Meggers joins effort to establish urban water sustainability research network

Princeton University researchers will join 14 academic institutions and partners nationwide on a $12 million project to address the challenges that threaten urban water systems in the United States and globally. Funded by the National Science Foundation and led by Colorado State University, the collaboration will establish the Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN), which will create technological, institutional and management solutions that help communities increase the resilience of their water systems and better respond to water crises.

The UWIN will build on long-standing programs at Princeton for research and training, as well as the University's recognized expertise in all areas related to water resources, said Elie Bou-Zeid, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and Princeton's principal investigator on the project. University programs related to water management include the study of urban rainfall modification, the water-climate nexus in cities, urban flood hazards, and innovative solutions for water and energy conservation in buildings, Bou-Zeid said.

The UWIN also will include Princeton researchers Forrest Meggers, an assistant professor of architecture and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and James Smith, the William and Edna Macaleer Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, and professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering. Princeton will receive more than $1 million of the grant funds, and the Princeton Environmental Institute will manage the University's portion of the program.

For more information, see the official press release on the University home page.