Water distribution systems are imperative for everyday needs, but what happens if the water that travels through these systems is affected by an uncontrollable force? According to The United Nations, “Water and climate change are inextricably linked.”

So, how can the water industry mitigate the impact of climate change on water?

This question—among others—was answered in a recent episode of the GovIT Podcast. Podcast host, Tom Temin, sat down with Sophia Buchanan, Product Manager for Storm, Sewer, and Flood at Autodesk, and Kevin Breslin at IMAGINiT, to discuss InfoWorks ICM, an innovative software with the capability of tackling the impact of climate change on stormwater and sewer networks.

Click “PLAY” to listen to the episode in its entirety, or scroll down to read a transcript of the conversation.

Transcript: GovIT, a TD SYNNEX Public Sector Podcast (Season 5, Episode 2): Tackling the Impact of Climate Change on Our Stormwater & Sewer Networks with Infoworks ICM

Tom Temin: Welcome to Gov IT, a podcast series from TD SYNNEX Public Sector, where we discuss the next generation of Public Sector IT solutions with the technology innovators driving the change. I’m your host, Tom Temin. Each month we explore a different technology, what it is, and how it can help Public Sector organizations achieve their modernization goals and accomplish their missions.

In this episode, we’re sitting down with Sophia Buchanan, Product Manager for Storm, Sewer, and Flood with Autodesk, and IMAGINiT’s Director of Infrastructure Services, Kevin Breslin to discuss how to tackle the impact of climate change on stormwater and sewer networks with InfoWorks ICM.

Sophia, let’s begin with what the challenges are in the water industry that are coming from climate change and changing climates. I thought there was more water than ever.

Sophia Buchanan: There is. I’m dealing with the dirty side of water and I think the water industry faces challenges outside of climate change that most people do not consider. Water engineers are undervalued for the work they do in the background. However, when there is a water crisis like flooding in the streets or untreated sewage spilling into our waterways, it brings attention to the industry, the water engineers who work in it, and the water infrastructure owners who face public scrutiny.

So when we add the challenge of climate change, things become far more complicated. Climate change affects the world’s water in complex ways from unprecedented rainfall patterns to shrinking ice sheets, rising sea levels, floods, and droughts. Most impacts of climate change come down to water, and the water industry’s challenges will continue to be more difficult as climate change gets worse.

Because of this, the use of conventional methods that these water engineers have been relying on will not be sufficient to solve these issues. Our engineers must upskill and leverage future-ready technology, such as Autodesk InfoWorks ICM in the future.

Tom Temin: Are these challenges just a problem for water engineers and operators of infrastructure? Could this affect towns, communities, cities, and rural areas?

Sophia Buchanan: Yes, most areas are already seeing the impacts of climate change. Yesterday in my community, I passed a swimming pool that closed due to sewage contamination. These issues will continue to become more prevalent in all areas as climate change worsens.

In the near future, communities, cities, and rural areas may experience challenges that cause poor water quality health such as more severe flooding and higher volumes of untreated sewage spilling into our waterways.

Tom Temin: Got it. So, what should the operators and proprietors that work with the pipe systems… network owners, be doing now to prepare for future issues as a result of climate change?

Sophia Buchanan: I think more investments in planning are needed to combat the impacts of climate change. That’s where we are going to see the biggest impact…

Without these investments we are going to see people’s homes being washed away, devastating loss of crops and livestock, and the spread of illness from polluted waterways. For example, here in New South Wales, Australia, we are still recovering from intense rainfall events that transpired two years ago. People are living in tents and abandoned buildings deemed unsafe due to mold. So, planning is key to combat issues like this.

I would also suggest that in areas where inadequate infrastructure exists, and where these systems have been developed due to poor planning, network owners should start using digital twin technology and forecasting systems as a cost-effective solution. This would impact how we perform with those systems by allowing us to maintain and operate on networks. These technologies would give us the capability to provide adequate warning times.

Network owners can help by taking action to reduce the impact of severe weather events by optimizing their operations and evacuating areas when they need to.

Tom Temin: So, what are some examples of network owners? How are they going about this kind of mitigation and planning?

Sophia Buchanan: They already have customers that are pushing the limits of our technology. The best progress on a project that I like to talk about is Europe’s first SmartKey. This was a project by Scottish Water, Glasgow Council, and AECOM, who all worked together to plan, analyze, and now operate the Scottish canals in a way that not only revived the area but opened up new development opportunities for three thousand homes.

This was all achieved by lowering the water levels in the canal to give storage volume equivalent to twenty-two Olympic swimming pools when they saw significant rain coming. This is all operated based on outputs of a live forecasting system; leveraging our interaction at InfoWorks ICM.

Tom Temin: And of course, Autodesk is a software provider. How does that help with these challenges? What role does InfoWorks ICM play in this? How can this software help people have an impact at a reasonable cost on their networks and for their mitigation strategies?

Sophia Buchanan: I believe the water industry will start demanding more robust, scalable, and integrated water modeling tools to handle large datasets, live inputs, and complex flow conditions as climate change worsens. Autodesk has a plethora of hydraulic modeling tools, but the reason InfoWorks ICM is our flagship product is that it already caters to the demands that we have and will continue to have in the future.

Last year, we added cloud access to help engineers add more scenarios and assess them quicker than they could in the past with other software. InfoWorks ICM provides valuable insights to the user on how catchments behave in different climate conditions so they can plan, manage, and operate their networks in a way that will minimize the impacts of climate change.

I’m really looking forward to what we’re going to do in the future to help continue to support the water industry.

Tom Temin: So, you can not only discover and map on your systems and your waterworks networks, but you can also do “what if” scenarios and operate it virtually under different scenarios to see how it will react. Then you can make changes based on what that shows you.

Sophia Buchanan: Absolutely.

Tom Temin: Sophia Buchanan is the Product Manager for stormwater, sewage, and flooding at Autodesk. Thanks so much.

Sophia Buchanan: Thanks very much.

Tom Temin: Now we’re going to hear from Kevin Breslin. He’s Director of Professional Services for Infrastructure and Reality Capture at IMAGINiT.

It’s good to have you back.

Kevin Breslin: Thanks for having me, Tom.

Tom Temin: So, tell us more about mitigating climate change and its effects on water and waterways.

Kevin Breslin: As Sophia pointed out, the technology required to meet the demands not just in the United States, but throughout the world, is heavily being pushed by the realities of the changes that have happened.

We work with companies, organizations, and government entities where there is a need for having access to tools that will allow them to perform these forms of analysis and studies. This is becoming an important part of their daily lives.

Unfortunately, the current industry technology is very complex. So, our role as an Autodesk partner is to help the organizations we work with integrate the technology, understand how to use it, test the technology by performing these types of analyses, and help them get up and running as quickly as possible.

Tom Temin: This is not something that people can put off for a few years. It sounds like this analysis of network modernization is urgent.

Is it true that doing these analyses and modernizing these networks is an urgent need for network owners, water engineers, and infrastructure owners?

Kevin Breslin: Yes, across the globe, these studies and tools are being federally mandated as a requirement in the water industry. This is something that the industry needs to do now and most organizations do not have the means to figure this out on their own. Guidance and direction are needed to use InfoWorks ICM proficiently and we can offer assistance to these organizations in that aspect.

Tom Temin: Kevin Breslin, Director of Professional Services and Reality Capture at IMAGINiT. Thanks so much.

Kevin Breslin: Thank you.

To learn more about how Autodesk software can benefit your organization, click HERE.