UWIN INTEGRATION TASK FORCE

Phase I: Integrated Case Study at the National Western Center in Denver, Colorado.

Primary Contact: Sybil Sharvelle (sybil.sharvelle@colostate.edu)

Goals and Objectives

The overarching goal of this work is to enhance capacity of decision makers to reach integrated decisions that foster One Water approaches and build sustainable urban water systems through development of integrated web decision tools. 

Many models exist that inform decisions for urban water systems. These models provide benefit in that they go beyond decision making based on costs, but still remain siloed in the options considered. The models promote decisions that are optimal for one component of the system, without whole system considerations that include co-benefits or consequences of strategies.

For One Water approaches to be successfully embraced, models must be integrated to inform decisions across all sectors of the urban water system under a range of future conditions (e.g., climate change, social preferences, land use). By “integrated”, we mean the models must produce applicable results for multiple sectors and benefactors of urban water systems responsive to the various solutions. We propose development of a translational software portal that serves as a planning level tool to identify tradeoffs of integrative urban water management strategies considering economic, social, and environmental contexts.

Current Activities

Development of the web tools will start with an integrated study at the National Western Center redevelopment area. The objective of that study is to assess benefits and consequences of alternative integrated water, wastewater, and stormwater management strategies. The test bed study will guide development of the final product, integrated web decision tools for One Water urban systems.

Study location

 A testbed study will be conducted the Globeville-Elyria Swansea (GES) neighborhood in Denver, CO where the National Western Center (NWC) development is planned.

Milestones and Timeline

This project will start with an application of existing urban water models to a test bed study area to assess benefits and consequences of alternative integrated water, wastewater, and stormwater management strategies (Activity 1). The test bed study will be used to inform the development of a web tool for One Water urban systems (Activity 2).

Activity 1: Application of Urban Water Models to GES Redevelopment (December, 2018 – May, 2019)

Models developed by the UWIN team will be applied to the NWC redevelopment area to assess benefits and consequences of alternative water management strategies. Models to be applied include IUWM, CLASIC, the Water Distribution Infrastructure Model, and models developed by Dave Hondula to assess connections between urban climate and human health. Water management strategies to be assessed include:

• Water efficiency (indoor appliances and irrigation)
• Use of alternate water sources (graywater, wastewater, roof runoff, and stormwater)
• Green infrastructure for stormwater management (e.g., rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement)
• Stream bank and flood plain restoration

These strategies will be assessed based on the UWIN indicators. We will work directly with the Indicators Integration project team to develop and apply appropriate indicators. The test bed study will include a range of future conditions to identify strategies that are effective across variable conditions. This activity will identify gaps in existing models and requirements to interface models to inform development of the web tool for One Water urban systems (Activity 2).

Activity 2: Development Web Tool for One Water Urban Systems (April 2019 – January 2020)

Existing models will be enhanced and interfaced to develop a web tool to foster One Water uban systems. The web tool will utilize the Catena geographical information system (GIS: CSU One Water Solutions Institute) for a user friendly web-based interface that applies multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Users will be guided on selection of importance factors for UWIN indicators via series of
questions and decision trees. The tool will be developed to accommodate test bed locations in UWIN regions with varying climatic conditions, infrastructure, decision drivers, and social preferences. These products will undergo an extensive vetting process that includes review by the UWIN team (technical and social science) and external stakeholders via coordination with the Stakeholder Engagement Team.

Participants

The leadership team includes Brian Bledsoe (B, UGA); Mike Sukop (E/C, FIU); Elie Bou-Zeid (A, Princeton); Sybil Sharvelle (B, CSU). Other UWIN PIs include:

• Mazdak Arabi
• Elie Bou-Zeid
• Forrest  Meggers
• Sybil Sharvelle
• Arpad Horvath
• Brian Bledsoe
• Mike Sukop
• Alan Berkowitz
• Harry Zhang