Browsing by Author "Patterson, Lauren"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    2020 Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum Water Affordability and Equity Briefing Document
    (2020-08-12) Patterson, Lauren; Doyle, Martin
    The importance of water and sanitation for public health is once again visible and may change the trajectory of the water sector moving forward. Given that water is essential for public health, what must be done to ensure that these life-sustaining services are affordable and accessible to all and the utilities providing services are financially resilient? How do we reconcile the different values as individuals and society negotiate who decides, who gets what, and who pays. In a just society this process is inclusive, meaning all have a seat at the table. To unpack these questions, this paper explores the evolution of water services in the United States. The construction of water and wastewater systems during the 19th and early 20th century were significant feats. Now, most people have access to water, most tap water is drinkable, most dams are secure, most farms can grow more with less water, and most rivers are cleaner than they were 50 years ago. Most does not mean all. There is growing evidence that an increasing number of Americans are losing access to safe drinking water and sanitation—and others never had it at all.
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    Addressing Financial Sustainability of Drinking Water Systems with Declining Populations: Lessons from Pennsylvania
    (2020-10-01) Bash, Rachel; Grimshaw, Walker; Horan, Kat; Stanmyer, Ruby; Warren, Simon; Patterson, Lauren
    Many cities across the United States have declined in population over recent decades, creating numerous challenges to providing safe drinking water to their residents. Such “shrinking cities” are particularly prevalent in the Northeast and upper Midwest, (i.e., the “Rust Belt”) where globalization of the economy, particularly manufacturing, has shifted employment opportunities away from these once vital centers of the American economy. Drinking water systems serving cities with declining populations face the challenge of maintaining adequate service on smaller revenues. Fewer, poorer residents are left to pay for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure that was designed to support larger populations and commercial industries. As this infrastructure ages, increases in water rates to finance the necessary maintenance of these outsized systems may become unaffordable for many customers. Proper upkeep of a city’s water infrastructure is critical to public health yet requires considerable funding that can be difficult to secure. The compounding nature of these challenges can lead to unsustainable and unaffordable water systems. This report focuses on the challenges facing water utilities in areas where population has declined in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A total of 16 water systems were broadly analyzed, with in-depth analyses of four municipal water systems in the cities of Altoona, Chester, Johnstown, and Reading. These four cases highlight some of the overall trends and complications faced by shrinking cities. Challenges to the utilities are explored and each system is quantified based on a set of financial indicators, credit rating assessments, rates and affordability metrics, borrowing behavior, and drinking water violations to fully capture current performance. An analysis of the incentives and impediments of current policies and agencies in place to assist water utilities in the financing of their endeavors is also included, as well as recommended policy modifications to better address water system challenges.
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    Creating Data as a Service for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reservoirs
    (2018-01-11) Patterson, Lauren; Doyle, Martin; Kuzma, Samantha
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    Data and Modeling Infrastructure for National Integration of Ecosystem Services into Decision Making: Expert Summaries
    (2017-07-17) Olander, Lydia; Bagstad, Ken; Characklis, Gregory; Comer, Patrick; Effron, Micah; Gunn, John; Holmes, Tom; Johnston, Robert; Kagan, James; Lehman, William; Loomis, John; McPhearson, Timon; Neale, Anne; Patterson, Lauren; Richardson, Leslie; Ross, Martin; Saah, David; Sifleet, Samantha; Stockmann, Keith; Urban, Dean; Wainger, Lisa; Winthrop, Robert; Yoskowitz, David
    Resource managers face increasingly complex decisions as they attempt to manage for the long-term sustainability and the health of natural resources. Incorporating ecosystem services into decision processes provides a means for increasing public engagement and generating more transparent consideration of tradeoffs that may help to garner participation and buy-in from communities and avoid unintended consequences. A 2015 White House memorandum from the Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Management and Budget, and Office of Science Technology and Policy acknowledged these benefits and asked all federal agencies to incorporate ecosystem services into their decision making. This working paper, expanded since its initial publication in November 2016, describes the ecological and social data and models available for quantifying the production and value of many ecosystem services across the United States. To achieve nationwide inclusion of ecosystem services, federal agencies will need to continue to build out and provide support for this essential informational infrastructure.
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    Estimating the Value of Public Water Data
    (2017-06-22) Gardner, John; Doyle, Martin; Patterson, Lauren
    Public water data, such as river flow from stream gauges or precipitation from weather satellites, produce broad benefits at a cost to the general public. This paper presents a review of the academic literature on the costs and benefits of government investments in public water data. On the basis of 21 studies quantifying the costs and benefits of public water quantity data, it appears that the median benefit-cost ratio across different economic sectors and geographic regions is 4:1. But a great deal of uncertainty attends this number; very few studies empirically quantify or monetize the costs, the benefits, or both of water information with sound economic methods, and no studies have quantified the value of water quality information. This review is part of an ongoing effort by the Nicholas Institute of Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University and the Aspen Institute to develop the foundations of an Internet of Water by quantifying the potential value of open and integrated public water data.
