they are  collaboratively pursuing state funding to initiate the feasibility studies.
Reclamation policy officials and several other basin stakeholders— including state water managers, environmental advocates, and local  water providers—told us that a key outcome of the completed Basins  Studies is the establishment of a shared view of how climate change will  impact the basins and their water management infrastructure.  Reclamation policy officials, as well as basin stakeholders representing  environmental and tribal interests, told us that the Basin Studies  represent Reclamation’s first concerted efforts at holistic planning in the  river basins, taking into account not only the needs and concerns of  irrigation users, but also the interests of tribes, recreational users,  environmental advocates, and others. A state water manager told us that  a prior river basin planning effort had largely been unsuccessful due to  the lack of involvement or opposition by environmental and tribal  interests, and several stakeholders commended Reclamation for working  to ensure that the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including  environmental and tribal interests, were considered in the Basin Studies.
section_title: Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the individual named above, Elizabeth Erdmann, Assistant  Director; Brad Dobbins; Richard Johnson; Mick Ray; Jeanette Soares;  Lorelei St. James; and Sarah E. Veale made key contributions to this  report. Nirmal Chaudhary, John Delicath, Cindy Gilbert, and Armetha  Liles provided additional technical assistance.