• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Logo for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan
  • Giving
  • News and Events
  • Contact

  • About
    • History
    • Strategic Directions
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
      • CEE DEI Committee
      • DEI Resources
      • Have a concern?
    • Alumni
      • CEE Friends Association
        • CEEFA Board
      • Award Winners
    • Giving
      • Giving Legacy
    • Leadership and Governance
    • Faculty Search
      • Faculty Position in Environmental Engineering
      • Faculty Position in Mobility and Transportation Systems
    • Contact
      • Student Services Contacts
      • Master’s Advising Contacts
      • Undergraduate Advising Contacts
  • Undergraduate Studies
    • BSE Degree in Civil Engineering
    • BSE Degree in Environmental Engineering
    • Minor in Civil Engineering
    • Minor in Environmental Engineering
    • FocusCEE
      • Community Policy and Planning
      • Smart Cities
      • Sustainability
    • Undergraduate Opportunities
      • Undergraduate Externship
      • Student Research and Employment
        • CEE SURE/SROP Projects 2022
    • Schedule an Advising Appointment
    • Declare Your Major
    • Careers in CEE
      • What is a Civil or Environmental Engineer?
      • Career Pathways
      • Employers of CEE Graduates
      • How to Recruit CEE Graduates
    • Undergraduate Student Advisory Council
    • Student Life
  • Graduate Studies
    • Master’s Programs
    • PhD Programs
      • PhD Mentoring Framework
      • PhD Candidate Roster
    • Pelham Scholars Program
    • Online Learning
      • Construction Engineering and Management MasterTrack™
    • Admissions Information
      • International Applicants
      • Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies (SUGS) Applicants
    • Graduate Handbook
    • Graduate Student Advisory Council
    • Student Life
  • People
    • Faculty
      • Affiliated Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Emeritus Faculty
    • Postdocs
    • Researchers
    • Staff
      • Administrative
      • Finance
      • Human Resources
      • IT & Web
      • Laboratory Technicians
      • Purchasing
      • Student Services
  • Research
    • New Grants
    • Civil Infrastructure Systems
      • Construction Engineering and Management
      • Geotechnical Engineering
      • Intelligent Systems
      • Next Generation Transportation Systems
      • Structural and Materials Engineering
    • Environment and Water Resources
      • Ecohydrology and Hydraulic Engineering
      • Energy and Clean Technology
      • Environmental Chemistry and Soil Physics
      • Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology
    • Smart Infrastructure Finance
    • Urban Collaboratory
    • Facilities
      • Advanced Materials Research
      • Cementitious Composites
      • Center of Excellence in Bridges and Structures
      • Computational Community Resilience
      • Computational Structural Simulation
      • Construction Engineering Lab
      • Geotechnical Engineering Labs
      • Intelligent Structural Technology
      • Next Generation Infrastructure
      • Next Generation Transportation Systems Research Facilities
      • Pavement Research Center of Excellence
      • Structural Engineering Lab
  • Resources
    • Shipping
    • Purchasing
      • Purchasing Frequently Asked Questions
    • Reimbursement
    • IT Resources
    • Lab Safety
      • Lab Safety Basics
      • Minimum Training Requirements
    • Lab Requests and Procedures
    • Room Requests
    • Faculty Intranet
    • Giving
    • News and Events
    • Contact

University of Michigan partners on multi-institution planning effort for state’s water future

Work for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will develop a policy roadmap to safe, low cost water services.

Written by: michiganengineering

July 27, 2022

Glen DaiggerGlen Daigger
Professor of Engineering Practice, Civil and Environmental Engineering

EXPERTS:

The University of Michigan will work with Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and regional and state stakeholders to craft policies that will ensure safe drinking water at low cost.

Labeled the Michigan Center for Freshwater Innovation (MFIC), the partnership will work with the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to fulfill the promise of directives issued late last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on safe drinking water. 

“We are very pleased that our partnership has been selected to assist the state in identifying ways to increase collaboration among water services and significantly improve water delivery for Michigan residents,” said Glen Daigger, a U-M professor of engineering practice, civil and environmental engineering, who co-leads the center. 

An aerial photo of Michigan and the Great Lakes
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz at NASA GSFC

“This assignment provides the opportunity for the three MFIC partners to bring our collective knowledge to bear on this important issue and contribute to improved quality of life. Public outreach, coupled with our collective knowledge, will inevitably result in useful suggestions for action at the state level,” he added.

The team will work to facilitate regional collaboration in water services and explore opportunities for shared services. For instance, they will identify both the incentives and roadblocks for public water suppliers in assisting communities outside their service area when a neighboring community’s drinking water is compromised, threatened or unsustainable.

MFIC will also work with stakeholders—engineers, municipal leaders and others—to identify barriers to regional planning efforts and focus on factors that include: current regulations, resources, education and engagement, reduction of lead and other contaminants, and data collection and sharing.

Finally, the group will host roundtable discussions to bring its recommendations to EGLE in November. That plan will consider factors such as: environmental justice and equity concerns, water affordability, engineering and technical issues, and government regulations impacting drinking water safety, community finance and property taxes.

MFIC’s leadership includes Joan Rose, Michigan State University’s Homer Nowlin Endowed Chair in Water Research, and a professor of fisheries and wildlife and plant, soil and microbial sciences; and Carol Miller, a professor of civil engineering and the director of the Healthy Urban Waters program at Wayne State and Curt Wolf, University of Michigan’s Director of Urban Collaboratory. “Together we’ll help discover ways to improve collaboration between public water services and also aid the state with founding strategic solutions to the complex water system problems at hand,” the group said in a joint statement.

Explore: Civil and Environmental Engineering Energy & Environment Health Research Glen Daigger Sustainability Water

Footer

Logo for Michigan Engineering at the University of Michigan

  • Giving
  • News and Events
  • Contact
  • Sign up for our newsletter
  • U-M Engineering Home
  • Strategic Vision
  • Graduate and Professional
  • Undergraduate
  • U-M Engineering Research News
  • U-M Home

  • Giving
  • News and Events
  • Contact
  • Sign up for our newsletter

© 2022 The Regents of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA Privacy Policy | Non-Discrimination Policy | Campus Safety

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube