Preparing for Climate Change: Protecting our Drinking Water

1. Preparing for Climate Change:Protecting our Drinking Water Gina M. Solomon, M.D., M.P.H. Senior Scientist, NRDC Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF gsolomon@nrdc.org

2. Asthma Allergies Infectious Disease Heat Stress Red Tides Extreme Weather

3. Global Warming is Happening

5. Myth:Global Warming Will Be Gradual

6. Key Elements of Adaptation • Identifying Vulnerabilities • Physical Environment • Demographic • Tracking • Disease • Zoonotic • Environmental Conditions • Climate-Smart Design • Communities • Buildings • Public Education • Preparedness

7. Rainfall Patterns will Change

8. The Lessons from Katrina

9. ‘Next New Orleans’ may be in California:Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta cited as ‘scariest spot’ for flooding

10. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta • 2,600 miles of levees (7x the length of the New Orleans system); • Areas >20 feet below sea level; • >300,000 people in direct path of a flood; • Drinking water for 24 million people.

11. A Flood is Likely… Chance of a “catastrophic flood” in next 50 years is ~66%. • Cover Sacramento with 17 feet of water; • Salt water intrusion into delta, contaminating irrigation and drinking water supplies.

12. Actions Needed – Delta Levees • Identifying Vulnerabilities • Where are the weak points? • Where do the most people live? • Tracking • Flood risk warnings, evacuation decisions. • Climate-Smart Design • Don’t build in flood-prone areas • Let some areas flood • Spend money to repair and protect critical areas • Public Education • Flood danger • Evacuation plans

13. March-April 1993: Milwaukee Cryptosporidium outbreak • Largest waterborne disease outbreak in documented U.S. history; • Water from one water treatment plant; • 403,000 of 1.6 million residents in the Milwaukee area (of which 880,000 were served by the malfunctioning treatment plant) became sick; • Symptoms included stomach cramps, fever, diarrhea and dehydration; • Over 100 deaths were attributed to this outbreak, mostly among the elderly and immunocompromised people; • Cause of epidemic never officially identified.

14. Drinking Water Vulnerability • Recipe for a Cryptosporidium Outbreak • Impaired watershed (fecal, sediment) • Water treatment deficiencies • Extreme precipitation events

15. Precipitation and Drinking Water Contaminants • Two-thirds of waterborne disease outbreaks followed precipitation above the 80th percentile • More than half of outbreaks followed precipitation above the 90th percentile Cryptosporidium Giardia

16. Impaired Waters in California • Watersheds listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act

17. California Surface Water Quality Assessment • Rivers and Streams • 12,430 miles designated for drinking assessed • Good 22.6 % • Threatened 11.6 % • Impaired 65.9 % • Lakes, Ponds, and Reservoirs • 652,896 miles designated for drinking assessed • Good 22.1 % • Threatened 19.3 % • Impaired 58.6 %

18. Source Water Vulnerability • In 1997 & 1998 USEPA required source water testing at large drinking water systems (> 10,000 people) for microbial contaminants. • 43 water systems were tested in CA; • 20 had at least one detection of crypto, giardia or virus; • Represents water systems serving approx 18.5 million people in CA.

19. Source Water Vulnerability • DPH has completed source water assessments for 95% of the ~15,000 CA water systems; • Assessments include a vulnerability score for each Possible Contamination Activity (PCA) identified for that source; • PCAs include sources of microbial contamination such as animal operations, septic systems, liquid waste disposal, AFO/CAFO, wastewater treatment plants.

20. Water Treatment Vulnerability • Filtration • Disinfection • Turbidity

21. Actions Needed – Drinking Water Safety • Identifying Vulnerabilities • Map water distribution systems; • Develop a predictive model for water quality disease risk at the community level; • Identify and map high-risk areas (age of septic systems, topography, agricultural regions). • Tracking • WBDSS should be improved; • Water quality testing for biologic and non-biologic is inadequate; • Consider new surveillance strategies such as pharmacy records and syndromic surveillance reporting for GI illnesses. • Climate-Smart Design • Improve infrastructure – water disinfection and distribution systems; • Protect watersheds from runoff and fecal contamination. • Public Education • Public outreach and education around water quality advisories.

22. Global Warming and Health Project • Research links between global warming and health; • Educate the public, the media, and policymakers; • Advocate for preparedness to predict, prevent, and respond to health crises; • Reduce pollution both from toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases.