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

CAREER项目的综合研究和教育活动旨在推进对沿海慢性压力源的科学理解，如海平面上升（SLR）及其对废水基础设施的相关可持续性影响。该项目将通过考虑潜在适应策略的影响，分析slr引起的地下水浅滩的相互关联的环境和社会层面。当上升的海水向内陆推进时，就会发生浅滩现象。密度较大的海水位于浅层淡水含水层之下，将其向上推。因此，单反可能会破坏距离海岸线数公里的地下城市系统。特别关注的是废水基础设施受到slr驱动的地下水浅滩化和降水加剧影响的过程。破坏预计会增加下水道溢流的可能性，特别是在缺乏高质量基础设施抵御地下水渗入的社区。弱势群体和代表性不足的社区是本项目研究的地点。该项目旨在(i)发现SLR和降水加剧可能在多大程度上导致沿海废水系统中地下水通量的系统性增加，（ii）评估与下水道溢流相关的生态毒性对易受不成比例影响的边缘社区的影响；（iii）开发一种新颖的双重机器学习范式，以提高下水道录像大数据分析的有效性，以系统评估地下水渗透风险；（四）制定一个相互框架，量化适应战略的可持续性，在这个框架中，服务不足的利益攸关方就将评估哪些挑战和缓解措施提供投入，同时了解长期可持续性影响。为了支持教育负担能力，该项目将开发开放的教育资源，使许多本科生在项目期间和以后受益。它还将通过关于基础设施和可持续性的年度研讨会吸引K-12学生和教师。此外，该项目将开发一门新课程，作为SDSU土木和环境专业的高级技术选修课程，以满足PI部门在基础设施可持续发展领域的课程需求。作为圣地亚哥州立大学拉美裔服务机构（HSI）的一名教员，PI旨在通过现有的招聘计划积极吸引来自代表性不足群体的学生，以扩大参与。该项目的工程师和规划人员将参与公共工程部门的一个关于单反系统对可持续发展影响的讲习班。这项研究的结果将提交在同行评议的期刊上发表，并在科学和工业会议上提出，例如工业环境协会（IEA）的年度培训活动，该协会是加利福尼亚州的一个非营利组织，为工业单位提供教育，以促进遵守环境。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.