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United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

Report to Congressional Requesters: 

November 2013: 

Climate Change: 

Federal Efforts Under Way to Assess Water Infrastructure 
Vulnerabilities and Address Adaptation Challenges: 

GAO-14-23: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-14-23, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The effects of climate change on water resources have already been 
observed and are expected to continue. The Corps and Reclamation own 
and operate key water resource management infrastructure, such as dams 
and reservoirs. Adaptation—-adjustments in natural or human systems to 
a new or changing environment that exploits beneficial opportunities 
or moderates negative effects-—can be used to help manage the risks to 
vulnerable resources. In 2009, a law—-commonly referred to as the 
SECURE Water Act—-and a presidential executive order directed federal 
agencies to address the potential impacts of climate change.
GAO was asked to review agency actions to address climate change 
impacts on water infrastructure. This report examines (1) actions 
taken by the Corps and Reclamation since 2009 to assess and respond to 
the potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure and 
(2) challenges, if any, faced by the Corps and Reclamation in 
assessing and responding to the potential effects of climate change on 
water infrastructure, and the steps the agencies are taking to address 
them. GAO analyzed the agencies’ climate change adaptation guidance 
and planning documents and interviewed agency officials and other key 
stakeholders, including water users, environmental groups, and 
researchers. 

What GAO Found: 

The Department of Defense’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and 
the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 
have assessed water resource and infrastructure vulnerabilities and 
taken steps to develop guidance and strategies to adapt to the effects 
of climate change. Specifically, since 2009, the Corps has completed a 
high-level assessment of the vulnerabilities to climate change of 
various agency missions. The assessment found, for example, that the 
effects of increasing air temperatures on glaciers could negatively 
impact mission areas including navigation and flood damage reduction. 
The Corps has also conducted pilot studies to help identify adaptation 
guidance and strategies; it has completed 5 of the 15 pilot studies 
initiated and plans to start another study in 2013. Similarly, 
Reclamation has completed baseline assessments of the potential 
impacts of climate change on future water supplies for the major river 
basins where it owns and operates water management infrastructure. 
Reclamation, in collaboration with nonfederal entities, is now 
conducting more focused assessments, known as Basin Studies, through 
which Reclamation seeks to identify water supply vulnerabilities and 
project future climate change impacts on the performance of water 
infrastructure. According to agency officials, these studies will also 
help Reclamation develop adaptation strategies to address these 
impacts, such as operational or physical changes to existing water 
infrastructure or development of new facilities. Three Basin Studies 
have been completed, an additional 14 are under way, and 2 more are 
planned. Reclamation next plans to initiate feasibility studies for 
adaptation strategies identified in completed Basin Studies. Both 
agencies are incorporating what they have learned from their efforts 
into agency policies, planning, and guidance, according to agency 
officials. 

In 2009, the Corps, Reclamation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), jointly 
published a study that identified several challenges that climate 
change poses for water resource managers, and the Corp and Reclamation 
are collaboratively addressing these challenges. Specifically, these 
agencies are: 

* identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address 
climate change, which will help guide federal research efforts; 

* obtaining needed climate data by collaborating with other agencies 
to help ensure that the data are collected, such as by sharing some 
costs associated with maintaining USGS’s stream flow measurement 
activities, which are valuable to Corps water planning and management; 

* integrating climate science into water resource management decision 
making through activities such as developing and communicating science 
to inform climate adaptation strategies; and; 

* collaborating in the development of a climate change science 
training program for federal and nonfederal water resources managers. 

The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated together and with others 
in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that GAO has 
identified as important to enhancing and sustaining collaboration 
among agencies. The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a 
key element of their policy and plans for adapting to the effects of 
climate change and have reinforced accountability for collaboration 
through agency performance management systems. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO is not making any recommendations. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-23]. For more 
information, contact Steve Morris at (202) 512-3841 or morriss@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Background: 

Efforts Under Way by the Corps and Reclamation to Assess Water 
Resource and Infrastructure Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and 
Develop Adaptation Strategies: 

The Corps and Reclamation Face Several Challenges in Assessing and 
Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and Are Working 
Collaboratively to Address Them: 

Agency Comments: 

Appendix I: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' and the Bureau of 
Reclamation's Organization and Infrastructure: 

Appendix II: Locations and Initial Results of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineer's Pilot Studies and Bureau of Reclamation's Basin Studies: 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Table: 

Table 1: Corps and Reclamation Efforts to Assess Climate Change 
Vulnerabilities and Develop Adaptation Strategies and Guidance: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Division and District 
Boundaries: 

Figure 2: Bureau of Reclamation Regional Boundaries: 

Figure 3: Location and Description of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
Pilot Projects, as of September 2013: 

Figure 4: Locations of the Bureau of Reclamation's 17 Funded Basin 
Studies, as of September 2013: 

Abbreviations: 

CCAWWG: Climate Change and Water Working Group: 

Corps: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 

Interior: U.S. Department of the Interior: 

NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

Reclamation: Bureau of Reclamation: 

Task Force: Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: 

USGS: U.S. Geological Survey: 

WWCRA: West-Wide Climate Risk Assessment: 

[End of section] 

GAO:
United States Government Accountability Office: 
441 G St. N.W. 
Washington, DC 20548: 

November 14, 2013: 

The Honorable Barbara Boxer: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Environment and Public Works: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Max Baucus: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Dick Durbin: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Harry Reid: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Mark Udall: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Tom Udall 
United States Senate: 

According to recent scientific studies, including those conducted by 
the U.S. Global Change Research Program,[Footnote 1] climate-related 
changes--including increases in air and water temperatures, changes in 
precipitation patterns, reduced snow cover, retreating glaciers, and 
rising sea levels--will likely adversely affect many aspects of the 
natural environment in the United States.[Footnote 2] The U.S. 
Department of the Interior's (Interior) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 
has reported that of all the potential threats posed by climate 
change, those associated with water resources are arguably the most 
consequential for both society and the environment.[Footnote 3] The 
effects of climate change on water resources have already been 
observed and are expected to continue. For example, a shift in the 
form of precipitation from snow to rain and earlier melting of 
mountain snowpack has been documented in western states. This change 
in precipitation is expected to result in a decrease in the amount of 
reliable water supply in areas where snow has been a major source. As 
we reported in October 2009,[Footnote 4] policymakers are increasingly 
viewing adaptation--defined by the National Research Council as 
adjustments in natural or human systems to a new or changing 
environment that exploits beneficial opportunities or moderates 
negative effects--as a risk-management strategy to protect vulnerable 
resources that might be affected by changes in the climate.[Footnote 
5] GAO added limiting the federal government's fiscal exposure by 
better managing climate change risks to our 2013 update of high-risk 
areas because of the government's role, among other things, as the 
owner or operator of extensive infrastructure.[Footnote 6] 

The Department of Defense's U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and 
Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) own and operate key 
water resource management infrastructure, such as canals, dams, and 
reservoirs, that may be affected by climate change. The Corps is the 
largest and oldest federal water management agency, with water 
resources and infrastructure in every state authorized for specific 
purposes such as navigation, flood and coastal storm damage reduction, 
hydropower, and water supply, among other things. Established in 1902, 
Reclamation constructed dams, reservoirs, power plants, and canals in 
17 western states, and today is the second largest producer of 
hydroelectric power in the western United States and the largest 
wholesaler of water in the nation. The Corps and Reclamation work with 
each other and with other federal agencies, such as the Department of 
Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 
USGS, which collect and interpret weather and climate information that 
is valuable for effective water resource management. In addition, the 
Corps and Reclamation coordinate with state and local water resource 
managers and other stakeholders who are responsible for water 
resources activities within their jurisdictions to manage water for 
agricultural, municipal, and conservation uses, among others. 

Congress and the Executive Office of the President have directed 
federal agencies to address the potential impacts of climate change. 
In 2009, a law--commonly referred to as the SECURE Water Act--was 
enacted, requiring, among other things, that Reclamation establish a 
climate change adaptation program to (1) assess the effect of and risk 
resulting from global climate change on the quantity of water 
resources and (2) develop strategies to address potential water 
shortages and other impacts.[Footnote 7] Reclamation was also required 
to report to relevant congressional committees its progress 
implementing the act within 2 years of passage and every 5 years 
thereafter. Also in 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13514, 
[Footnote 8] calling for federal agencies to participate in the 
existing Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task 
Force). The executive order directed the Task Force to develop federal 
recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both 
domestically and internationally and to recommend key components to 
include in a national strategy. Based on the Task Force 
recommendations, the President's Council on Environmental Quality 
issued implementing instructions directing federal agencies to, among 
other things, establish an agency climate change adaptation policy and 
deliver to the council and the Office of Management and Budget a 
climate adaptation plan for implementation in fiscal year 2013. 
[Footnote 9] 

You requested that we review the climate adaptation efforts of the 
Corps and Reclamation. This report examines (1) the actions the Corps 
and Reclamation have taken since 2009 to assess and respond to the 
potential effects of climate change on water infrastructure and (2) 
what challenges, if any, the Corps and Reclamation face in assessing 
and responding to the potential effects of climate change on water 
infrastructure, and the steps the agencies are taking to address them. 

