Climate Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptations: Infrastructure Systems in Washington State

Infrastructure systems are critical to daily life, so even modest disruptions can have significant effects throughout society. In this project, we assess the likely effects of climate change on civil infrastructure systems, such as transportation corridors, floodplain development, nearshore structures, ocean-discharging wastewater treatment plants, and urban and suburban streams. Increased frequency and severity of storms may yield corresponding increases in property damage, disruption to transportation, wastewater system overloads in areas of combined sewers, and damage to aquatic ecosystems. Our work addresses these questions: What are the projected climate change impacts on vulnerable elements of civil infrastructure? What are the adaptations that could reduce these projected impacts? We will analyze the effects on infrastructure associated with climate change scenarios, considering future storm-scale magnitude and range of variability in precipitation, and the frequency and magnitude of future rain-on-snow events. Results from this project will include a description of climate change impacts on vulnerable areas of civil infrastructure, evaluation of vulnerability by region and sector, adaptations that could reduce that vulnerability, and recommendations to allocate resources most effectively to reduce the impacts.

Funded by State of Washington; Community Trade and Economic Development

Anne C. Steinemann, PI, with Derek Booth, Co-PI