Adapting urban water systems to climate change

ICLEI, UNESCO-IHE and IWA have authored, as part of the ‘SWITCH – Managing Water for the City of the Future’ project, a handbook on adapting urban water systems to climate change. The handbook aims to fill a gap in the adaptation field: while a lot of information is available about various adaptation topics, there is a lack of guidance for decision makers at the local level working on urban water who wish to proactively prepare for and adapt to climate change. The handbook first examines some of the key areas of vulnerability to climate change within urban water systems. The handbook also proposes flexible and future-oriented urban water planning as a means to address climate change and implement adaptation actions. Finally, the handbook presents case studies of cities throughout the world that have already planned for adaptation or implemented specific actions aiming at increasing their resilience to climate change.