To describe what actions the Corps and Reclamation have taken to 
assess and respond to the potential effects of climate change since 
2009, we reviewed and analyzed federal law, an executive order, and 
relevant guidance to identify the climate change impact assessment and 
adaptation activities that the Corps and Reclamation are directed to 
perform. We reviewed and analyzed the agencies' orders, policy, and 
program guidance and interviewed agency officials to determine how the 
Corps and Reclamation have interpreted and implemented federal laws 
and orders. We also reviewed and analyzed documentation, such as 
reports, studies, and plans, and interviewed agency officials, as well 
as other water resource managers and climate science specialists to 
gather information on what the Corps and Reclamation have done to 
assess and respond to the potential effects of climate change on 
existing and planned federal water infrastructure investments. We 
identified and selected the resource managers and climate science 
specialists using an iterative process, soliciting names from agency 
officials and others we interviewed, and selecting those identified as 
having a high level of participation and knowledge. From among those 
identified, we conducted semistructured interviews to obtain their 
views on the Corps' and Reclamation's efforts to assess and respond to 
the potential effects of climate change. We did not assess the Corps' 
and Reclamation's actions to implement specific climate change 
adaptation planning frameworks or steps because their efforts are in 
the early stages. We used in-house scientific expertise to analyze the 
soundness of the methodological approaches utilized in selected 
documents, and we determined them to be sufficiently sound for our 
purposes. Relevant assessments, reports, and studies are cited 
throughout this document. 

To describe what challenges, if any, the Corps and Reclamation face in 
assessing and responding to the potential effects of climate change on 
water infrastructure, as well as steps these agencies are taking to 
address these challenges, we reviewed and analyzed agency documents, 
including planning documents and assessments of efforts to date. We 
also reviewed and analyzed documentation of actions taken by the 
Corps, Reclamation, and other water managers to help mitigate these 
challenges, and we assessed the extent to which these efforts have 
been collaborative based on prior GAO work.[Footnote 10] In addition, 
we spoke with agency officials, as well as sought the perspectives of 
state and local water managers and climate specialists, to learn about 
the challenges faced by the Corps and Reclamation and the steps the 
agencies have taken to address them. We selected these managers and 
specialists using an iterative process, based on recommendations of 
agency officials and others we interviewed. From among those 
identified, we conducted semistructured interviews about challenges 
and potential steps to address them and conducted a content analysis 
of their responses. 

We conducted this performance audit from October 2012 to November 2013 
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 
that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

Background: 

Climate change is having a variety of impacts on natural resources in 
the United States, ranging from more severe drought to increased 
flooding, and is altering assumptions that have been central to water 
resource planning and management. Congress and the Executive Office of 
the President have directed federal agencies to address the potential 
impacts of climate change. The two key federal water resource 
management agencies included in this review--the Corps and Reclamation-
-have similar yet distinct roles in managing water for a wide variety 
of purposes. In addition to the water management challenges posed by 
climate change, both agencies are dealing with aging water management 
infrastructure with limited funding for maintenance and construction. 

Potential Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources Can Be Addressed 
through Adaptation Planning: 

According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, changes in the 
climate in the United States and its coastal waters have altered--and 
will continue to alter--the water cycle, affecting where, when, and 
how much water is available for all uses. Changes in the climate--
including warmer temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, 
rising sea levels, and more frequent and intense storms--affect water 
resources in a number of ways such as increased flooding in some areas 
and drought in others, and inundation and erosion in coastal areas. 
Precisely how and to what extent changes in the climate will affect 
particular water resources in the future is uncertain, but climate-
related changes are expected to continue and increase in intensity in 
some areas of the nation. 

Climate change has the potential to affect many aspects of the 
environment and society in which water resource management plays an 
active role. A 2011 federal interagency review of the potential 
impacts of climate change on water resources identified four 
interrelated areas of concern for water resource managers as follows 
[Footnote 11]: 

* assuring an adequate water supply for multiple needs, such as 
drinking water, agriculture, energy production, industrial uses, 
navigation, and recreation; 

* protecting life, health, and property in the face of risks posed by 
climate change; 

* protecting the quality of freshwater resources, including the 
quality of surface water and groundwater, and the health of fisheries 
and aquatic habitat; and: 

* protecting coastal and ocean resources as rising sea levels and 
changes in storm frequency, intensity, and duration impact coastal 
infrastructure. 

Adaptation--defined by the National Research Council as adjustments in 
natural or human systems to a new or changing environment that 
exploits beneficial opportunities or moderates negative effects--is an 
element of the proposed responses to climate change that is gaining 
more attention. More specifically, policymakers are increasingly 
viewing adaptation as a risk-management strategy to protect vulnerable 
sectors and communities that might be affected. As we reported in our 
May 2013 report on land resource management agency adaptation efforts, 
climate change adaptation planning frameworks generally consist of 
four key elements that are reviewed and revised as needed as new 
information emerges.[Footnote 12] These four elements are the 
following: 

* Establish a mandate to address climate change with clearly 
articulated adaptation goals, objectives, and measures of success 
toward meeting goals. 

* Assess and understand the risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities 
posed by climate change by determining (1) what aspects of the climate 
are changing and over what periods, (2) which resources will be most 
at risk, (3) why these resources are likely to be vulnerable, and (4) 
what uncertainties are associated with the predicted climate change 
impacts and how this may impact adaptation efforts. 

* Develop and prioritize management adaptation actions; that is, 
determine how to respond to the identified risks by considering a wide 
array of possible adaptation measures and identifying the highest 
priority adaptation measures. 

* Implement management options, evaluate the results to determine the 
actions' effectiveness, and makes adjustments as necessary. As climate 
continues to change, adaptation actions need to be regularly monitored 
for effectiveness and plans need to incorporate new information about 
risks, lessons learned, and modified priorities. 

According to a 2009 study collaboratively produced by the Corps, NOAA, 
Reclamation, and USGS,[Footnote 13] a variety of water-management 
options might be considered to facilitate adaptation to climate 
change, including operational changes, demand management, and 
infrastructure changes. The study concluded that the options for 
responding to the effects of climate change will vary by location, and 
that evaluating options will likely require a partnership between 
federal, state, and local interests to attain consensus among water 
managers and users. 

Federal Agencies Have Been Directed to Address Climate Change 
Adaptation: 

In 2009, Congress passed the SECURE Water Act, requiring Reclamation 
to establish a climate change adaptation program to (1) assess the 
effect of and risk resulting from global climate change on the 
quantity of water resources and (2) develop strategies to address 
potential water shortages and other impacts.[Footnote 14] To assess 
the effect of climate change, the law requires Reclamation to analyze 
the extent to which changes in water supply will impact several areas, 
including Reclamation's ability to deliver water to its customers, 
hydroelectric power generation, fish and wildlife habitat, and 
recreation. The law requires Reclamation to assess specific risks to 
the water supply of each of its major river basins, including risks 
related to, among other things, changes in snow cover and the timing 
and quantity of runoff. To develop strategies to address impacts, the 
law requires Reclamation, in consultation with nonfederal stakeholders 
such as appropriate state water resource agencies, to consider and 
develop appropriate strategies to mitigate the impacts of water supply 
changes, such as strategies for modifying reservoir storage or 
operating guidelines and water conservation.[Footnote 15] 

Also in 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13514, Federal 
Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance which, 
among other things, directs agencies to participate in the Interagency 
Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task Force), which was already 
developing a strategy for adaptation to climate change, and to develop 
approaches through which the policies and practices of the agencies 
can be made compatible with the Task Force's strategy.[Footnote 16] In 
October 2010, the Task Force delivered a progress report to the 
President through the Council on Environmental Quality containing 
overarching policy goals to advance climate adaptation and 
recommending the development of a national action plan to strengthen 
climate change adaptation for freshwater resources.[Footnote 17] Based 
on the work of the Task Force, the Council on Environmental Quality 
subsequently issued detailed adaptation planning implementation 
instructions in March 2011.[Footnote 18] The instructions directed the 
agencies to issue an agency-wide climate change adaptation policy 
statement, complete a high-level analysis of agency vulnerability to 
climate change, and submit to the Council on Environmental Quality and 
the Office of Management and Budget their climate adaptation plans by 
June 4, 2012, for implementation in fiscal year 2013.[Footnote 19] 

The Corps and Reclamation Construct, Operate, and Manage Federal Water 
Infrastructure: 

For over 230 years, the Corps has led the development and stewardship 
of much of the nation's public water resources. The Corps' Civil Works 
Program plans and manages water for transportation, recreation, 
energy, wildlife habitat, aquatic ecosystems, and water supply, while 
reducing the impacts of flood damages and other natural disasters. 
Specifically, the Corps has constructed--and continues to operate, 
maintain, and rehabilitate--a large inventory and wide variety of 
water management infrastructure, including reservoirs, hydropower 
facilities, commercial inland waterways, harbors, and levee systems. 
In June 2011, in response to the implementing instructions for 
Executive Order 13514, the Corps established its adaptation policy 
statement for addressing the effects of climate change, which called 
for the integration of climate change adaptation in all Corps 
activities.[Footnote 20] Two Corps programmatic efforts--the 
Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force/Hurricane Protection 
Decision Chronology Lessons Learned Implementation Team (also known as 
Actions for Change) and the Responses to Climate Change Program--
support the Corps' ongoing adaptation activities. 

