The City of Portland, Oregon is at the forefront of resilient planning for collection systems and has forged new territory with its forward-looking Resiliency Master Plan. Brown and Caldwell helped the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) develop the plan with an innovative approach for its drainage and wastewater systems. The goal of this plan was to conduct evaluations to understand how to effectively meet levels of service for drainage, water quality, system overflows, basement backups, and flood management with an uncertain future. The plan included a prioritized list of improvements to reduce the risk of infrastructure failure from climate change and seismic hazards and to increase the city’s ability to recover from a natural disaster. Brown and Caldwell evaluated processes to assess and reduce vulnerabilities and incorporate resilience measures into the city’s capital program, design standards manuals, and operational practices – supporting a foundation for continued incorporation of resilience throughout the city’s future drainage and wastewater planning.
Building resilient master planning for an uncertain future
