Advancing Evidence-Based GSI Decision Making

Thu, Aug 13th 2020, 10:00am - 12:00pm

The Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues is an initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that makes clear, concise and actionable scientific evidence available to decision-makers as they act on pressing local issues, including clean water. Green infrastructure is gaining momentum as a stormwater management solution, and there is a growing body of evidence on how GSI can sustainably, affordably, and resiliently manage urban stormwater runoff. To make this information accessible to local water leaders, a primary effort for EPI Center is to build a compendium of evidence-based GSI information designed to inform local stormwater management decisions.

As part of this work, in this free webcast we will:

  • Foster a peer discussion between communities already down the road of using green stormwater infrastructure and cities interested in GSI but have not yet begun implement at scale;
  • Gather decision-makers’ insights into the types of scientific and evidentiary resources they need to advance green infrastructure as a core stormwater management tool in their community.

Participants in this interactive virtual event will engage with our featured stormwater practitioners and EPI Center staff in a facilitated discussion moderated by WaterNow’s Director of Utility Relations, Walt Wadlow.

Featured Speakers:

Tyler Antrup, Director of Planning & Strategy at the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans oversees strategic and system planning. He has a decade of experience in sustainable urban water management, working mostly in New Orleans to implement green infrastructure solutions to flooding. His work has included development and implementation of New Orleans’ first stormwater code, work on plans such as the New Orleans Main Street Resilience Plan, HousingNOLA, and authoring the Economic Benefits section of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan.

James MacAdam, Superintendent, Public Information and Conservation at Tucson Water manages the public information and conservation office for southern Arizona’s largest water utility serving more than 750,000 customers. He developed and is leading the development of the City of Tucson’s new Green Stormwater Infrastructure Fund. Prior to joining the City of Tucson, James spent four years implementing community based green infrastructure and water harvesting projects with the nonprofit Watershed Management Group.

Kimberly Du Buclet, Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, was elected to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) Board of Commissioners in November, 2018. As a native resident of the South Side and a lifelong Chicagoan, she is proud to serve the residents of Cook County. As a Commissioner, she is working to increase awareness of environmental justice issues throughout Cook County and to increase open green space for communities while providing additional green infrastructure opportunities for water conservation.

Jessica Brooks, Director, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Unit, Philadelphia Water Department, came to the Water Department in 2007 after working for several years in the private sector in both the laboratory and engineering consulting settings. Ms. Brooks has applied her engineering background to a wide range of water resource protection projects from the city block up to the watershed scale. Her primary focus at PWD has been developing and implementing the policies, partnerships, and design standards necessary to install green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) systems at the scale required to make it an effective tool for regulatory compliance.

Corey O’Connor, Councilmember, Pittsburgh City Council, Corey O’Connor was initially elected to represent Pittsburgh City Council District 5 in 2012, and is currently serving his third term. During his time on Council, Corey has worked collaboratively with his fellow Council Members and other elected officials in the County and State. His legislative accomplishments include investing heavily in green infrastructure and flooding mitigation projects. Corey chairs Council’s Committee on Public Safety Services and serves on several boards, including ALCOSAN. Corey is the youngest of Pittsburgh’s late Mayor Bob O’Connor and Judy O’Connor’s three children. He resides in Swisshelm Park.

EPI Center & WaterNow Speakers:

Dr. Rebecca Aicher, Project Director at the Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues (EPI Center) most recently worked with the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program to support scientific collaborations and community building in science. Prior to AAAS, she worked on policy-relevant scientific research including topics related to invasive species, restoration of ecosystems, climate change, and water resources at the Northeast Midwest Institute, US Global Change Research Program and EPA, among others.

Walt Wadlow, Director of Utility Relations, draws on over 30 years of water utility and California water policy experience to assist in outreach to local, state, and federal government entities. Walt has a broad water utility engineering and management experience at the wholesale and retail levels. He has served as General Manager, Alameda County Water District; Assistant General Manager, Santa Clara Valley Water District; Board member, California Urban Water Agencies; and President California State Water Contractors. Currently, he is in his second term on the City of Santa Cruz Water Commission.

Caroline Koch, Water Policy Director, is an environmental attorney with broad experience. In her role at WaterNow, she focuses on identifying and clearing policy and legal barriers to implementation of sustainable water management practices through toolkit development, legislative and administrative advocacy, and policy white papers.

 Read more at the event page here.