{"647672":{"#nid":"647672","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ensuring Equitable Access to Water in a Changing Climate","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow can water utilities in Georgia and the southeast adapt to climate change? Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/casey-wichman\u0022\u003ECasey Wichman\u003C\/a\u003E in the School of Economics seeks to find out.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWichman was awarded a 2021 Small Grant for White Papers at the Intersection of Science, Technology, and Public Policy for his summer project. With the funding from Georgia Tech Strategic Plan Advisory Group, Wichman will examine how water prices and policies in southeastern states can improve in the face of changing weather and temperature patterns. This work builds on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/projects\/water-affordability-united-states\u0022\u003Ehis previous research\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that found\u0026nbsp;the poorest\u0026nbsp;households in the US are spending more than 8% of their monthly income on water, almost double the percentage\u0026nbsp;that is considered affordable.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWichman shared\u0026nbsp;more about the project, his inspiration, and why interdisciplinary work between economics and public policy is crucial for effective solutions to climate change.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat aspect of this research are you most excited about?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI am most excited about learning what water utilities have been doing to adapt to climate change and whether economics can add anything to increase the ability of water utilities to be resilient to changes in water availability. For water utilities specifically, solutions tend to be \u0026ldquo;engineering solutions,\u0026rdquo; and I am excited to contribute the unique insights in climate adaptation that an economics perspective can provide.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u0026#39;s the most significant real-world policy application your findings could have here in Atlanta?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAt this stage, the policy implication of this remains to be determined, but this project will utilize data on water prices and water use from Georgia and other states in the southeast. The data will help identify how local water utilities are adapting to changes in water availability and how water prices and policies can be improved to ensure equitable access to water for residents into the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat inspired you to work in sustainability and environmental issues as an economist?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nI decided to study economics \u003Cem\u003Ebecause\u003C\/em\u003E I wanted to study environmental issues. From my perspective, economics provided a coherent framework for understanding how we value the environment, how we can understand human behavior when our decisions affect (or are affected) by the environment, and how we can evaluate policies that seek to improve environmental stewardship.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is interdisciplinary research \u0026mdash; in this case, between economics and public policy - so crucial in combating climate change?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nFrom my view, economics and public policy are inextricably linked. We need to use economics to understand the costs and benefits of potential policies \u0026mdash; particularly in a space like climate change \u0026mdash; before any policy recommendations can be evaluated.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWichman will publish his findings from the project, titled\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EHow Can Water Utilities Adapt to Climate Change?,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Elater in the summer. Connect with us on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/laura-taylor-502666188\/\u0022\u003ELinkedIn\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/gatechecon\u0022\u003ETwitter\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gatechecon\/\u0022\u003EInstagram\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GaTechEcon\u0022\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E to make sure you don\u0026rsquo;t miss it.\u0026nbsp;Or, explore more\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/projects\u0022\u003Efeatured research\u003C\/a\u003E from the ECON faculty, like the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/projects\/reduce-georgias-carbon-footprint\u0022\u003EDrawdown Georgia\u003C\/a\u003E project to reduce the state\u0026#39;s carbon footprint and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/relationship-between-income-smoking\u0022\u003Ethe complex relationship between income and smoking\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Assistant Professor Casey Wichman received a grant to research how water utilities should adapt to climate change."}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2021-05-21 18:23:22","changed_gmt":"2021-05-25 13:48:31","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"647730":{"id":"647730","type":"image","title":"Assistant Professor Casey Wichman","body":null,"created":"1621950488","gmt_created":"2021-05-25 13:48:08","changed":"1621950488","gmt_changed":"2021-05-25 13:48:08","alt":"Assistant Professor Casey Wichman","file":{"fid":"245886","name":"Econ 692 x 500.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Econ%20692%20x%20500.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Econ%20692%20x%20500.png","mime":"image\/png","size":280422,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Econ%20692%20x%20500.png?itok=UTQMQvsl"}}},"media_ids":["647730"],"groups":[{"id":"1282","name":"School of Economics"}],"categories":[{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"}],"keywords":[{"id":"167037","name":"school of economics"},{"id":"602","name":"economics"},{"id":"187911","name":"Casey WIchman"},{"id":"342","name":"Georgia"},{"id":"187912","name":"water utilities"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Edi.minardi@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["di.minardi@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}