CAREER: CAS-Climate: Environmental Sustainability of Combined versus Separate Sewer Systems along the U.S. West Coast

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The integrated research and educational activities of this CAREER project target advancing scientific understanding of chronic stressors along the coast, such as Sea-Level Rise (SLR), and their associated sustainability implications for wastewater infrastructure. The project will analyze the interconnected environmental and social dimensions of SLR-induced groundwater shoaling by taking into account the impacts of potential adaptation strategies. Shoaling occurs when rising seawater pushes inland. The denser marine water underlies shallow freshwater aquifers, pushing them upward. Thus, SLR is likely to disrupt urban systems below the ground, for kilometers away from the coastline. Of particular focus are the processes through which wastewater infrastructure is impacted by SLR-driven groundwater shoaling and precipitation intensification. Disruptions are expected to cause an increased likelihood of sewer overflows, especially in communities that lack quality infrastructure resilient against groundwater infiltration. Communities with vulnerable and underrepresented populations are the place-based locations for study in this project.The project seeks to (i) discover to what extent SLR and precipitation intensification may result in a systemic increase of groundwater flux in coastal wastewater systems, (ii) assess sewer overflow-related eco-toxicity impacts on marginalized communities that are susceptible to a disproportionate impact; (iii) develop a novel, twofold machine learning paradigm to boost the efficacy of sewer footage big data analytics for the systemic evaluation of groundwater infiltration risks; and (iv) quantify the sustainability of adaptation strategies by developing a mutual framework where underserved stakeholders provide input into what challenges and mitigations are to be assessed, while learning longer-term sustainability implications. In support of educational affordability, this project will develop open educational resources benefiting many undergraduate students during the project and beyond. It will also engage K-12 students and teachers through yearly workshops on infrastructure and sustainability. Additionally, the project will develop a new course as a technical upper-division elective for civil and environmental majors at SDSU to fill curricular needs in PI’s department in the area of infrastructure sustainability. As a faculty member at SDSU, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), the PI aims to actively engage students from underrepresented groups through existing recruiting initiatives for broadening participation. The project will engage engineers and planners in public works departments through a workshop on sustainability implications of SLR. The findings of this research will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific and industrial conferences, such as the annual training event of Industrial Environmental Association (IEA), a non-profit organization in CA that provides education for industrial units to facilitate environmental compliance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.