Water 2050: Our Responsibility as YPs

Abstract

From David LaFrance, CEO, AWWA: Most recently, the Last Drop column has focused on how AWWA's Water 2050 initiative is charting the course of water to the year 2050. A critical part of the initiative is making sure many voices—especially the voices of water's current young professionals (YPs)—are framing this forward-looking strategy. When I talk to water's YPs, I am left with confidence about the future. They are bold, smart, and visionary, and 10 of them have paired up and are initiating a Last Drop Takeover. What this means is, for the next five Last Drop columns, you will hear directly from them about their thoughts of the future. In this inaugural Last Drop Takeover, Progga Chirontoni and Eric Kong paint a clear vision of what needs to be done and, importantly, why. Progga is a water/wastewater engineer with HDR Engineering. She has a master's degree in environmental and water resources engineering and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and mathematics. Eric is a project engineer with Freese and Nichols Inc., with more than six years of experience in the design and construction of water production and water resource recovery facilities. Here is what they have to say about the future of water. As we approach the increasingly hot days of summer, two routines are synonymous with this season: water restrictions and road trips—as disparate as they may seem, there is a connection. When you travel across this country, you can seamlessly pass through a town with a population smaller than your local high school to a city that stretches for miles. Even those small communities are part of our world, filled with people who rely on water as much as the next person. Every one of these communities is a crucial element of our water ecosystem and ultimately the future of water. According to AWWA's 2023 State of the Water Industry report, surveyed utilities agreed on the top three issues facing the water industry: (1) renewal of aging water infrastructure, (2) long-term drinking water supply availability, and (3) financing for capital improvements. These issues are not future projections but challenges that we face today. A practical example regarding infrastructure financing is the issue smaller utilities face with dwindling populations. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) “Small Drinking Water Systems Research and Development,” there are more than 143,000 active public water systems in the United States; of those, 97% are considered small systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act, meaning they serve 10,000 or fewer individuals. These small systems are constrained by limited resources, including staff, revenue, and equipment redundancy, but they still are responsible for maintaining and replacing their community's water infrastructure. When these utilities face significant financial hardships, they can quickly fall into a feedback loop, where utility revenue is limited, repairs are postponed, infrastructure fails, and the cycle begins again. Just as this challenge exists, the opposite is just as true with areas facing rapid growth, struggling to maintain resources to keep pace with expanding populations. These and other issues, including water supply reliability, the dearth of a water workforce, a shifting environment due to climate change, and the increased need for innovative technologies, exemplify the crossroads we are at in the water industry. As we forge ahead into the future, the question that humanity has faced when a challenge arises remains the same: what do we do now? How do we face the growing challenges of water scarcity and equity? These issues need to be addressed by us—water professionals—in collaboration with local communities. We do this work not for ourselves but for the people around us. Our hope for the future is more than bare-minimum solutions; it involves thoughtful plans that enrich current and future generations. This goal requires all water professionals to take part in this endeavor, with each individual seeking to solve their puzzle piece for the common goal of protecting public health and the environment through the effective management of water. Nothing is too daunting when we all work together to face these challenges and develop solutions.