Water Resources Chapter Summary
Clean, abundant water is essential to New York State’s communities, ecosystems, and economy. The state’s watersheds and aquifers provide water for drinking, irrigation, industry, power generation, recreation, cultural and ceremonial practices, and natural habitats. Communities build, maintain, and operate a wide variety of facilities, equipment, pipes, and other water structures. Some of these structures work as a system to collect, clean, and transport water supplies and wastewater. Other structures prevent flooding. Ensuring successful operation and maintenance of this infrastructure is critical to managing New York’s water resources for all uses throughout the state.
This summary provides an overview of climate change impacts on New York State’s water resources. It includes a synopsis of key climate change hazards, equity and justice considerations, impacts on Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations, key findings from the assessment’s Water Resources chapter, and opportunities for the future.
Climate Change Hazards and Impacts on New York State‘s Water Resources
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The quantity and quality of water resources depends in large part on weather and climate. These factors also affect how well water infrastructure performs. New York State’s water resources and infrastructure face numerous challenges as the climate changes. A wide range of climate change hazards can influence water resources, including:
- More extreme heat events.
- Changes in the amount and duration of precipitation, including heavy rainfall and drought.
- More frequent and intense storms.
- Sea level rise and saltwater intrusion into fresh water sources.
Impacts to water resources that can result from these climate hazards include:
- Water quality impacts. Heavy rain causes more polluted runoff to flow into water. Higher temperatures create more potential for the growth of harmful algae (“harmful algal blooms,” or HABs). Sea level rise brings salt water farther upstream, which could compromise drinking water sources.
- Water demand impacts. Higher temperatures and drought can lead to more demand for water.
- Water treatment facility impacts. Extremely hot temperatures, extreme storms, and sea level rise can cause stress or failure of water treatment facilities near tidal waters.
- Water level impacts. More precipitation can increase the amount of water in lakes, streams, and underground aquifers. Conversely, drought—especially in summer months—can decrease these water levels.
Climate Equity and Justice
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Everyone deserves to live, learn, work, and play in a safe and healthy environment, even as the climate changes. That is climate equity. However, some groups are more exposed to climate change hazards, are more at risk of harm, or have fewer resources to recover and adapt. This is often the case among historically underserved and underrepresented groups of people. Working to help these groups adapt to climate impacts is a form of climate justice.
Low-income communities served by older sewer infrastructure may face greater exposure to water pollution. Aging infrastructure can be prone to cracks and leaks, and older designs may not be able to support the amount of sewage and stormwater projected in the future. Some communities are served by combined sewer systems intended to carry both sewage and stormwater. Heavy rainfall can cause these systems to release untreated wastewater, causing health risks. With projected increases in heavy rainfall, these overflows may happen more often. Throughout the state, there are 119 combined sewer overflow pipes in areas considered to be socially vulnerable, based on characteristics such as poverty level, lack of vehicle access, and crowded housing. Improving outdated water infrastructure is a large expense for communities that may have limited resources.
“Water affordability” refers to the cost of both drinking water and wastewater treatment. Low-income families can face water affordability concerns, and climate impacts that damage water infrastructure can add to water affordability challenges. Local communities that need to improve water systems to collect, treat, and distribute water may need to increase water bills over time to pay for the cost of managing storm sewer systems. Communities will need more data to document water affordability and the potential for water shutoffs to vulnerable residents.
Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations
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There are eight federally recognized Tribal Nations and one state-recognized Nation in New York State, as well as several other Indigenous communities that maintain ties to the state and live in surrounding states. The colonization and dispossession of Tribal lands, as well as forced migration to lower-quality lands, have contributed to the climate risks Indigenous Peoples face.
Indigenous cultures value water resources for food and spiritual significance. Tribal Nation governments and utilities operate and maintain their own water supply systems and oversee water delivery for public supply, industry, agriculture, and other uses on Tribal lands.
New York’s Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities have thousands of years of traditional knowledge about water resources and natural systems. Climate change can threaten not only Tribal Nations’ drinking water, but also their cultural and spiritual connections to water.
The state has not always fully included Indigenous Peoples in water governance decisions. This is beginning to change. An example is the appointment of the first Indigenous commissioner to the International Joint Commission focused on water resource management in the Great Lakes Basin. Achieving water justice in a changing climate involves including more Indigenous Peoples’ participation in governance and valuing Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge.
Climate Change and New York State’s Water Resources Sector: Technical Workgroup Key Findings
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Technical workgroups for each of the assessment’s eight sectors developed key findings focused on climate change impacts, responses, and solutions. More detail on the key findings for the water resources sector, and the evidence base for each finding, can be found in the full Water Resources chapter.
Water bodies and groundwater under the direct influence of sea level are already being affected by climate change and will face greater risks in the future.
