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Integration: A New Framework and Strategy for Water Management in Cities and Towns

On June 14, 2010, WERF, in collaboration with the Decentralized Water Resources Collaborative (DWRC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hosted a briefing and discussion of integrated water and other resource infrastructure in revitalizing cities and towns for the 21st Century. The meeting also included a discussion about the role of federal agencies in supporting the transition to new approaches.

In the past, siloed bureaucracies built centralized infrastructure in drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, energy, and transportation. In the future, these and other services will also be integrated and designed at the building, neighborhood, and watershed scales.

Smart "networks" of centralized and decentralized infrastructure will provide significant synergies of design, cost-savings, and an abundance of positive benefits for society, such as green space, restoration of waterways, clean air, and green jobs.

New Thinking on Integrated Systems

Speakers presented new thinking on integrated systems and case studies from across America. A variety of federal agency representatives also describedtheir vision and role in developing and implementing this new approach to sustainability and design.

During a facilitated discussion session, participants, including experts in sustainable, water infrastructure, federal agency and foundation representatives, and others:

• shared information about programs, activities, and interests;
• identified research needed to advance the science and knowledge of these systems; and
• discussed the role of federal leadership and recommended strategies by agencies.

A report will be developed from the meeting that highlights the key themes and outcomes.

Presentations from the Event

Welcome:  Jeff Moeller, WERF

Opening Remarks and Meeting Purpose:  Kimberly Brewer, Tetra Tech

Panel 1: Ideas, Concepts and Examples of New Approaches for Water Management

Integration: Restoring the Water Commons
Related handout
Valerie Nelson, Coalition for Alternative Wastewater Treatment, Massachusetts

Integrated Resource and Infrastructure Management: Key Elements of an Emerging Sustainable Water Paradigm
Related handout
Vic D’Amato, Tetra Tech, North Carolina

Closed-Loop Water and Energy Systems: Implementing Nature’s Design in Cities of the Future
Related handout
Patrick Lucey, Aqua-Tex, British Columbia

Integrated Water Centric Infrastructure Experience
Related handout
Ed Clerico, Alliance Environmental, LLC, New Jersey

Panel 2: Federal Agency Perspectives Julie Beth Hinds, moderator

Peter Silva, Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. EPA

John Simpson, Sustainable Design Engineer, Office of High Performance Green Buildings, GSA: Presentation

Josh Johnson, Staff, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Meeting Materials and Notes

• List of Registered Participants.
  
  
• Speaker Bios.
  
  
• Research and Products from the Decentralized Water Resources Collaborative
  
  
• List of Federal Programs for Sustainable, Integrated Water Infrastructure.
  This document provides a list of federal agency and department programs conducting work in integrated water infrastructure research.
  
  
• Baltimore Charter.
  In March 2007, WERF sponsored a research needs workshop in Baltimore as part of an international conference on sustainable water systems. The workshop produced a document called the “Baltimore Charter.”  The charter was drafted as a commitment to design new water systems that mimic and work with nature and that use integrated approaches.
  
  
• Meeting Summary Report.