ACWI Climate Change Workgroup Held Monthly Call this Week

On March 26th, the US Geological Survey’s Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) Water Resources Adaptation to Climate Change Workgroup held a conference call.  Brandon Kernen of New Hampshire’s Drinking Water Program and ASDWA staff are participating in this group.  During the call, participants heard presentations from representatives of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and FEMA, and also discussed workgroup activities.  Following are some highlights from the call.

• Ellen Tarquinio of the CEQ shared information about the water elements in the new Executive Order on Sustainability that consolidates existing Executive Orders and calls on Federal agencies to achieve sustainability goals by implementing actions to increase energy and water efficiency, including stormwater management.
• A presentation by FEMA about the new Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.  FEMA has been holding listening sessions and is collecting comments on its draft guidelines to implement the new standard through May 6.  The guidelines will be finalized through the President’s Water Resources Council and Federal agencies will then need to submit implementation plans to the White House on how they plan to implement the Standard by updating their policies and rules.
• The workgroup is also working on finalizing its comments on two documents:  the draft Interagency Workgroup 2014 Highlights and 2015 Workplan for the President’s National Climate Action Plan; and the draft NEPA GHG and Climate Change Guidance.

For more information about the ACWI WRACC, visit the USGS web site HERE