Sea level rise is a particular threat to communities in low-lying coastal areas. More coastal flooding due to rising sea levels, which make storm surges and coastal flooding more severe, can disrupt both drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment facilities. For example, Superstorm Sandy damaged many wastewater treatment plants in New York City. In some of these facilities, sewage pump motors flooded, and the facility could not move wastewater and stormwater. New York City officials recognize that sea level rise will make storm surges worse and are planning and implementing adaptation measures.
Communities near rivers that are affected by the ocean’s tides (for example, the lower Hudson River) can also experience these impacts. Many cities and towns located along the tidal sections of the Hudson River that may face increased flood risk from rising river water levels as sea levels increase. In addition to flooding, sea level rise can cause saltwater to move farther upstream into rivers. This poses a risk to communities that rely on these water sources, because the water could become too salty to meet drinking water standards. For example, seven communities withdraw water from the lower Hudson River, which is vulnerable to rising sea levels as a tidal river.
Sea level rise can push shallow groundwater sources to the surface, disrupting the function of septic systems. To function properly, septic system pipes should sit over a layer of soil that is typically at least several feet above groundwater. This layer of soil helps to filter pollutants before they reach the groundwater. If there is insufficient distance between the septic system and the groundwater, untreated waste can rapidly move through the soil and enter the groundwater. For example, Eastern Long Island is an area with a high number of septic systems, shallow groundwater, and coarse sandy soils that may not adequately filter out septic waste before it reaches groundwater. As a result, this area has already experienced groundwater contamination from septic waste. As groundwater sources move closer to septic system pipes, sea level rise will further increase the risk of groundwater contamination in this coastal area. Rising seas can also push saltwater into groundwater wells used for drinking water. Households in the Shinnecock and Unkechaug Nation communities on Eastern Long Island rely on individual groundwater wells to meet their drinking water needs. They face saltwater entering their drinking water.
What Can We Do?
Communities can identify infrastructure upgrades that will help reduce sea level rise impacts. To address flooding from sea level rise, the city of Albany installed tide gates at its Hudson River combined sewer overflow discharge pipe. These tide gates help prevent river water from flowing back into the sewer system. Detailed modeling of saltwater intrusion and estuary salt concentrations will lead to a better understanding of likely impacts and strategies to maintain viable drinking water supplies.
New York State’s aging water infrastructure is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
When communities first built water pipes and treatment systems, conditions were much different than they are today and will be in the future. Water levels, the amount of storm runoff and snowmelt, and pollution have changed over time and will continue to change.
Much of New York State’s water infrastructure is aging. Older infrastructure is more vulnerable to leaks, breaks, and other failures. Some drinking water treatment and distribution systems are more than 100 years old, but the lifespan of pipes is generally 50 to 70 years, and the lifespan of the treatment equipment is generally 20 to 40 years. More than 40 percent of the sewer pipes throughout the state are over 60 years old. Aging sewer pipes built to carry wastewater from homes and businesses can often be overwhelmed by heavy rains, melted snow, and groundwater, causing them to overflow and send untreated sewage into waterways. Older pipes were often not designed to carry the amounts of water expected under climate change.
What Can We Do?
Climate change impacts will continue to stress aging systems. Replacing aging infrastructure can improve water systems and build resilience for the future. During planned replacement cycles, communities can strategically identify upgrades that also make their systems more resilient to climate change as a cost-effective approach to spending limited budgets.
Resources and preparedness for dealing with climate change vary greatly depending on the size and wealth of different communities.
Local governments often manage a community’s water resources and water infrastructure. This responsibility requires funding and technical experts for day-to-day operations. A small municipality may have just one or two people to oversee day-to-day operations for water systems that serve hundreds to thousands of people. Preparing water systems for climate change impacts requires even more resources and staff capacity.
Climate change will likely worsen existing disparities for Tribal Nations and low-income communities that do not have enough resources to fund adaptation and resilience efforts. Undertaking long-term planning to address potential climate impacts to water resources and infrastructure can be challenging to justify when a community may have more immediate needs to dedicate its limited resources to. In general, smaller communities with fewer resources need more support in preparing for climate impacts to local water resources and infrastructure.
What Can We Do?
Funding and technical assistance is available for smaller communities. For example, the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation provides engineering planning grants to communities with median household incomes below certain thresholds. The state’s Drinking Water Source Protection Program, launched in 2021, offers technical advice to municipalities. However, finding and using these resources can still be challenging for communities that lack dedicated staff. In some cases, nongovernmental organizations, such as river associations, can play a role in helping communities plan and fund climate resilience projects to protect local water resources.
Long-term water infrastructure resilience requires proactive incorporation of changing climate conditions into planning and design.
Planning and design standards are important for effectively constructing and managing water systems and infrastructure; however, many existing standards and policies are based on historical weather conditions instead of current or future weather conditions projected to occur with further climate change. Using the latest climate information can help organizations develop resilient design standards and policies for water infrastructure and reduce the risk of system failure from climate impacts. Decision-makers throughout New York State would benefit from new data and data analysis tools to create forward-looking design requirements, policies, and standards for water systems.
