Water Center Projects

Utilities, municipalities, and counties are at a crossroads; not only must they face external stressors due to climate change (e.g. extreme events with increasing frequency and intensity), but they must also address aging infrastructure, population shifts (densification and shrinking cities), and additional pressure on networks already over-capacity. Adaptive management strategies for improving water management policies and practice based on past experiences is needed to appropriately account for such uncertainty. This project focuses on finding the balance (or the “sweet spot”) for how… Read More

The Catawba Wateree Basin includes more than 367 river miles and 11 interconnected reservoirs with 12 hydro-electric power plants and several other power plants throughout the basin. The basin’s waters also provide drinking water for several communities in the basin. The Catawba Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) is made up of approximately 70 municipal and energy stakeholders. In 2015, the group adopted a water supply management plan and in 2021, they began updating that plan and converting it to an integrated water resources plan to better represent the group’s comprehensive approach to… Read More

This mentoring/leadership program is designed to support current and future leaders in small to medium US water utilities (SMUs) and provide an opportunity for leaders from the most successful US utilities an opportunity to assist others in moving the utility sector toward an innovative, inclusive, transformative approach to water and utility management. Program Overview: The core of Partnerships for America’s Water Future (PAWF) is a mentoring program between SMUs and LUOW leaders. Other opportunities include: Leadership trainings  Networking opportunities

This research project aims to evaluate the role that GSI has in the redevelopment approval process (and subsequently, PWD’s role), and how the approval process can be better streamlined to allow for GSI integrations in the early stages of redevelopment project planning. Our output will be a detailed and illustrative white paper that will feature an infographic detailing and explaining the process to be used for advocacy and evaluating aspects that may be convoluted or redundant, as well as what might be missing. In addition to evaluating this process, the document will explore the roles that… Read More

The Water Center at Penn and Penn Praxis are coleading the development of a comprehensive stormwater master plan for Pittsburgh. This plan will ultimately provide a global model using the P4 Framework of People, Planet, Place, and Performance to provide an innovative, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable blueprint to address one of our region’s most challenging problems. For too long, aging infrastructure and the impacts of climate change have created challenges for stormwater management. The increasingly frequent and intense rain causes the combined sewer system to overflow into rivers and… Read More