Brown and Caldwell Partners With The Water Utility Climate Alliance To Help Design Climate-Ready Infrastructure Across The Water Sector

Resilient design guidance for practical solutions to industry-wide challenges

Walnut Creek, CA -- Brown and Caldwell, an engineering consulting firm creating and delivering water and environmental solutions throughout North America and the Pacific, was selected by the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) to lead an industry project that will provide utilities with practical design guidance on how to build more climate-resilient water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

WUCA, a coalition of 12 of the nation’s leading water providers, awarded $75,000 in funding to Brown and Caldwell for its “Climate Resilient Engineering Design Guidance for the Water Sector” project. Brown and Caldwell is also providing an additional in-kind contribution of $244,000 to support the project, bringing together its planning, engineering and design teams to collaboratively support this effort. The final report is expected to be published for the water industry in early 2026.

“While challenges posed by climate change are many, so are the solutions we can collaboratively implement together to achieve reliable, resilient services,” said Dr. Tess Sprague, Deputy Project Manager and Resilience Lead at Brown and Caldwell. “With this project, Brown and Caldwell is proud to work with WUCA to help write the book on climate-informed design and support water agency leaders in better planning, engineering and designing resilient water infrastructure for their communities now and in the future.”

For the project, Brown and Caldwell’s team of design and technical practitioners – led by Sprague and Karri Ving, the firm’s Managing Principal in Functional Resilience – will work closely with WUCA utility members. The initiative is a first for the industry, as there’s currently no national climate resilience design guidance that provides in-depth design strategies for a range of water utility projects, including new or upgraded facilities ranging from reservoirs and treatment plants to pump stations and tanks.

The resulting design strategies will help drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities make their infrastructure and equipment more resilient to severe heat waves, storms, floods, droughts, rising sea levels and other climate risks. The guidance will provide a matrix of different types of projects, climate threats and adaptive measures for utilities to then incorporate into their own engineering design standards and work.

“This initiative meets the emerging and urgent need for utilities to address the climate vulnerabilities that matter most to them,” Ving said. “The tangible design strategies we develop with WUCA utility members will put climate resilience into action. Our Brown and Caldwell team looks forward to delivering this important work, which aligns with our experience and focus on providing climate-informed designs and best practices for our water clients.”

About WUCA
The Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) is a group of 12 of the nation’s largest water providers serving over 50 million customers across the United States. WUCA’s mission is to collaboratively advance water utility climate change adaptation. WUCA believes climate-resilient water utilities are an essential part of strong communities and strives to advance water utility climate adaptation so that communities can thrive in a changing world. For more information, visit www.wucaonline.org.

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.