Sea-level rise and climate change will have societal impacts in the southeastern United States, especially in low-lying coastal regions like the coastal plain of South Carolina. Future changes include increased precipitation variation and frequency, increased storm intensity and flooding, increased coastal erosion, rising water tables, and saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers. Addressing the aged, inadequate and outdated water infrastructure is necessary for instilling hazard resilience in coastal communities. In many areas of coastal S.C., stormwater infrastructure managers are faced with the challenges of inundation risks, inadequate pumping capacity, and insufficient storage capacity; however, limited research has been conducted on the impacts of climate change to stormwater infrastructure in the region.
The project is a collaboration among research scientists, water infrastructure agencies, and consumer groups to predict the future impacts of climate change on water infrastructures, develop appropriate adaptation strategies, and evaluate the strategies relative to South Carolina’s coastal regions, while also analyzing their implications on cost, environment and social well-being. The collaborative effort between researchers and various stakeholders facilitates direct dissemination of science-based information to improve community capacity to prepare for, adapt to, mitigate, and recover from hazards. The outcomes of this project will aid water agencies in long-term decision making, provide guidance to water sector policymakers, and educate residents of the region on the current challenges and engage them in the decision-making process. Overall, this project seeks to minimize the cost of climate change impacts in the long-term, make coastal South Carolina communities safer and more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Research Results
Yerri, Shreeganesh, Kalyan R. Piratla. “Decentralized water reuse planning: Evaluation of life cycle costs and benefits,” Resources, Conservation and Recycling, February 2019.
Yerri, Shreeganesh, Kalyan R. Piratla, Brandon E. Ross, Daniel M. Harrison. “Synthesis of Water Infrastructure Adaptation Practices in U.S. Coastal Regions,” Construction Research Congresss 2018.
Neupane, Barsha. Master’s thesis. “Effectiveness of Low Impact Development Practices in Reducing Urban Stormwater Runoff Under Land Use and Climate Change Scenarios,” August 2018, Clemson University.