Making the Right Choices for Your Utility: Using Augmented Alternatives Analysis Planning for Water Infrastructure
Training Video
All across America, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities are charged with safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, and sustaining critical water infrastructure investments for their communities. EPA estimates that roughly $655 billion will need to be invested in water infrastructure over the next 20 years. To meet these ambitious goals at the local and national level, meaningful community involvement and enhanced decision-making tools are critical to equitable multi-benefit in-vestments. Traditional project alternative analysis often falls short in proactively engaging the community to understand their priorities; addressing and quantifying and social benefits and costs associated with these long-term infrastructure investments; and, selecting the most cost-effective project alternative in a complex decision-making context when there are multiple drivers. EPA’s water infrastructure capital project decision-making tool, referred to as Augmented Alternatives Analysis (AAA), can help water utilities embed principles of sustainability and community driven planning into their investment decisions to ad-dress the challenges and expectations of modern-day project decision-making. This webinar provides an overview of the AAA planning process, and receive first hand experience from a former utility leader who participated in the process.
Date of Recording: September 21, 2022 (1-2:30 pm Eastern)
Presenters
- Andy Kricun has over 35 years of experience in wastewater and biosolids management, including 23 years as Deputy and then Executive Director for the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, where he made significant improvements to both the utility and the community. He is a licensed civil engineer and also has a degree in chemical engineering. Andy believes very strongly that water utilities must use their resources to be environmental champions and anchor institutions in their communities. Andy is now the Managing Director for Moonshot Missions, where the goal is “to help all communities have access to safe drinking water and clean waterways at an affordable rate.” He also serves on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
- Leslie Corcelli is a Physical Scientist for the Office of Wastewater Management (OWM). She joined EPA in 2015, after a 20+ year career in the private sector. Leslie implements the American Iron and Steel and Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act requirements for EPA’s SRF and WIFIA programs. Her work takes her to utilities across the country for outreach and education. Leslie also focuses her attention on OWM’s Sustainable Utility Management initiative where EPA collaborated with utility leaders to evaluate how utilities act as Anchor Institutions in their communities. Leslie also assists water utilities, communities, and other stakeholders in planning for large capacity infrastructure using triple bottom line (environmental, social, and economic) criteria in EPA’s newly updated Augmented Alternatives Analysis planning process for water infrastructure and capital planning processes.