Center for Secure Water (C4SW) to address water stresses current and future

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has launched the Center for Secure Water (C4SW), a new initiative dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions in the water resources sector. The Center seeks to address both current challenges and future water needs while upholding core values of excellence, adaptability, equity and impact creation.

C4SW harnesses the collective expertise of transdisciplinary teams, combining deep domain expertise, science-based actionable knowledge, innovative engineering practices and products, ethical technology, socio-economic equitable principles and policies, and a systems approach to risk management. Through this comprehensive approach, it will  foster the co-development of solutions inspired by user needs and preferences, ensuring that our efforts yield tangible and sustainable benefits for society.

The rising demand for water across various sectors, including agriculture, industry and energy production, coupled with a growing global population, is causing severe water stress on the global scale. Climate change further compounds these challenges, altering the water cycle and increasing the frequency and intensity of water-related hazards such as floods, droughts and degraded water supplies. These hazards pose threats to infrastructure, livelihoods and ecosystems, particularly impacting vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in North America and around the world.

Addressing these water-related challenges requires the development of innovative, smart and resilient water systems. The approach explores the creation of resilient infrastructure, adopts integrated and adaptive water management policies and practices, and incorporates ecosystem conservation and green infrastructure.

“At the Center for Secure Water, we are dedicated to developing novel solutions that ensure the sustainability and resilience of freshwater availability in coupled human-natural systems, safeguarding the well-being and prosperity of both current and future generations,” said CEE Department Head Ana Barros, C4SW’s Director.

Advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence, smart sensors, and new materials, offer promising opportunities for engineers to develop groundbreaking solutions to the water crisis. CEE Professor Ximing Cai, Deputy Director for C4SW, highlighted CEE's contribution in the space.

"The University of Illinois’ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering possesses an unparalleled combination of intellectual depth and breadth, extensive experience and a proven track record of engineering excellence with a global footprint," Cai said.

CEE's collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications further enhances its capabilities in developing transformative water sustainability solutions by tapping into cutting-edge computational resources.

Ana Pinheiro Privette joins CEE as the Managing Director for the Center for Secure Water, and the Director for Research Applications and New Research Initiatives in CEE. Before joining UIUC, Pinheiro Privette worked at Amazon Web Services as the Head of Sustainability for AWS Impact Computing, and the Global Lead for the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI). Prior to that, she led projects for the White House climate portfolio, including the Obama Climate Data Initiative (CDI) and the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP), and worked as a research scientist at NASA and NOAA.

Pinheiro Privette underscored the importance of collaboration across sectors to catalyze the necessary change in the water space.

“We understand the critical need to establish strong partnerships across academia, industry, government and civil society,” she said. “These collaborations are vital for co-designing and executing the most impactful solutions to tackle the challenges of our dynamic water future.”

The Center for Secure Water is actively engaging stakeholders in an extensive process to identify key challenges and guide the prioritization of initiatives. Additionally, they are seeking requests for collaboration from internal and external partners, fostering a network for innovative solutions in water resources.

Hero image: iStock.com/AvigatorPhotographer