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    Evaluating Need for Adaptation for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District Reservoirs
    (2016-04-29) Tchamkina, Mary
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates over 500 reservoirs in the U.S., the majority of which are 50 years old. As the agency looks to the future, it is crucial for it to understand which reservoirs continue to meet design and operational goals. This report examines the Corps’ reservoir policy and historic operations to assess the reservoirs’ need for adaptation, focusing on the Wilmington District in Southeastern U.S. Four metrics are developed using Corps data and documentation. The metrics are synthesized via a model that presents 5 Wilmington reservoirs as a system. The model helps visualize concepts of operational flexibility and thresholds of adaptation, though reliable estimates of the latter could not be gleaned from Corps documentation. The report concludes that the agency's wide discretion is at odds with the establishment of thresholds for adaptation. This disincentive may undermine the Corps' ability to prepare for climate challenges of the 21st century.
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    Increasing Water Affordability through a Statewide Customer Assistance Program in California
    (2023-04-28) Lee, Jennifer
    California has adopted a statewide policy where “every human being has the right to clean, safe, affordable, and accessible water.” Yet having the right to clean and affordable water is not the same as having clean and affordable water. Customer assistance programs (CAP) can offer financial relief and bridge the gap to making water more affordable for everyone. Many water utilities offer rebates, subsidies, high bill adjustments, and other financial programs to help offset the cost of water utility bills. While these programs vary by water supplier, California legislators have introduced a statewide water rate assistance program. However, this bill was ultimately vetoed by the governor due to a lack of sustainable funding source. Regardless, water affordability remains an important issue and this project analyzes different options for a statewide CAP, quantifies how much it would cost, and evaluate if it is affordable for low-income households.
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    Sensitivity Analysis of Using Municipal Boundaries as a Proxy for Service Area Boundaries When Calculating Water Affordability Metrics
    (2022-03-18) Patterson, Lauren; Bryson, Sophia; Doyle, Martin
    Water is essential for life, and yet one of the nation’s most pressing water challenges has become ensuring that water services are affordable for households and communities. While there has been growing attention and concern around affordable water services, the actual scale of the problem remains poorly understood, in part because of the lack of data availability. The Nicholas Institute’s Water Affordability Dashboard was developed to provide several affordability metrics pulling together publicly available data from different sources: census data, rates data, and digital service area boundaries. As of January 2022, the dashboard provided affordability metrics for over 3,000 utilities located within 10 states, showing that between a tenth to a third of households struggle with affording water services. The ability to understand affordability challenges in other states is limited in states without digital service area boundaries. Digital service area boundaries are used to identify which communities are served by drinking water and wastewater utilities. A recent inventory by McDonald et al. (2022) shows that over half of the states do not have digital water service area boundaries. This study sought to determine if municipal boundaries could be used as a proxy for service area boundaries when calculating water affordability metrics. We explored several proxy (substitute) geographical boundaries by using different methods to (1) identify municipalities served by water service providers, (2) obtain the digital proxy boundaries (i.e., state provided municipal boundaries or nationally available census places), and (3) account for “outside” service areas for utilities for utilities that charge different rates to customers located outside municipal boundaries (Table ES1). Four affordability metrics were estimated using five different proxies for service area boundaries across 154 utilities representing a sample of states (California, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington), system size (small, medium, medium-large, large, and very large), and ownership type (public and private). There was good correlation (Spearman > 0.95) between affordability metrics using service area boundaries and all proxy geographical boundaries. The overall results indicate that municipal boundaries may serve as a proxy for digital service areas for calculating affordability metrics for public municipal water systems, with a median difference for all affordability metrics within ±0.30% of metrics when calculated using service area boundaries.
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    Water Risk Assessment & Strategy for Lenovo Group Ltd.
    (2020-04-24) Lee, Dennis; Raby Amadori, Felipe
    Clean and reliable water sources are vital for industries and communities; however, water resources are predicted to become more stressed in the coming decades. It is important for private sector organizations, such as Lenovo, to understand their water risk and pursue sustainable water practices. This study assesses the water risks and current management practices in Lenovo’s operations. We confirm that Lenovo’s facilities are exposed to water risks; in particular, flood and drought occurrences are projected to increase due to climate change. Analysis of Lenovo’s CDP Water Security responses show that improvement in disclosure and management practices can increase water stewardship. Additionally, Lenovo’s water stewardship will improve with better monitoring, board oversight, estimating financial impacts from water-related issues, and developing a water policy.