Since 1902, Reclamation has carried out its mission to manage, 
develop, and protect water and related resources in 17 western states. 
The agency has led or provided assistance in constructing most of the 
large dams and water diversion structures in the West for the purpose 
of developing water supplies for irrigation--that is, "reclaiming" 
these lands for human use. In 2009, Reclamation directed its Office of 
Research and Development and its Office of Policy and Administration 
to take the lead in implementing the actions required by the SECURE 
Water Act. Reclamation's climate adaptation efforts fall within the 
larger effort by Interior to, among other things, implement Executive 
Order 13514. In 2013, Interior adopted a policy directing the agency 
to integrate climate change adaptation strategies into its operations, 
policies, programs, and planning. See appendix I for more information 
on the Corps' and Reclamation's organization and infrastructure. 

In addition to each agency's individual efforts, the Corps and 
Reclamation established a partnership in 2007--the Climate Change and 
Water Working Group (CCAWWG)--to address their mutual concerns about 
the potential effects of climate change on their agencies' missions. 
[Footnote 21] In 2009, the CCAWWG partners jointly produced a 
preliminary assessment of how climate could impact federal water 
resources management, which explored strategies to improve water 
management by tracking, anticipating, and responding to climate 
change, and identified adaptation challenges.[Footnote 22] 

Agencies Manage Climate Change Risk While Facing Aging Infrastructure: 

According to a 2012 National Research Council report on Corps 
infrastructure,[Footnote 23] large portions of the Corps' water 
resources infrastructure were built over 50 years ago and are 
experiencing various stages of decay and disrepair, making project 
maintenance and rehabilitation a high priority. The report also found 
that federal funding over the past 20 years has consistently been 
inadequate to maintain the Corps' infrastructure at acceptable levels 
of performance and efficiency. Similarly, most of Reclamation's water 
infrastructure facilities are more than 50 years old and, according to 
a 2011 Congressional Research Service report, with limited budgetary 
resources and aging infrastructure, Reclamation's maintenance needs 
are likely to increase, as is competition for limited funding. 
[Footnote 24] 

Despite the ongoing challenges of operating and maintaining aging 
infrastructure under budgetary constraints, it is important that the 
Corps and Reclamation address the challenge of managing climate change 
risk in order to limit the fiscal exposure of the federal government. 
As noted in our 2013 high-risk update, climate change poses a 
significant financial risk to the federal government, including, but 
not limited to its role as the owner or operator of extensive 
infrastructure vulnerable to climate impacts. State and local 
authorities are responsible for planning and implementing many types 
of infrastructure projects, and decisions at these levels of 
government can affect the federal government's fiscal 
exposure.[Footnote 25] While implementing adaptive strategies to 
protect infrastructure may be costly, there is a growing recognition 
that the cost of inaction could be greater and--given the government's 
precarious fiscal position--increasingly difficult to manage given 
expected budget pressures, which will constrain not just future ad hoc 
responses, but other federal programs as well. As stated in a 2010 
National Research Council report, increasing the nation's ability to 
respond to a changing climate can be viewed as an insurance policy 
against climate change risks.[Footnote 26] 

Efforts Under Way by the Corps and Reclamation to Assess Water 
Resource and Infrastructure Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and 
Develop Adaptation Strategies: 

Since 2009, as directed by executive order or required by law, the 
Corps and Reclamation have taken steps to assess water resource and 
infrastructure vulnerabilities and develop guidance and strategies for 
adapting to climate change, as shown in table 2.[Footnote 27] 
Officials from both agencies told us that as they develop the 
necessary guidance, they plan to implement specific adaptation 
strategies and share costs with state and local partners. 

Table 1: Corps and Reclamation Efforts to Assess Climate Change 
Vulnerabilities and Develop Adaptation Strategies and Guidance: 

Activities: Assessing climate change vulnerabilities; 
Corps: Completed: High-level assessment of climate change impacts on 
agency missions and operations; 
Ongoing: Conducting an initial assessment of climate change impact 
vulnerability for coastal activities; 
Developing and testing methodologies for assessing climate impacts at 
the watershed level for inland activities and a separate methodology 
for coastal activities; 
Reclamation: Completed: High-level assessment of climate change 
impacts on water supplies in the major river basins in the West; 
Ongoing: Assessment of climate change impacts to water demands, 
including agricultural demands. 

Activities: Developing adaptation strategies and guidance; 
Corps: Ongoing: Conducting pilot studies to support the development of 
adaptation guidance and a portfolio of adaptation approaches; 
Developing guidance for considering adaptation in all agency 
activities and for the implementation of adaptation approaches; 
Reclamation: Ongoing: Conducting more focused assessments within 
basins to develop strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on 
water supplies; 
Developing guidance for considering adaptation in specific agency 
activities. 

Sources: GAO analysis of Corps and Reclamation information. 

[End of table] 

The Corps Completed a Mission-Level Vulnerability Assessment and Is 
Conducting Pilot Studies to Identify Adaptation Strategies: 

Since 2009, the Corps has broadly assessed how climate change could 
affect its missions. Specifically, a phased assessment of the 
vulnerability of coastal projects is under way, more refined watershed-
level vulnerability assessments are being developed, and pilot studies 
are being conducted to develop adaptation guidance and strategies. In 
March 2012, responding to guidance for implementing Executive Order 
13514, the Corps provided the President's Council on Environmental 
Quality with a high-level analysis of the vulnerability of the Corps' 
missions and operations to climate change.[Footnote 28] The Corps' 
analysis included an assessment of whether the potential effects of 
climate change on the Corps' business areas would likely be negative, 
positive, or a mix of both.[Footnote 29] The analysis found, for 
example, that increasing air temperatures may have an effect on 
glaciers that could negatively impact Corps business areas such as 
navigation, flood and coastal storm damage reduction, ecosystem 
restoration, and emergency management, but the effect of increasing 
air temperatures on river ice could have both positive and negative 
impacts on those same four business areas. 

As part of the high-level analysis, the Corps also identified a number 
of adaptation priorities. To address its priority of developing more 
refined vulnerability assessments, the Corps is currently undertaking 
coastal project vulnerability assessments and is developing and 
testing a methodology for nationwide, watershed-level vulnerability 
assessments of its inland missions, operations, programs, and 
projects. The nationwide watershed-level vulnerability assessments 
will, according to Corps officials, help them make initial screening-
level determinations of where adaptation strategies are needed or not 
needed, and then to prioritize accordingly. The agency officials 
expect to complete the first phase of screening assessments in 2013, 
with more refined assessments to come in future years. Ultimately, the 
Corps plans to combine the coastal and inland assessments into a 
unified methodology. In addition, Corps Civil Works officials told us 
that they are developing syntheses of literature to provide up-to-date 
information about regional climate impacts in order to support project-
specific planning and help implement adaptation strategies. 

As part of its efforts to address the adaptation priorities of 
developing a risk-informed decision-making framework for climate 
change adaptation and a portfolio of adaptation approaches, the Corps 
is conducting 15 pilot studies nationwide to test different methods 
and frameworks for adapting to climate change. The Corps has completed 
5 of these studies and 10 others are ongoing.[Footnote 30] According 
to Corps Civil Works officials, the pilot studies were proposed by 
Corps district staff and selected by senior Corps staff in a 
competitive, internal process. The 15 pilots are led by 13 different 
Corps districts and address project planning, engineering, operations, 
and maintenance for 6 different Corps business areas, involving a 
variety of different infrastructure types, such as flood risk 
reduction projects, reservoirs, and canals. Some of the pilots are 
being conducted collaboratively with federal, state, and university 
partners. Taken together, Corps officials expect the pilot projects to 
provide a body of knowledge and tested methods that will serve as the 
foundation for its guidance and future adaptation efforts. See 
appendix II for additional information on the locations and results of 
the Corps' pilot studies. 

