AWWA JAW68582

Virtually every aspect of water utility operations could be affected by global warming and by any legislation eventually enacted to address it. This includes water resources planning as well as system design, operations, water distribution, and customer service. Even the customer's ability to pay increased water rates will be affected as the cost of living increases overall in response to legislative mandates and regulations to address global warming. Large amounts of public monies will be required to address global warming, and human lives are at stake. This article discusses how legislation, regulation, and water utility decisions to mitigate and/or adapt to global warming based on incomplete, incorrect, or spurious information may have disastrous consequences. The article stresses that a higher level of scrutiny and review must be given to public statements by scientists and politicians as well as to the academic research on global warming and climate change. Includes 28 references.