Brown and Caldwell partners with WUCA to provide guidance on climate-resilient water infrastructure

Brown and Caldwell was selected by the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) to lead an industry project that will provide utilities with practical design guidance on how to build more climate-resilient water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

WUCA, a coalition of 12 of the nation’s leading water providers, awarded $75,000 in funding to Brown and Caldwell for its “Climate Resilient Engineering Design Guidance for the Water Sector” project.

Brown and Caldwell is also providing an additional in-kind contribution of $244,000 to support the project, bringing together its planning, engineering and design teams to collaboratively support this effort. The final report is expected to be published for the water industry in early 2026.

“While challenges posed by climate change are many, so are the solutions we can collaboratively implement together to achieve reliable, resilient services,” said Dr. Tess Sprague, deputy project manager and resilience lead at Brown and Caldwell, in a press release. “With this project, Brown and Caldwell is proud to work with WUCA to help write the book on climate-informed design and support water agency leaders in better planning, engineering and designing resilient water infrastructure for their communities now and in the future.”

For the project, Brown and Caldwell’s team of design and technical practitioners – led by Sprague and Karri Ving, the firm’s managing principal in functional resilience, will work closely with WUCA utility members.

According to a press release, the initiative is a first for the industry, as there’s currently no national climate resilience design guidance that provides in-depth design strategies for a range of water utility projects, including new or upgraded facilities ranging from reservoirs and treatment plants to pump stations and tanks.

The resulting design strategies will help drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities make their infrastructure and equipment more resilient to severe heat waves, storms, floods, droughts, rising sea levels and other climate risks. The guidance will provide a matrix of different types of projects, climate threats and adaptive measures for utilities to then incorporate into their own engineering design standards and work.

“This initiative meets the emerging and urgent need for utilities to address the climate vulnerabilities that matter most to them,” Ving said in a press release. “The tangible design strategies we develop with WUCA utility members will put climate resilience into action. Our Brown and Caldwell team looks forward to delivering this important work, which aligns with our experience and focus on providing climate-informed designs and best practices for our water clients.”