Reclamation Assessed Vulnerabilities in Major Western River Basins and 
Is Developing Potential Adaptation Strategies: 

Reclamation has broadly assessed how climate change may affect water 
resources in the western United States as part of the Basin Study 
Program it established to meet the requirements of the SECURE Water 
Act. Specifically, responding to the Act's requirement to assess 
specific risks to water supplies,[Footnote 31] Reclamation reported to 
Congress in 2011 its assessments of the potential effects of climate 
change on water supplies in the major river basins in the West. 
[Footnote 32] The studies, known as West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments 
(WWCRA), are high-level, baseline assessments of the potential impacts 
of climate change on future water supplies--including impacts on 
Reclamation's ability to deliver water and hydropower--for each of the 
major river basins where Reclamation owns and operates water 
management infrastructure. According to agency officials, Reclamation 
is now conducting WWCRAs that focus on future water demand and will 
combine this information with its water supply assessments to form a 
more complete picture of the potential impacts of climate change on 
its water infrastructure.[Footnote 33] Reclamation policy officials 
told us that these combined assessments will be included in 
Reclamation's next SECURE Water Act report that is due in 2016. These 
assessments will also be updated based on the latest climate science 
as water uses and conditions change, and they will be included in 
future reports that are due to Congress every 5 years.[Footnote 34] 

In addition to its WWCRAs, Reclamation is partnering with nonfederal 
entities to conduct more focused assessments, known as Basin Studies, 
to identify specific water resources vulnerabilities and to implement 
the SECURE Water Act's requirement that Reclamation consider and 
develop strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on water 
supplies.[Footnote 35] Reclamation selects the Basin Studies through a 
competitive process and shares their costs with nonfederal partners. 
Through the Basin Studies, Reclamation intends to identify basin-wide 
water supply vulnerabilities, project climate change's impacts on the 
performance of water infrastructure, and develop adaptation strategies-
-such as operational or physical changes to existing water 
infrastructure or development of new facilities--to address these 
impacts. According to Reclamation guidance, the Basin Studies are to 
develop long-term projections of water supply and demand that take 
into account specific climate change risks identified in the SECURE 
Water Act.[Footnote 36] The studies will analyze how well existing 
water and power infrastructure are meeting current demands and then 
forecast their performance in light of projected water supply and 
demand. To address projected imbalances in supply and demand, the 
studies are to identify adaptation strategies that include strategies 
for nonstructural (i.e., management and operations) and structural 
(i.e., capital expenditures) changes. 

As of September 2013, 3 Basin Studies have been completed, and an 
additional 14 studies have been funded and are under way.[Footnote 37] 
Reclamation and its partners, including state water management 
agencies and local irrigation districts, completed the Yakima River 
Basin Study in 2011, and both the St. Mary River and Milk River Basins 
Study and Colorado River Basin Study in 2012. Some studies entirely 
cover the major river basins specified in the SECURE Water Act--such 
as the Colorado River Basin Study, while other studies cover subbasins 
or tributaries within the boundaries of the major river basins--such 
as the Yakima River Basin Study, covering a tributary of the Columbia 
River. Reclamation officials told us that they next intend to initiate 
feasibility studies for adaptation strategies identified in completed 
Basin Studies by making funds available to nonfederal partners, 
beginning with an initial feasibility study in 2013. See appendix II 
for additional information on the locations and results of 
Reclamation's Basin Studies. 

Both Agencies Are Developing and Enhancing Guidance for Implementing 
Climate Adaptation Strategies Identified: 

As recommended by the Task Force in 2010, the Corps and Reclamation 
are taking a phased approach to climate adaptation, including 
developing agency-wide guidance for adaptation. Specifically, through 
broad climate vulnerability assessments, agency officials told us they 
have expanded their knowledge of climate change and its impacts, 
allowing them to assess, at a high level, how these impacts may affect 
agency missions, programs, and operations. These initial vulnerability 
assessments have informed the agencies in developing and conducting 
more detailed vulnerability assessments, while also identifying 
specific strategies for climate change adaptation through the pilots 
and basin studies. Both agencies have also begun integrating what they 
have learned into their policies and program guidance. For example, 
beginning in 2009 and updated in 2011, the Corps issued guidance 
requiring that potential sea-level changes be considered in all of the 
agency's coastal planning, engineering, operations, and maintenance 
activities. The Corps is currently developing guidance for 
implementing coastal and inland adaptation strategies. Similarly, in 
2013, Reclamation officials told us they began to incorporate climate 
change adaptation considerations into its policies and guidance for 
project feasibility studies and environmental impact studies, among 
other things, using information and lessons learned from its WWCRA and 
Basin Study vulnerability assessments. 

According to agency officials, as the Corps and Reclamation integrate 
climate adaptation considerations into their policies and program 
guidance, they will begin to take steps toward implementing the 
potential adaptation strategies that they have identified. According 
to the Corps' 2012 adaptation plan, the agency's goal is to create a 
policy and guidance framework that will support the implementation of 
practical, nationally consistent, legally justifiable, and cost-
effective adaptation strategies. Accordingly, Corps Civil Works 
officials told us that the pilots conducted to date have been largely 
focused on informing the development of policy and guidance, and that 
no structural or operational adaptation strategies have been 
implemented. Similarly, Reclamation officials told us no structural or 
operational adaptation strategies have been implemented in response to 
the agency's vulnerability assessments, and that its efforts to update 
guidance will be informed by the adaptation strategy feasibility 
studies as they are completed. 

Corps and Reclamation officials told us that because they are early in 
the adaptation process, the extent to which limited budgets and 
existing infrastructure maintenance backlogs will affect the 
implementation of adaptation strategies remains to be determined. 
However, the implementation of adaptation strategies by both agencies 
will likely rely on collaborative sharing of costs and resources with 
federal, state, local, and nongovernmental stakeholders. Both agencies 
have already initiated cost-sharing and resource-leveraging measures. 
For example, according to agency officials, the Corps is leveraging 
resources for adaptation pilot studies with state, local, and 
nongovernmental entities, and Reclamation is splitting the cost of 
Basin Studies with state and local partners. The agencies plan to 
continue such collaborative approaches going forward. For example, as 
required under the SECURE Water Act, Reclamation officials told us 
they intend to share the cost of the feasibility studies for 
adaptation strategies equally with nonfederal partners. 

The Corps and Reclamation Face Several Challenges in Assessing and 
Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and Are Working 
Collaboratively to Address Them: 

In 2009, the Corps and Reclamation--with its CCAWWG partners NOAA and 
USGS--published a study,[Footnote 38] (referred to in this report as 
the CCAWWG study). This study identified several challenges that 
climate change poses for water resource managers, including (1) 
identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address 
climate change, (2) ensuring the sustained collection of climate data, 
(3) incorporating climate science into water management tools, and (4) 
educating water managers to use climate data and tools. We found that 
the Corps and Reclamation are addressing these challenges, making 
collaboration a key element of their efforts, and doing so in a manner 
generally consistent with best practices for sustained collaboration. 

The Corps and Reclamation Are Addressing Several Challenges to Climate 
Adaptation: 

The CCAWWG study identified a number of challenges faced by the Corps 
and Reclamation in adapting to climate change, and the agencies have 
taken a variety of actions to address these challenges. 

* Identifying the data and tools needed by water managers to address 
climate change: The CCAWWG agencies are collaborating to produce a 
series of four documents identifying their common data and tool needs 
and a strategy for meeting them, with the objective, among other 
things, of guiding and fostering federal and nonfederal research and 
technology investments toward meeting these needs.[Footnote 39] The 
first document, published in 2011, described the water management 
community's needs for climate change information and tools to support 
long-term planning for time scales of 5 years and more. The second 
document, published in 2013, described the data and tools needed to 
support short-term planning of less than 5 years. For both documents, 
the Corps and Reclamation asked their water resource managers to 
identify the information and tools most relevant to their programs, 
and they also consulted with other federal, state, and local agencies 
and stakeholders with a role in water resource management about their 
needs. The documents summarized the information and tools needed into 
categories and identified the users' most pressing needs within each 
category. According to these documents, the CCAWWG agencies plan next 
to prepare two companion documents to identify a scientific strategy 
for meeting the research needs identified in the two initial 
documents. The two completed documents note that USGS and NOAA will 
jointly prepare the companion documents, incorporating perspectives 
from other federal and nonfederal representatives of the scientific 
community. 

* Ensuring the sustained collection of climate data: The Corps and 
Reclamation are coordinating with the data collecting agencies and 
sharing some costs associated with their efforts. According to the 
2009 CCAWWG study, at the same time as the need for observational data 
to support climate adaptation is increasing, the observational 
networks crucial to increasing understanding are shrinking. For 
example, in recent decades, maintenance of long-term monitoring 
networks has declined because of a lack of funding--USGS alone has 
deactivated or discontinued almost 1,700 surface-water stream gauges. 
Corps Civil Works officials told us that stream gauge data is 
extremely important, not only to the Corps' ongoing operations, but 
also because science agencies use the data to produce the climate 
change information upon which the Corps bases its adaptation planning. 
To ensure the needed data is collected, the Corps has a formal 
agreement to provide funding to USGS--about $18 million in fiscal year 
2013 according to Corps officials--to operate stream gauges that 
provide data for the Corps' water planning and management activities. 
This data is also available for use by all federal and state agencies, 
as well as others interested in water information. 

