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NEIWPCC Launches Climate Change Web Section
In a sign of NEIWPCC’s focus on climate change, specifically the threat it poses to water resources in the Northeast, we have developed a new section of our website that provides a wealth of climate change-related information. Visit www.neiwpcc.org/climatechange to access a variety of features, including an overview of the issue, links to each of our states’ climate change programs, and news about our new Climate Change Workgroup. The workgroup, which held its first meeting in June, is made up of state water program and climate change program staff, as well as staff from federal agencies including EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey. The group is exploring opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the water sector and to adapt water resources policy and management to the climate change that scientists say is inevitable, regardless of mitigation efforts.
The workgroup and the new section on our website are all part of NEIWPCC’s Climate Change Initiative, which we launched in 2007 to keep our member states apprised of developments in this arena and to pursue regional approaches to climate change issues. Climate change has rapidly become an issue of growing concern in our region, due to expected changes in precipitation patterns and amounts, temperature rise, sea level rise, reduced snowpack and a shorter snow season, and increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The degree of these changes will determine the severity of their impacts, but potential water-related effects include increased water demand, altered streamflow, degraded water quality, saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers, drought, and coastal flooding.
Please remember to visit our website often, since we are constantly upgrading it and adding new features. In addition to the new climate change section, recent improvements include the significant expansion of our section on collection systems, which can be found at www.neiwpcc.org/collectionsystems.