From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):
Gathering in Denver this week for a brainstorming session, the representatives of about 25 major public utilities conveyed concerns about observed changes increasingly affecting their operations: earlier snowmelt from mountains, increased rain instead of snow, rising sea levels, flooding that leads to overflowing sewers, and drought…
Denver Water board members next month are expected to consider possible rate hikes. “Certainly, everything we do plays into the rates,” spokeswoman Stacy Chesney said. “I would certainly expect rates to go up as we move forward.”
Las Vegas-area water authorities are spending $800 million to construct a deeper water intake vent in Lake Mead because reduced Colorado River flows have lowered water levels to within 30 feet of a crucial existing valve. If the lake drops another 30 feet, 40 percent of supplies would be lost, said Richard Holmes, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Nutrient growth in warming reservoir waters also is hurting water quality and raising health concerns, Holmes said. Climate-change models project river flows will decrease between 5 percent and 20 percent by 2040. Las Vegas, San Diego and Mexican authorities are looking into a major desalination project, he said, in an effort to prevent shortages…
“It doesn’t matter what causes climate change. What matters is the effects related to ensuring safe drinking water supplies,” said Robert Renner, director of the Denver-based Water Research Foundation, which arranged and ran this national forum. “The fact is: This is happening right now. We have to adapt. Water utilities have got to be able to guarantee to their customers that they will deliver a safe supply of water.”[…]
Federal regulators from the Environmental Protection Agency confided uncertainty about how to “hold utilities’ feet to the fire” in meeting water- quality standards as they adapt to climate change impacts.
White House representative Katharine Jacobs, leader of the national climate assessment program, noted that utilities face uncertainty about how to adapt at the same time they face pressure to replace aging water supply infrastructure.