Reclamation policy officials told us, in response to a SECURE Water 
Act requirement to consult with federal and applicable state agencies 
to develop a monitoring plan for acquiring and maintaining water 
resources information, agency staff are currently identifying 
information needs and plans to work collaboratively with data 
collecting agencies, including NOAA, USGS, and the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, to develop the plan.[Footnote 40] Reclamation policy 
officials stated that the Basin Study Program activities, including 
the WWCRAs and Basin Studies, are also contributing to the planning 
effort by providing valuable information about how the agency's 
monitoring needs are changing as a result of climate change. 
Reclamation officials told us that they intend to work with the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture and USGS to initiate the required monitoring 
plan in 2014. These collaborative efforts can help ensure that the 
long-term water resource monitoring networks critical for detecting 
and quantifying climate change and its impacts--as well as measuring 
the effectiveness of future adaptation strategies--will be properly 
configured and continue to operate. 

* Incorporating climate science into water management tools: The 
Corps, Reclamation, and others are collaborating in a number of 
efforts to incorporate climate science into water management tools. 
[Footnote 41] For example, Reclamation research and development, as 
well as policy officials told us that as part of their effort to 
enhance the capabilities of water resource managers to use climate 
data, the agency is coleading two of Interior's Landscape Conservation 
Cooperatives in the Colorado River Basin area. Reclamation officials 
told us that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are 
partnerships of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, will 
focus on developing and communicating science to inform climate 
adaptation strategies for ecological regions, or "landscapes." In 
collaboration with academia, other federal agencies, local and state 
partners, and the public, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives will 
provide products and services, such as climate change computer models 
and vulnerability assessments, coordinate with Interior's regional 
Climate Science Centers to synthesize existing climate change impact 
data and management strategies, and help resource managers put them 
into action on the ground.[Footnote 42] The Landscape Conservation 
Cooperatives will also coordinate with NOAA's Regional Integrated 
Sciences and Assessment program.[Footnote 43] 

Similarly, the Corps is engaged in collaborative efforts with external 
partners to integrate climate science into planning tools for water 
resource managers. For example, the Corps partnered with NOAA's 
National Ocean Service to create an online sea level change 
calculator. According to Corps officials, this collaboration allowed 
the rapid integration of climate science into engineering guidance for 
coastal projects. Corps Civil Works officials also told us that 
collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and NOAA's 
Urban Northeast Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment program 
contributed to the development of a post-Superstorm Sandy sea level 
rise tool to help affected communities, residents, and other 
stakeholders consider risks from future sea level rise in planning for 
reconstruction.[Footnote 44] 

In addition, the Corps and NOAA are coleading actions to implement the 
Task Force recommendation to develop a federal Internet portal to 
provide current, relevant, and high-quality information on water 
resources and climate change data applications and tools for assessing 
the vulnerability of water programs and facilities to climate change. 
As a result, the Corps-hosted Federal Support Toolbox is now publicly 
available online. According to Corps Civil Works officials, the 
website is a "one stop shop" for technical resources to support water 
management. The website states that the Toolbox is an evolving and 
comprehensive water resources data portal with direct links to 
valuable databases, innovative programs and initiatives, and state-of-
the-art models and tools.[Footnote 45] 

* Educating water managers to use climate data and tools: The Corps 
and Reclamation are collaborating as coleaders in developing and 
implementing a training program as recommended by the Task Force's 
National Action Plan: Priorities for Managing Freshwater Resources in 
a Changing Environment.[Footnote 46] These agencies--joined by NOAA, 
USGS, and the Environmental Protection Agency--are collaborating with 
the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's COMET Program 
and the Western Water Assessment to produce training courses for 
federal and nonfederal resource management professionals who need to 
assess the impacts of climate change on water and related resources. 
[Footnote 47] Specifically, in 2012, the agencies implemented an 
online course on incorporating climate change into water resource 
planning, which was a prerequisite for participating in the first two 
pilot residence courses--addressing climate impacts on surface 
hydrology and on water demand for irrigated crops--offered in early 
2013. According to the program's website, the online course was 
designed to provide students with water resource planning knowledge, 
while the residence courses offer opportunities for gaining hands-on 
experience in applying that knowledge. According to the website, these 
courses and the numerous planned future classes are collectively 
designed to provide a professional development and training series 
that will help managers assess climate change impacts across the 
spectrum of natural resources. 

The Corps' and Reclamation's Collaborative Efforts Are Generally 
Consistent with the Best Practices for Enhanced and Sustained 
Collaboration: 

The Corps and Reclamation have collaborated with each other and other 
agencies in a manner that is generally consistent with practices that 
we have previously identified as important to helping enhance and 
sustain collaboration among federal agencies.[Footnote 48] In 2005, we 
reported that collaboration--broadly defined as any joint activity 
that is intended to produce more public value than could be produced 
when organizations act alone--can be enhanced and sustained by 
engaging in eight key practices: (1) defining and articulating a 
common outcome; (2) establishing mutually reinforcing or joint 
strategies; (3) identifying and addressing needs by leveraging 
resources; (4) agreeing on roles and responsibilities; (5) 
establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to 
operate across agency boundaries; (6) developing mechanisms to 
monitor, evaluate, and report on results; (7) reinforcing agency 
accountability for collaborative efforts through agency plans and 
reports; and (8) reinforcing individual accountability for 
collaborative efforts through performance management systems. Running 
throughout these practices are a number of factors, such as 
leadership, trust, and organizational culture, which are necessary 
elements for a collaborative working relationship. 

The Corps and Reclamation have made collaboration a key element of 
their adaptation policies and plans and have reinforced accountability 
for collaboration through agency performance management systems. For 
example, the Corps' climate adaptation policy states that 
collaborations are the most effective way to develop strategies to 
identify and reduce vulnerabilities to potential future climate 
change, and it calls for continued collaborative adaptation efforts. 
As stated in the Corps' 2012 Climate Adaptation Plan and Report, it is 
the objective of the agency to facilitate and promote closer and more 
fruitful interagency cooperation and to promote sharing of impact and 
adaptation data and information between federal, state, and local 
partners. Finally, to reinforce accountability, the draft performance 
metrics for climate adaptation in the Corps' 2013 Army Campaign Plan 
includes a target for the number of products developed in 
collaboration with other water resource agencies for adaptation 
planning and action. 

Reclamation has similarly included collaboration as a key element of 
its adaptation policy, plans, and performance metrics. Under 
Interior's 2013 Climate Change Adaptation Policy, Reclamation is to 
integrate climate change adaptation strategies into its policies and 
practices by, among other actions, collaborating with stakeholders 
through Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Climate Science Centers, 
and other partnerships to increase understanding of climate change. 
Furthermore, Reclamation's strategic plan for its adaptation and 
conservation programs states that collaborative partnerships must be 
developed to identify the adaptive strategies needed to address 
climate change. Finally, through its climate adaptation efforts, 
Reclamation is contributing to Interior's goal of identifying 
resources that are particularly vulnerable to climate change and 
implementing coordinated adaptation responses for half of the nation 
by September 30, 2013. 

We also found that the Corps and Reclamation have collaborated 
together and with others in accordance with best practices for 
collaboration among agencies. For example, in their key collaborative 
effort--CCAWWG--each agency's role is well defined; the Corps and 
Reclamation provide water engineering and management expertise, and 
their partner agencies provide climate science expertise. CCAWWG has 
clearly defined common objectives, including the development of 
working level relationships between federal water management and 
federal science agencies, and it leverages resources across agencies 
to meet common needs. The CCAWWG agencies also have mutually 
reinforcing strategies. For example, the operating needs of the Corps 
and Reclamation drive the direction of science inquiries by the 
science agencies, resulting in improved operations, while at the same 
time the data collected and compiled by the water management agencies 
for a specific purpose can be used by the science agencies for 
alternative objectives. Outside of CCAWWG, as mentioned elsewhere in 
this report, the agencies have also followed key collaborative 
practices, such as the Corps leveraging resources to fund maintenance 
of the USGS's stream-flow monitoring networks, and Reclamation 
establishing joint strategies with state agencies and others to 
conduct Basin Studies. 

Agency Comments: 

We provided a draft of this product for review and comment to the 
Departments of Defense and the Interior. The Department of Defense 
provided technical comments that were incorporated, as appropriate. 

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents 
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days 
from the report date. At that time we will send copies to the 
Secretaries of Defense and the Interior; the appropriate congressional 
committees; and other interested parties. In addition, the report will 
be available at no charge on the GAO website at [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staff members have questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-3841 or morriss@gao.gov. Contact points for 
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions 
to this report are listed in appendix III. 

