The Challenge
Climate change is expected to bring increasing frequency and severity of drought. Cities and towns need to better be able to assess the condition of their local water supplies during drought, establish graduated thresholds for actions, and plan for the specific actions they will take in accordance with those triggers to most effectively sustain their supplies through the course of the drought.
The recent droughts have only underscored the urgency of this project, as many water suppliers faced scarcity and did not always have clear and scientifically driven protocols to help them respond effectively.
Project Scope
The purpose of this project was to develop clear technical guidance for municipalities and water suppliers in the development of robust drought management plans (DMP) for their local water supply systems. A key part of the project was to test methods for establishing trigger levels for increasing degrees of response to drought-induced source stress.
The ResilientMass implementation funding provided an opportunity to include local water suppliers in an advisory role, while selecting a qualified contractor to work with state staff and the advisory group to develop the technical guidance, test it on a range of systems, and submit draft guidance document.
Metrics
The success of this project can be measured in a minimum of three ways:
- Training of public water suppliers on use of the guidance
- The completion of the guidance document and approval by EEA staff.
- The dissemination of the document and evidence that it is being used within the water supply community.
Results
The vendor worked closely with a steering committee of state staff and water supply representatives and has produced a draft guidance document. The guidance, using the framework of the American Water Works Association Drought Preparedness and Response M60 Manual, offers a step-by-step process for Massachusetts water suppliers to prepare a drought plan without the use of specialized tools.
Two workshops were held in June 2024. The first introduced the guidance document to an audience of public water suppliers. The second workshop was an interactive session where attendees were guided through how to implement the various steps of drought management planning. Findings from public water supplier case studies were used as example materials. Attendees were encouraged to provide their input through poll questions throughout the presentation as well as an assessment at the end of the presentation.
In the coming months, the guidance document will be further reviewed by EEA staff and when published, will be added to the state’s website.
Contributions to 2023 ResilientMass Plan Implementation
The project enables more municipalities and PWSs to develop drought plans that are sufficient in scope and with quantitative planning so that their supplies and systems are robust and resilient to drought now and in the future. Having meaningful triggers and related actions pre-identified and in local drought management plans will ensure that communities start to conserve water at the outset of drought conditions rather than once they start to experience significant impacts on their water supply and that it will be done on science-based methods. Local drought management plans based on industry best practices and guidelines contribute to science-based and informed decision-making at the local level and are part of implementation of adaption actions for communities.
More specifically, this project may contribute to SHMCAP actions such as:
- MEMA: Partnering with stakeholders in Massachusetts to develop and implement regional and local multi-hazard mitigation plans by providing training and technical assistance – This guidance document may fulfill part of this action. PWSs will have recommendations for an actionable drought plan that reduces their vulnerability to and prepares them for a drought.
- MassDEP: Enhance the Water Utility Resilience Program (WURP) - this guidance can help support the DEP Water Utility Resilience Program. The program supports the efforts of public drinking water and wastewater utilities in building or enhancing resilience to and recovery from events such as droughts. This guidance may serve as technical assistance that MassDEP’s regional offices (and WRC staff) can provide to water utilities to improve their system vulnerabilities.
- MassDEP: Resiliency Grants for Water Infrastructure – Creating quantitative drought plans may identify and quantify vulnerabilities of PWSs previously unaddressed with respect to drought. This action item may help fund these drought plans and/or the necessary activities to address the identified vulnerabilities.