Climate Resilient Engineering Design Guidance for the Water Sector: Water Utility Climate Alliance Issues 2026 Design Guide

The Water Utility Climate Alliance (“WUCA”) issued a guidance document titled:

Climate Resilient Engineering Design Guidance for the Water Sector: 2026 Design Guide (“Design Guide”).

The purpose of the Design Guide is to equip the water industry with what are described as “actionable strategies” to incorporate climate resilience into infrastructure design.

WUCA describes its purpose as to advance:

… climate change adaptation, planning, and decision-making to ensure that water utilities, and the communities they serve, can thrive in the face of these emerging challenges. 

The organization states that it leverages collective utility experiences to develop leading practices in climate change adaption and mitigation that are actionable, equitable, and serves as a model for others.

Note that Brown and Caldwell is listed as the other organization that developed the Design Guide.

The Design Guide is intended to support what are described as a broad range of utility personnel:

• Senior management.
• Planning and engineering departments.
• Operations and maintenance teams.
• Capital improvement project managers.

The support is intended to assist their efforts in addressing climate impacts across:

• Water systems.
• Wastewater systems.
• Stormwater systems.

The principal components of the Design Guide include:

• How to use this guidance.
• Mitigating Impacts to Building Mechanical, Electrical, and Instrumentation Equipment from Extreme Heat.
• Power Outage Resilience from Extreme Cold, Extreme Heat, Extreme Storms, and Wildfires.
• Mitigating Impacts to Building Mechanical, Electrical, and Instrumentation Equipment from Extreme Cold.
• Adapt Wet Wells and Associated Structural Components for Sea Level Rise and Riverine Flooding.
• Mitigating Impacts to Building Mechanical, Electrical, and Instrumentation Equipment from Flooding.
• Adapting SW/WW Outfalls to Manage Inundation from Riverine Flooding, Sea Level Rise, and Storm Surge .
• Adapt Wastewater Infrastructure to Manage Increased Wet Weather Flows from Extreme Precipitation.
• Adapt Chemical Storage Facilities to Manage Extreme Heat.
• Appendix A: Environmental Conditions.
• Appendix B: Literature Review Technical Memorandum.
• Appendix C: Climate Risk Hazard Matrix.
• Appendix D: Project Type Justification Technical Memorandum.

A copy of the Design Guide can be found here.