DENVER, CO (JANUARY 29, 2014) — At its January meeting, the Water Research Foundation’s (WRF) Board of Trustees (BOT) approved $5.24 million to fund WRF’s research programs in 2014. This research budget will be leveraged with partnerships and in-kind support increasing the total amount of funds dedicated to WRF’s “one water” research agenda this year. The approved funds are allocated to the three research programs as follows:
The Focus Area Program (60% of WRF’s total research budget) identifies a limited number of broadly relevant subscriber issues and solves them with a targeted, multi-year research response. Approximately $3.14 million has been allocated to this program for 2014.
The Emerging Opportunities Program (20%) enables WRF to respond quickly to emergent subscriber challenges and research ideas identified throughout the year. Approximately $1.05 million has been allocated to this program for 2014.
· The Tailored Collaboration Program (20%) enables WRF to partner with utility subscribers on research that may be more limited or regional in impact. Approximately $1.05 million has been allocated to this program for 2014.
In announcing the 2014 research program funding, Denise Kruger, Board Chair, said, “The Foundation’s three research programs and the BOT’s funding decisions reflect the organization’s commitment to comprehensively solving our subscribers’ most pressing problems. The Foundation’s broad research agenda and highly regarded project development and management processes are designed to ensure that we continue to provide the highly credible research our subscribing utilities expect and rely on.”
At the January meeting, the Board also voted to maintain all ten existing focus areas while adding one new focus area, Integrated Water Management: Planning for Future water Supplies. The new focus area is intended to help subscribers respond to increasing water supply pressures due to factors such as population growth, increased hydrologic and climate variability and uncertainty, decreasing availability of high quality water sources, decreasing quality of existing sources, and increasing water demands from other sectors like energy and agriculture. Projects funded within this focus area are expected to provide water utilities with innovative tools and approaches to overcome the numerous financial, social, environmental, technical, regulatory, and institutional challenges to diversifying water supply portfolios.
At a subsequent meeting, WRF’s Focus Area Council made annual focus area project funding decisions. Click here for a complete list of all 11 focus areas and related projects funded for 2014.
About the Water Research Foundation
The Water Research Foundation is an internationally recognized leader in sponsoring research that supports the water community in holistically and cooperatively managing water from all sources to meet social, environmental, and economic needs. WRF’s research provides reliable and relevant solutions to the most critical challenges facing the water community today and into the future. Founded in 1966, WRF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has sponsored nearly 1,500 research projects and serves more than 1,000 subscribing organizations. For more information, go to www.WaterRF.org.