Signed by: 

Steve D. Morris: 
Acting Director, Natural Resources and Environment: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' and the Bureau of 
Reclamation's Organization and Infrastructure: 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)--an agency within the 
Department of Defense and a Major Command within the Army--is composed 
of four program areas including Civil Works, Military Construction, 
Real Estate, and Research and Development. To carry out its Civil 
Works missions nationwide, the program is organized into eight 
geographic divisions composed of 38 districts, as shown in figure 1. 
Division and district geographic boundaries are generally aligned with 
watershed boundaries. 

Figure 1: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Division and District 
Boundaries: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated U.S. map] 

Division: North Atlantic Division; 
District headquarters location: Baltimore; Concord, NH; Norfolk; 
Philadelphia; 
District and division colocated: New York. 

Division: South Atlantic Division; 
Division headquarters location: Atlanta; 
District headquarters location: Charleston; Jacksonville; Mobile; 
Savannah; Wilmington. 

Division: Great Lakes and Ohio River Division; 
Division headquarters location: Cincinnati; 
District headquarters location: Buffalo; Chicago; Detroit; Huntington; 
Louisville; Nashville; Pittsburgh. 

Division: Mississippi Valley Division; 
District headquarters location: Memphis; New Orleans; Rock Island; St. 
Louis; St. Paul; 
District and division colocated: Vicksburg; 
Division boundary: 
District boundary: 
State boundary: 

Division: Southwestern Division; 
Division headquarters location: Dallas; 
District headquarters location: Fort Worth; Galveston; Little Rock; 
Tulsa. 

Division: Northwestern Division; 
District headquarters location: Kansas City; Omaha; Seattle, Walla 
Walla; 
District and division colocated: Portland, 

Division: South Pacific Division; 
District headquarters location: Albuquerque; Los Angeles; Sacramento; 
District and division colocated: San Francisco. 

Division: Pacific Ocean Division; 
District headquarters location: Anchorage; 
District and division colocated: Honolulu. 

Sources: U.S. Army Corps of Engineer; Map Resources (map). 

Note: In addition to the eight divisions that manage U.S. water 
resources, the Corps also operates a Gulf Region Division, Afghanistan 
Engineer District, and Europe District. 

[End of figure] 

The Corps' Civil Works Program is implemented through nine business 
areas that represent the diversity of the nation's water resource 
management needs as follows: 

* Navigation--provides safe and reliable commercial waterways; 

* Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction--reduces risks to people, 
homes, and communities from flooding and coastal storms; 

* Environment--restores and protects wetlands and other aquatic 
ecosystems; 

* Hydropower--generates hydroelectric power for distribution to 
communities; 

* Regulatory--regulates work in navigable rivers and the discharge of 
dredges and fill materials in U.S. waters; 

* Recreation--provides recreational and educational opportunities; 

* Emergency Management--prepares for natural disasters and acts when 
they occur; 

* Water Supply--provides water storage for multiple purposes; and: 

* Executive Direction and Management--provides leadership, strategic 
planning and performance measurement. 

To implement its responsibilities in the business areas, the Corps has 
constructed--and continues to operate, maintain, and rehabilitate--a 
large inventory and wide variety of water management infrastructure. 
For example, according to Corps records, as of September 2012, its 
inventory includes 702 reservoirs that, among other things, provide 
water supply storage and help reduce flood risk, and 75 hydropower 
facilities with 353 generating units that produce hydroelectric power 
for homes, businesses, and communities. In the area of navigation, the 
Corps' inventory includes 12,000 miles of commercial inland waterways, 
193 lock sites with 239 chambers, and 926 harbors.[Footnote 49] For 
flood reduction, the Corps inventory includes 14,501 miles of levee 
systems. For recreation, the Corps' inventory includes 54,879 miles of 
lakeshore and recreation areas that support 370 million annual 
visitors, 270,000 jobs, and $16 billion of economic activity. In 2012, 
the National Research Council reported that the Corps' infrastructure 
had an estimated value of approximately $164 billion. 

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 
is, according to agency records, the nation's largest wholesale water 
supplier, providing water to over 31 million people and irrigation 
water to one out of five western farmers on 10 million acres of farm 
land, which produce 60 percent of the nation's vegetables and one-
quarter of its fresh fruit and nut crops. Reclamation is also the 
second largest producer of hydropower in the United States. To carry 
out its mission and operations, Reclamation is organized into five 
regions, as shown in figure 1. 

Figure 2: Bureau of Reclamation Regional Boundaries: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated map] 

Bureau of Reclamation Office: Denver. 

Region: Great Plains; 
Regional office: Billings, Montana. 

Region: Upper Colorado; 
Regional office: Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Region: Lower Colorado; 
Regional office: Boulder City, Nevada. 

Region: Mid-Pacific; 
Regional office: Sacramento, California. 

Region: Pacific Northwest; 
Regional office: Boise, Idaho. 

Sources: Bureau of Reclamation; Map Resources (map). 

[End of figure] 

According to agency records as of 2011, Reclamation's asset inventory 
includes 476 dams and dikes, creating 337 reservoirs with a total 
storage capacity of 245 million acre-feet of water.[Footnote 50] 
Reclamation's inventory also includes 53 hydroelectric power plants 
that it owns and operates. These plants provide an average of more 
than 40 megawatt hours of energy per year.[Footnote 51] In 2011, 
Reclamation, estimated that the replacement value of its assets was 
approximately $90 billion. According to the Congressional Research 
Service, about two-thirds of the assets in Reclamation's inventory are 
"transferred works"--facilities that it owns, but for which it has 
transferred operations and maintenance to nonfederal entities. The 
remaining one-third of these facilities are "reserved works"--
facilities that are owned, operated, and maintained by Reclamation, 
where the nonfederal beneficiaries, such as irrigation districts, are 
responsible for repaying construction and maintenance costs. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Locations and Initial Results of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineer's Pilot Studies and Bureau of Reclamation's Basin Studies: 

The Corps is conducting pilot studies nationwide to support the 
development of adaptation guidance and a portfolio of adaptation 
approaches. Reclamation is conducting Basin Studies--focused 
assessments within basins--to develop strategies to mitigate climate 
change impacts on water supplies. 

Corps Pilot Studies: 

As part of its efforts to address the priorities of developing a risk-
informed decision-making framework and a portfolio of adaptation 
approaches, the Corps is conducting 15 pilot studies nationwide to 
test different methods and frameworks for adapting to climate change 
(see fig. 3). As of September 2013, the Corps has completed 5 of these 
studies, and 10 others are ongoing. The Corps plans to initiate 1 
additional pilot in 2013. 

Figure 3: Location and Description of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
Pilot Projects, as of September 2013: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated map] 

1. Application of Sea-Level Change Guidance to C-111 Spreader Canal, 
Florida. 

2. Climate Change Associated Sediment Yield Impacts on the Rio Grande, 
Cochiti Dam and Lake. 

3. Climate Change Impacts on the Operation of Coralville Lake, Iowa. 

4. Climate Change Associated Sediment Yield Impacts and Operation 
Evaluations at Garrison Dam, North Dakota. 

5. Risk-Informed Decision-Making for Integrated Water Resource 
Management Planning, West Maui Watershed. 

6. Upland Sediment Production and Delivery in the Great Lakes Region 
under Climate Change. 

7. Risk-Informed Decision-Making for Potential Sea-Level Rise Impacts 
on the Hamilton Wetland Restoration Project, California. 

8. Climate Modeling and Stakeholder Engagement to Support Adaptation 
in the Iowa-Cedar Watershed. 

9. Framework for Building Resiliency into Restoration Planning – Lower 
Columbia River Estuary. 

10. Climate Change Impacts on Water Supply in Marion Reservoir 
Watershed, Kansas. 

11. Missouri River Basin Mountain Snowpack – Accumulation and Runoff. 

12. Formulating Mitigation/Adaptation Strategies through Regional 
Collaboration with the Ohio River Basin Alliance. 

13. Utilization of Regional Climate Science Programs in Reservoir and 
Watershed Risk-Based Assessments, Oologah Lake and Watershed. 

14. Red River of the North Flooding at Fargo, North Dakota. 

15. East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet, New York, Collaboration 
Framework Development. 

Sources: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Map Resources (map). 

Note: Pilot studies 1-5 have been completed as of September 2013. 

