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Beyond old pipes and ailing budgets: systems thinking on 21st century water infrastructure in Chicago
Citation:
Erban, L. AND H. Walker. Beyond old pipes and ailing budgets: systems thinking on 21st century water infrastructure in Chicago. Frontiers in Built Environment. Frontiers, Lausanne, Switzerland, 5:124, (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2019.00124
Impact/Purpose:
Cities throughout the US are dealing with serious water infrastructure problems. Lead in Flint, MI and flooding in Houston, TX have drawn recent, national attention to two distinct crises emerging from a widespread issue: cities grow and develop critical water infrastructure that is slow to adapt to changing conditions. Changes in city budgets and demographics challenge the operation of old drinking water systems (e.g., Flint). Changes in urban land cover and extreme wet weather events create needs for new stormwater management systems (e.g., Houston). Many other emerging socio-environmental concerns compound the issue of how to maintain legacy water infrastructure systems, designed for problems of the past, while upgrading them to address current and future needs. Here we investigate the socio-environmental system surrounding water infrastructure in Chicago, a city with one of the nation’s oldest drinking and wastewater systems that has taken on many large water infrastructure projects. We create structural diagrams showing the relationships between people, institutions, water and infrastructure to understand how the system works at the city scale. We quantify changes in flows of water and money through Chicago and its water utilities, to examine the trajectory that Chicago’s water infrastructure is on, and consider the needs of residents from multiple perspectives. Our analysis shows how coordinated actions among residents and city leaders are needed to develop adaptive, resilient water infrastructure for Chicago in the 21st century and beyond.
Description:
Cities are increasingly burdened by old water infrastructure. Deferred maintenance of physical assets and the funding streams that support them is compounded by emerging environmental and social concerns (e.g., contaminants, extreme storms, equity, affordability). The problem of investing in urban water infrastructure is a wicked one that is often approached from a simplifying perspective: how do we pay for upgrades? Innovations in finance, engineering and ecological design present targeted responses. To develop broader strategies (i.e., sized to the problem), urban water infrastructure should be recognized as part of a complex socio-environmental system (SES). Diverse components influence how water infrastructure currently functions, and how improvements are made towards its future. Here we consider one of the oldest and most heavily used urban water systems in the US, in Chicago. To develop a city-scale understanding of this SES, we use a systems thinking method that structures information by drawing distinctions, systems, relationships and taking perspectives (DSRP). We use DSRP to map the structure of this complex SES and the drivers of change. We quantify recent changes in demands on Chicago’s water infrastructure and enabling financial flows using open data and methods. Through this process, we establish a current trajectory for the SES and identify opportunities to systemically adapt Chicago’s water infrastructure to emerging 21st century conditions.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Beyond old pipes and ailing budgets: systems thinking on 21st century water infrastructure in Chicago