Sustainable Water Infrastructure Planning

Sustainable Water Infrastructure Planning (SWIP)

Goal is an improved planning procedure for sustainable water supply and wastewater infrastructure management that links into the existing Swiss governance structures. A special focus is given to dealing with limited data, the uncertainty of future developments, and ensuring high acceptance of the decision-making process by stakeholders.

Background

Our water supply and wastewater infrastructures such as water supply pipes, sewers, or wastewater treatment plants are long-lived, but aging. Infrastructure planning is complex, e.g. due to socio-economic and climate change uncertainties and the fragmented structure of the Swiss water sector, causing organizational deficits. First Swiss legal attempts for integrated planning are the GEP (Generelle Entwässerungsplanung) and GWP (Generelle Wasserversorgungsplanung). Both identify deficits in every municipality and suggest an investment plan. However, they are not long-term strategic planning instruments, also because tools to predict infrastructure development in small catchments with limited data are missing. Decision support for complex decisions also entails participation. So-called Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a suitable method to include subjective preferences of different decision makers and provide a transparent decision-making process.

Aim

Main goal is an improved, integrated, participatory planning procedure for water supply and wastewater infrastructure management that balances economy (predicting costs of decisions), with ecology (ecosystem effects), and social aspects (integrating stakeholder values). Special attention is given to the fact that many communities have only limited data concerning their infrastructures and that future developments cannot be predicted with certainty. The approach links into existing governance tools such as GEP or GWP and is applied to two case studies with several municipalities.

Significance

The project combines engineering with decision sciences in three dissertations. Softwares for infrastructure planning are developed, the consequences of planning alternatives predicted, and stakeholders involved with MCDA. The municipalities and engineering firm in the case studies will directly benefit by better understanding the stakeholders’ objectives and will receive support in a future-oriented, collaborative planning process. For other applications, a modular decision procedure and implementation guideline is developed, with practice partners (SVGW, VSA). The project provides tools adapted to Swiss conditions that help change from the current problem-based repairs to a proactive and long-term maintenance and rehabilitation concept. Ultimately, Swiss water governance can strongly benefit from the approach that can be adapted to a variety of real-world difficult decision situations with many stakeholders.

Link:

National Research Programme NRP 61