[End of figure] 

According to the Corps' September 2012 report on its climate change 
adaptation pilots,[Footnote 52] each study addresses a central 
question designed to help the Corps, according to officials, test new 
ideas, develop and utilize information at the project-level scale, and 
to collect information needed to develop policy and guidance for 
incorporating adaptation into all agency activities. For example, 
because the reliability of a planned flood reduction project could 
depend on how climate change affects future flooding, the Corps 
launched a pilot study with the goals of determining (1) whether tools 
and data are available for the Corps to provide reliable estimates of 
future flooding using climate projections and (2) how changes in 
precipitation patterns will affect flood events. This pilot study's 
results supports the Corps' effort to design an approximately $1.8 
billion flood risk reduction project on the Red River of the North, 
where flooding has increased in magnitude and frequency since 1942. 
According to Corps officials, the pilot study successfully adapted 
existing tools and data to project future flooding, while also testing 
current guidance and contributing to the development of new guidance 
for future adaptation efforts. Specifically, Corps officials told us 
that climate data indicated a trend of flooding consistent with 
climate change projections. In accordance with existing Corps risk 
analysis guidance, the pilot study leader convened an expert panel to 
review the climate information. Based on the expert panel's findings, 
the pilot team is integrating climate data into the Corps' flood model 
to project future river conditions. In addition, a member of the pilot 
study team who is also responsible for developing the Corps' guidance 
for inland adaptation activities told us that he is integrating his 
observations and experiences from this study--as well as from his 
participation in other Corps pilots--into the guidance. 

Corps officials told us that the information developed by the Corps' 
climate change adaptation pilots is also contributing to subsequent 
Corps studies. For example, the climate change and modeling data for a 
pilot study of sediment impacts to Cochiti Dam and Lake in New Mexico 
is contributing to ongoing studies in the Corps' Albuquerque District. 
One is the Santa Clara Pueblo Watershed Assessment, which is studying 
observed climate trends and projected climate changes to address 
likely future changes to watershed hydrology on the Pueblo's lands, 
with particular attention to flood risk and water resources 
development. 

Reclamation Basin Studies: 

Reclamation is partnering with nonfederal entities to conduct focused 
assessments, known as Basin Studies, to identify specific water 
resources vulnerabilities and to implement the SECURE Water Act's 
requirement that Reclamation consider and develop strategies to 
mitigate climate change impacts on water supplies.[Footnote 53] As of 
September 2013, 3 Basin Studies have been completed, and an additional 
14 studies have been funded and are under way in western states (see 
figure 4).[Footnote 54] 

Figure 4: Locations of the Bureau of Reclamation's 17 Funded Basin 
Studies, as of September 2013: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated map] 

Basin Study name: 1. Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand 
Study; 
Year initiated: 2009. 

Basin Study name: 2. St. Mary River and Milk River Basins Study; 
Year initiated: 2009. 

Basin Study name: 3. Yakima River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2009. 

Basin Study name: 4. Henrys Fork of the Snake River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2010. 

Basin Study name: 5. Niobrara River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2010. 

Basin Study name: 6. Santa Ana River Watershed Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2010. 

Basin Study name: 7. Southeast California Regional Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2010. 

Basin Study name: 8. Truckee River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2010. 

Basin Study name: 9. Hood River Basin, Oregon Water Supply and Demand 
Study; 
Year initiated: 2011. 

Basin Study name: 10. Klamath River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2011. 

Basin Study name: 11. Lower Rio Grande Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2011. 

Basin Study name: 12. Sante Fe Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2011. 

Basin Study name: 13. Los Angeles Basin Stormwater Conservation Study; 
Year initiated: 2012. 

Basin Study name: 14. Pecos River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2012. 

Basin Study name: 15. Republican River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2012. 

Basin Study name: 16. Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2012. 

Basin Study name: 17. Upper Washita Basin Study; 
Year initiated: 2012. 

Depicted on the map: Reclamation Basin Study boundaries for the 
following basins: 
Colorado; 
Columbia; 
Klamath; 
Missouri; 
Sacramento - San Joaquin; 
Truckee - Carson; 
Upper Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers. 

Sources: Bureau of Reclamation; Map Resources (map). 

[End of figure] 

All three of Reclamation's completed Basin Studies projected climate 
change to result in warming and changes in precipitation that will 
alter the snow cover and runoff that supply water to the river basins, 
although the changes may be difficult to predict with certainty for 
any particular location and time. For example, the Colorado River 
Basin study projected that snow cover will decrease in the basin as 
more precipitation falls as rain, rather than snow, and warmer 
temperatures cause earlier melting. As a result, the runoff in the 
basin is generally projected to decrease--except in the northern 
Rockies. The study concluded that without additional water management 
actions, a wide range of future imbalances in supply and demand are 
plausible, primarily because of the uncertainty in future water 
supplies. 

The completed Basin Studies also found that climate change is expected 
to contribute to long-term imbalances in water supply and demand. The 
completed Basin Studies also identified, with varying degrees of 
specificity, possible adaptation strategies to address the projected 
effects of climate change on water resources. For example, the 
Colorado River Basin Study identified various combinations of 
potential adaptation strategies to address projected water supply and 
demand imbalances. The study noted that the purpose of identifying 
these strategies was not to select a single, best strategy, but rather 
to recognize that there are various ways to address projected water 
imbalances in the basin, and that each approach has positive and 
negative implications that should be considered in future planning 
efforts. Agency officials and study participants told us that 
Reclamation has formed workgroups to further refine the strategies and 
identify options that should then be evaluated through feasibility 
studies. In contrast, the Yakima River Basin Study identified a more 
specific set of adaptation strategies for which feasibility studies 
are planned. Nonfederal stakeholders, including those representing 
agricultural and the environmental interests, told us they are 
collaboratively pursuing state funding to initiate the feasibility 
studies. 

Reclamation policy officials and several other basin stakeholders--
including state water managers, environmental advocates, and local 
water providers--told us that a key outcome of the completed Basins 
Studies is the establishment of a shared view of how climate change 
will impact the basins and their water management infrastructure. 
Reclamation policy officials, as well as basin stakeholders 
representing environmental and tribal interests, told us that the 
Basin Studies represent Reclamation's first concerted efforts at 
holistic planning in the river basins, taking into account not only 
the needs and concerns of irrigation users, but also the interests of 
tribes, recreational users, environmental advocates, and others. A 
state water manager told us that a prior river basin planning effort 
had largely been unsuccessful due to the lack of involvement or 
opposition by environmental and tribal interests, and several 
stakeholders commended Reclamation for working to ensure that the 
views of a wide range of stakeholders, including environmental and 
tribal interests, were considered in the Basin Studies. 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

Steve D. Morris, (202) 512-3841 or morriss@gao.gov: 

Staff Acknowledgments: 

In addition to the individual named above, Elizabeth Erdmann, 
Assistant Director; Brad Dobbins; Richard Johnson; Mick Ray; Jeanette 
Soares; Lorelei St. James; and Sarah E. Veale made key contributions 
to this report. Nirmal Chaudhary, John Delicath, Cindy Gilbert, and 
Armetha Liles provided additional technical assistance. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates 
federal research on changes in the global environment and their 
implications for society. Led by a team of officials from each of the 
U.S. Global Change Research Program's 13 participating departments and 
agencies, the U.S. Global Change Research Program engages in a variety 
of activities designed to strengthen and strategically direct climate 
change research in the United States and improve the flow of that 
information to federal, state, and local decision makers, and the 
public. 

[2] Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson, eds., 
U.S. Global Change Research Program, Global Climate Change Impacts in 
the United States (New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 
2009). 

[3] Lins, Harry F., Hirsch, Robert M., and Kiang, Julie, Water--the 
Nation's Fundamental Climate Issue: A White Paper on the U.S. 
Geological Survey Role and Capabilities: U.S. Geological Survey 
Circular 1347 (2010). 

[4] GAO, Climate Change Adaptation: Strategic Federal Planning Could 
Help Government Officials Make More Informed Decisions, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-113] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 7, 
2009). 

[5] National Research Council, America's Climate Choices: Adapting to 
the Impacts of Climate Change (Washington, D.C.: 2010). 

[6] GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-283] (Washington, D.C.: February 
2013). 

[7] Pub. L. No. 111-11, tit. IX, subtit. F (2009). 

[8] Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, 
Energy, and Economic Performance, October 5, 2009. 74 Fed. Reg. 52117 
(Oct. 5, 2009). 

[9] Instructions for Implementing Climate Change Adaptation Planning 
in Accordance with Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in 
Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, March 4, 2011. 

[10] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance 
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 
2005). 

[11] Federal Interagency Panel on Climate Change and Water Data and 
Information, 2011, Report to Congress--Strengthening the scientific 
understanding of climate change impacts on freshwater resources of the 
United States, 49. 

[12] GAO, Climate Change Various Efforts Are Under Way at Key Natural 
Resources Management Agencies, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-253] (Washington, D.C.: May 31, 
2013). 

[13] L.D. Brekke, J.E. Kiang, J.R. Olsen, R.S. Pulwarty, D.A. Raff, 
D.P. Turnipseed, R.S. Webb, and K.D. White, Climate change and water 
resources management--A federal perspective: USGS Circular 1331 (2009). 

[14] Pub. L. No. 111-11, tit. IX, subtit. F (2009). 

[15] In addition, the law requires Reclamation to (1) coordinate with 
USGS, NOAA, and appropriate state water resource agencies to ensure 
that its climate change program has access to the best available 
scientific information on presently observed and projected future 
impacts of global climate change on water resources; (2) consult with 
other federal and applicable state agencies to develop a monitoring 
plan to acquire and maintain water resources information; and (3) 
submit a report to relevant congressional committees that describes, 
among other things, the results of its assessments and analysis, the 
mitigation strategies developed and implementation of the monitoring 
plans within 2 years of its passage, and every 5 years thereafter. 

