Climate Change and Resilience
Climate Change and Resilience
Building resilient communities through adaptive, innovative, and strategic solutions to climate impacts
Communities across North America are grappling with climate impacts. Severe weather, water scarcity, degrading ecosystems, and pressure to reduce emissions are forcing organizations to take action. Brown and Caldwell is collaborating with cities, utilities, and industry clients to develop custom solutions to solve complex climate challenges, including work with:
- Municipalities, utilities, and other public entities to establish transparency, trust, and stewardship into near-term and long-term planning and projects.
- Private sector companies to reduce business risks, increase opportunities for social impact, and manage reputational risk.
- Public and private sector collaborations that are not only mutually beneficial but have a broad positive impact on the local communities, watersheds, and environment.
Together, we seek robust alternatives that build adaptive capacity and preserve flexibility in the face of an uncertain future. We engage with our clients to apply methods for flexible design and adaptation, bolstered by a research team that tracks and pilots groundbreaking technologies. Our approach identifies and emphasizes the connectivity of interdependent systems, giving focus to nature-based solutions that both mitigate and enhance a community’s response to climate change.
Services
Water Resilience
Building climate resilient communities and industries through:
- Climate risk and vulnerability assessments
- Climate action, adaptation, and water resilience plans
- Scenario planning and decision support
- Adaptation strategy development for water system and supply reliability
- Nature-based solution planning and resilient design
One Carbon
- Resource recovery and valorization
- Energy utilization optimization
- Renewable energy generation
- GHG emissions assessment and reduction
Strategic Planning
- Scientific research and data-driven foundations for change
- Visioning, line of sight, and long-term planning
- Business case evaluations
- Climate transition plans
Establishing a vision for meeting future water challenges
State water planners are identifying and prioritizing water supply strategies that confront an uncertain future
Facing evolving challenges from climate change and population growth, the Colorado Water Conservation Board sought a revision of their Colorado Water Plan (CWP). Coordinating with stakeholders, BC developed an action-focused CWP update by prioritizing projects into strategy-focused plans for each of the State’s nine basins to identify and secure the state’s future water needs. This framework integrates climate change impacts, environmental needs, water supply projections, and forecasted gaps to comprehensively address Colorado’s long-term water supply needs.
A history of delivering innovative and forward-thinking solutions
BC and King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division have a legacy of innovation that began in 1958 with the development of the County’s original sewer and drainage survey. In the 1980s, BC designed the first-ever renewable natural gas pipeline from wastewater treatment system in North America and, at the time, the largest wastewater heat recovery project in the world. Ahead of its time, the project supported the County’s energy management plan and captured renewable energy in two innovative forms. Today, our work with the County to develop forward-thinking, multi-benefit solutions continues with the King County Clean Water Plan. This work will guide the direction and prioritization of billions of dollars in future County investments to achieve the best water quality benefits, provide equitable and affordable service, and address climate change and sustainability goals.
Advancing water action at the global scale
From accelerating progress and voluntary commitments driven by the Water Action Agenda to the future of water policy and green infrastructure, Dr. Carla De Las Casas, Rebecca Maco, Dr. Farokh Kakar, and Carolina Tornesi MacKinnon share key takeaways for the water industry.
“Maintaining reliability and system performance in an environment of changing climates, aging infrastructure, shifting regulations and ratepayer conscious budgets is a challenge we are proactively partnering with clients to meet.”
Adam Ross
Climate Change and Resilience Leader
“Maintaining reliability and system performance in an environment of changing climates, aging infrastructure, shifting regulations and ratepayer conscious budgets is a challenge we are proactively partnering with clients to meet.”
Adam Ross
Climate Change and Resilience Leader
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WEFTEC 2024
Brown and Caldwell advances research and innovation, elevates Dr. da Silva to director
Experienced engineer and scientist to accelerate water industry-leading program, fast-track groundbreaking environmental solutions
Brown and Caldwell advances research and innovation, elevates Dr. da Silva to director
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 – Brown and Caldwell (BC) announces the promotion of Dr. Allegra da Silva to director of Research & Innovation (R&I) as the firm continues to advance research and technical innovation in the water and environment sector.
Brown and Caldwell’s R&I program is an industry-leading program that advances applied science and accelerates innovation. Over the past five years, the program has sponsored 200 projects with over 100 clients.
As director of R&I, Dr. da Silva will be responsible for advancing BC’s R&I strategy, including acceleration and application of innovation in collaboration with the firm’s Technology and Innovation Leadership Team. She is committed to ensuring that Brown and Caldwell is well-positioned to address our clients’ greatest challenges with leading-edge, integrated solutions.
“Dr. da Silva is fully dedicated to integrating our best research and innovation into everything we do at BC. She brings a wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm, and strategic thinking to this role. I’m very excited for BCers, our research partners, and our clients to experience her leadership firsthand.”
Brown and Caldwell Chief Technical Officer Wendy Broley
Dr. da Silva brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her new leadership role with more than two decades of experience in environmental engineering consulting and research including:
- U.S. Agency for International Development
- EPA Guidelines for Water Reuse, technical editor
- WateReuse Colorado, president
- The Water Environment Federation (WEF) blue-ribbon panel of wastewater and public health experts, vice-chair
Since joining the firm in 2018, Dr. da Silva has served as a technical advisor on more than 30 BC projects, including the Environmental Investigation for Emerging Contaminants (EIEC) in Honolulu; the Recycled Water Program in Boise, Idaho; and various PFAS-focused projects across the country. She also has overseen BC’s portfolio of Water Research Foundation (WRF) projects and has served on the WRF Research & Innovation Strategy Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Dr. da Silva is engaged in national regulatory forums to influence policy around direct potable reuse (DPR), ambient water quality criteria, and PFAS management. Her passion for working at the intersection of science and policy is evident in her contributions as a technical author for the 2012 U.S. EPA Guidelines for Water Reuse, the 2017 U.S. EPA Potable Reuse Compendium, and the 2017 WEF Water Reuse Roadmap.
A licensed professional engineer based in Colorado, Dr. da Silva holds a doctorate and master’s degree in environmental engineering from Yale University and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is based in Brown and Caldwell’s Denver, Colorado, office.
About Brown and Caldwell
Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction services firm with 50 offices and over 2,100 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 75 years, our creative solutions have helped municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome their most challenging water and environmental obstacles. As an employee-owned company, Brown and Caldwell is passionate about exceeding our clients’ expectations and making a difference for our employees, our communities, and our environment. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com
Unlocking the potential of corporate water stewardship to address water challenges
Related News
Brown and Caldwell receives $650,000 from The Water Research Foundation for projects supporting climate resilience and sustainability
WEFTEC 2024 preview highlights innovative Brown and Caldwell presentations
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Related Papers and Reports
- Pathways and Barriers to Corporate Water Stewardship in the Colorado River Basin
- The Value of Inside-the-Fence Projects as Part of a Water Sustainability Program
- Sustainability: Opportunities at Your Facility to Think Globally and Act Locally
- Sustainability, One
- Enhancing Your Utilitys Competitive Edge by Incorporating Sustainability
- Effect of Climate Change on Sewer Overflows in Milwaukee