Climate change stands to impact water utilities across the region, including the City of Anacortes. Bigger and more frequent floods, sea level rise, and droughts are a few of the ways water management in the City may be affected. The City of Anacortes is writing a 10-year update to its Water System Plan starting in the spring of 2022, and is looking to incorporate climate change science into the Plan.

The Climate Impacts Group is contributing to the Anacortes Water System Plan in two ways: (1) by providing a high-level literature review, and (2) by reviewing the climate adaptation actions listed in the Plan. The literature review will include:
- Existing climate science provided to the City by the Skagit Climate Science Consortium between 2010 and 2021
- Updates to climate science since delivery of these products
- Emerging risks (e.g., landslides, water temperature, sea level rise)

The Climate Impacts Group will also review the climate adaptation actions included in the plan, including a plan section on adaptation actions the City has taken in the past and another developed by City in response to identified emerging risks.

Heavy Precipitation Projections for Use in Stormwater Planning. This project summarizes the projected changes in heavy rainfall events, from a new set of regional climate models, for use in stormwater and CSO planning. The online tool and online repository resulting from this project are designed to support both municipal and rural stormwater planning.

Using Climate Information in Water Utility Planning Webinar Series. This three-part webinar series was designed to help small and medium water utilities plan and design for climate change.

Supporting Climate Resilience for Small and Medium Water Systems. The objective of this project is to provide technical assistance and support to small and medium water systems so they can incorporate climate resilience into water system planning.