What Can We Do?
New York State is beginning to incorporate climate impact considerations into the standards that govern the design and operation of water treatment facilities. For example, water treatment facilities must now have backup power sources that will enable them to continue operating during power outages resulting from extreme weather events. In addition, the state’s Stormwater Management Design Manual now requires the use of precipitation data from recent decades—instead of the mid-twentieth century—when designing stormwater management practices. Another update to this manual will include new design standards for climate-resilient stormwater management practices.
Community decision-makers can also review and update local design standards and policies to address climate impacts to local water systems. These standards can focus on ways to make local projects more climate resilient. For example, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice has released Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines to address climate impacts in the design of infrastructure projects, including impacts to water resources from increased precipitation.
The Delaware River Basin Commission and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation use computer models to make predictions about future climate impacts. This type of data informs decisions related to taking and using water from the state’s water resources. New York State can continue to support research and open-access water data to improve the data tools that inform technical policies and standards.
Climate change could place new stresses on already complex, multi-jurisdictional water governance, especially during drought periods.
There are areas in New York State where water flows across county, state, Tribal, and even national boundaries. In some instances, water does this naturally. In other cases, human-made structures like dams and canals change natural water flow to meet different water needs. A variety of in-state and regional organizations manage these multi-jurisdictional waters and structures. Examples include the International Joint Commission for the Great Lakes Basin, the Delaware River Basin Commission and Susquehanna River Basin Commission, and the Hudson River–Black River Regulating District. Working across governmental boundaries, these organizations manage flood protection, water supply, water quality protection, electricity generation, recreation, and shipping.
Climate change could make managing these cross-boundary water resources and structures more challenging, but these challenges can be overcome through cooperation and coordination on new policies and approaches to address impacts. For example, to help reduce flooding to shoreline communities and improve shipping and electricity production, the International Joint Commission’s new regulation plan for the Moses-Saunders Dam on the St. Lawrence River includes rules about the timing and quantity of water releases.
What Can We Do?
New regulatory arrangements in cross-boundary waters may be needed to help protect these resources and manage competing water demands. The relationship between New York State and Tribal Nations in managing water is another significant multi-jurisdictional water governance issue: integrating Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge into water governance can provide greater transparency and a broader understanding of water management approaches to increase climate resilience.
Opportunities for the Water Resources Sector
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While climate change poses significant risks to water resources, there may be some positive outcomes and opportunities. Historically, many communities lacked the resources or knowledge to manage water systems and conduct long-term planning. Recent extreme weather events such as Superstorm Sandy, however, have shifted focus and resources to more long-term planning. Preparing for and responding to climate impacts could also encourage innovative, cooperative solutions. For example, communities may pool resources to invest in multi-jurisdictional solutions at the watershed scale that could provide downstream benefits. Communities might also make more investments in natural infrastructure solutions that provide climate resilience and additional benefits.
New federal and state funding programs offer unprecedented opportunities for local investment in water resources and infrastructure. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides historic levels of funding for water infrastructure, including infrastructure resilience against climate and extreme weather impacts. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides significant incentives and investments in other climate adaptation and mitigation measures and prioritizes funding for low-income and underserved communities to help overcome long-standing barriers.
Emerging Research Topics
Additional research will help decision-makers have a better understanding of climate impacts on water resources. New information would also help highlight how climate impacts on water resources can affect other sectors, including agriculture, ecosystems, and human health. This assessment revealed the following needs to help fill information gaps:
- Collection of more local-level data on water resources using consistent methods.
- More data on water use.
- Computer modeling to predict climate impacts on water flow, considering precipitation, temperature, dams, water withdrawals, and water inflows.
- Computer modeling of groundwater to better understand where fresh water and salt water mix and long-term sustainability of groundwater supplies in vulnerable areas (e.g., Long Island’s barrier islands).
- Computer modeling of the effects of increasing sea level on the salt front for the Hudson River.
- Projections of changes in lake ice cover and Great Lakes water levels with more certainty.
- Improved understanding of how climate change will affect the 100-year flood standard and probable maximum flood standard for dam safety.
- Assessing the effectiveness of green infrastructure (i.e., infrastructure that uses natural structures) during extreme precipitation events across different communities throughout the state.
- The potential effects of climate change on current and potential water contaminants.
Conclusions
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The state’s water resources and water infrastructure are already affected by climate change. Preparing for and adapting to these climate impacts is largely the responsibility of local governments. Many communities are investing in enhanced water resources, infrastructure planning, and innovations to improve resilience. New research on climate impacts to water resources will provide better data to inform decision-makers. With this information, communities can better predict, prepare, and protect the water resources and infrastructure that New York State’s residents rely on every day.
Learn More
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Read the full Water Resources chapter to learn more about impacts and adaptation strategies.