[16] In our 2013 High-Risk Update, we noted that while individual 
agency actions are necessary, a centralized strategy driven by a 
government-wide plan is also needed to reduce the federal fiscal 
exposure to climate change, maximize investments, achieve 
efficiencies, and better position the government for success. Even 
then, such approaches will not be fully sufficient unless also 
coordinated with decisions at the state and local levels that drive 
much of the federal government's fiscal exposure. The challenge is to 
develop a cohesive approach at the federal level that also informs 
action at the state and local levels. 

[17] Council on Environmental Quality, Progress Report of the 
Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: Recommended Actions 
in Support of a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, October 
5, 2010. 

[18] Council on Environmental Quality, Federal Agency Climate Change 
Adaptation Planning, Implementing Instructions and Federal Agency 
Climate Change Adaptation Planning, Support Document, March 4, 2011. 

[19] In addition, as recommended in the 2010 progress report, the Task 
Force issued the National Action Plan--Priorities for Managing 
Freshwater Resources in a Changing Climate in October 2011, which 
established a goal for managing water resources in a changing climate, 
identified key recommendations to achieve that goal, and described 
specific supporting actions that federal agencies should take to 
implement the recommendations. 

[20] The USACE Climate Change Adaptation Policy Statement issued June 
3, 2011, established a Climate Change Adaptation Steering Committee to 
oversee and coordinate agency-wide climate change adaptation planning 
and implementation. The Corps' Climate Change Adaptation Steering 
Committee is chaired by the Chief, Engineering and Construction. The 
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works was designated as the 
USACE Senior Adaptation Point of Contact responsible for ensuring 
implementation of the Corps' adaptation policy. 

[21] In addition to the Corps and Reclamation, founding CCAWWG members 
included USGS and NOAA--two key climate science agencies. CCAWWG has 
since expanded to include, among others, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and U.S. Department of 
Agriculture. 

[22] L.D. Brekke, J.E. Kiang, J.R. Olsen, R.S. Pulwarty, D.A. Raff, 
D.P. Turnipseed, R.S. Webb, and K.D. White, Climate change and water 
resources management--A federal perspective: USGS Circular 1331(2009). 

[23] Committee on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources 
Science, Engineering, and Planning; Water Science and Technology 
Board; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Research Council, 
Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure: Deterioration, 
Investment, or Divestment? (The National Academies Press, Washington, 
D.C.: 2012). 

[24] Congressional Research Service, The Bureau of Reclamation's Aging 
Infrastructure, March 30, 2011. 

[25] The federal government annually invests billions of dollars in 
infrastructure projects that state and local governments prioritize 
and supervise through, for example, decisions on zoning and how to 
build vulnerable infrastructure such as roads and bridges. See 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-113]. 

[26] National Research Council, America's Climate Choices: Adapting to 
the Impacts of Climate Change (Washington, D.C.: 2010). 

[27] Other activities to address adaptation challenges, such as the 
development of new climate and hydrologic projections, computer tools 
to work with the projections, websites to facilitate user access to 
these resources, and training programs for on-the-ground water 
resources practitioners, are discussed later in this report. 

[28] The Corps included excerpts of this assessment in its June 2012 
Climate Adaptation Plan and Report, provided to the Council on 
Environmental Quality as required by Executive Order 13514. 

[29] Corps business areas cover the following: navigation, flood and 
coastal storm damage reduction, environment, hydropower, regulatory, 
recreation, emergency management, and water supply. 

[30] The Corps plans to initiate one additional pilot in 2013. 

[31] Pub. L. No. 111-11, § 9503(b)(2) (2009). 

[32] The SECURE Water Act identifies eight major reclamation river 
basins, but Reclamation only conducted seven West-Wide Climate Risk 
Assessments because one covers both the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
River Basins. 

[33] Reclamation officials told us the assessments are meant to 
fulfill the requirements of section 9503(b)(3) of the SECURE Water Act. 

[34] Pub. L. No. 111-11, § 9503(c) (2009). 

[35] Pub. L. No. 111-11, § 9503(b)(4) (2009). 

[36] Pub. L. No. 111-11, § 9503(b)(2) (2009). 

[37] Two additional studies were selected for funding in fiscal year 
2013. 

[38] L.D. Brekke, J.E. Kiang, J.R. Olsen, R.S. Pulwarty, D.A. Raff, 
D.P. Turnipseed, R.S. Webb, and K.D. White, Climate change and water 
resources management--A federal perspective: USGS Circular 1331 (2009). 

[39] Addressing Climate Change in Long-Term Water Resources Planning 
and Management: User Needs for Improving Tools and Information, U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation (Washington D.C.: January 2011) and Short-Term Water 
Management Decisions: User Needs for Improved Climate, Weather, and 
Hydrologic Information, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of 
Reclamation, and NOAA (Washington D.C.: January 2013). 

[40] We found in previous reports that gaps in NOAA's satellite 
coverage, which could occur as soon as 2014, are expected to affect 
the continuity of climate and space weather measurements. Given the 
importance of satellite data to weather forecasts, the likelihood of 
significant gaps, and the potential impact of such gaps on the health 
and safety of the U.S. population and economy, GAO has concluded that 
the potential gap in weather satellite data is a high-risk area and 
added it to the High-Risk List in 2013. For example, see GAO, 
Environmental Satellites: Focused Attention Needed to Mitigate Program 
Risks, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-841T] 
(Washington, D.C.: June 27, 2012). See also GAO, Environmental 
Satellites: Strategy Needed to Sustain Critical Climate and Space 
Weather Measurements, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-456] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 27, 
2010). 

[41] In our 2013 High-Risk Update, we identified the need to develop a 
government-wide approach for providing (1) the best available climate-
related data for making decisions at the state and local level and (2) 
assistance for translating available climate-related data into 
information that officials need to make decisions. 

[42] Interior's eight regional Climate Science Centers deliver basic 
climate change impact science to Landscape Conservation Cooperatives 
within their respective regions, including physical and biological 
research, ecological forecasting, and multiscale modeling. The centers 
prioritize their delivery of fundamental science, data, and decision-
support activities to meet the needs of the Landscape Conservation 
Cooperatives 

[43] The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment program consists 
of 11 research teams that emphasize collaborative regional climate 
research to help inform climate change adaptation planning and 
management. 

[44] In 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused tens of billions of dollars in 
damages to buildings, utilities, transportation systems, and other 
infrastructure. As we pointed out in our 2013 High-Risk Update, as 
weather-related events become more frequent and intense due to climate 
change, whatever resulting damages are not covered by insurance or 
built to be resilient to such events increases the federal 
government's implicit fiscal exposure through federal disaster relief 
programs. 

[45] The Federal Support Toolbox is available at [hyperlink, 
http://www.watertoolbox.us].  

[46] According to the CCAWWG study, adaptation to climate change will 
likely require water resource managers to move away from the 
traditional planning assumption of stationarity--the idea that 
historical records of stream flow and weather variation represent a 
reasonable proxy for the future--in designing and operating water 
resource systems. In the absence of stationarity, water managers will 
need to use new methods to estimate the likelihood of future 
hydrologic conditions, including approaches that use climate models to 
project a range of possible future condition scenarios. 

[47] The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is a 
consortium of over 100 member universities and academic affiliates 
focused on research and training in the atmospheric and related earth 
system sciences. Its COMETProgram uses innovative methods to 
disseminate and enhance scientific knowledge in the environmental 
sciences, particularly meteorology, but also including diverse areas 
such as oceanography, hydrology, space weather, and emergency 
management. The Western Water Assessment is a university-based applied 
research program that addresses societal vulnerabilities related to 
climate, particularly in the area of water resources. Its mission is 
to identify and characterize regional vulnerabilities to and impacts 
of climate variability and change and to develop information, 
products, and processes to assist decision makers throughout Colorado, 
Utah, and Wyoming. 

[48] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15]. 

[49] A lock is a navigation device with one or more fixed chambers in 
which the water level can be varied, allowing the raising and lowering 
of boats between stretches of water of different levels on rivers and 
canals. 

[50] An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water that, according to 
Reclamation, supplies enough water for a family of four for 1 year. 

[51] A megawatt hour is one thousand kilowatt-hours or one million 
watt-hours, which will power the average American home for 1 week. 

[52] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Climate Change Adaptation Pilots 
(June 2012). 

[53] Pub. L. No. 111-11, § 9503(b)(4) (2009). 

[54] Two additional studies were selected for funding in fiscal year 
2013: the San Diego Watershed Basin Study and the West Salt River 
Valley Basin Study. Reclamation is developing the scopes of the 
studies with the respective funding partners. 

[End of section] 

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