Dialogue report: Climate change and stormwater and wastewater systems

This report highlighted several main effects of climate change on our stormwater and wastewater systems, including changes in extreme rainfall and drought, and for coastal infrastructure, sea level rise and increasing severity and frequency of coastal storms. This paper was written after and informed by a facilitated dialogue, held at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. The Dialogue was held to identify high-priority research questions, which both address the unknowns identified in this paper and are tractable to high-quality research. The top priorities for further research were to better understand the risks to stormwater and wastewater systems (including indirect effects); identify when, where and why particular areas may be at risk; and identify new solutions, so we can incorporate adaptations within our decision making frameworks.