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THE CENTER FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AT NYIT
Director, Sarah Meyland

The Setting

In the 21st century, advances in technology and science offer the promise that developing nations can meet the basic humanitarian and economic needs of their people. These needs include access to clean and sufficient water, electricity, and the fundamental infrastructure systems to sustain a local economy and protect public health. However, advances in basic environmental technology are not reaching the communities they could help the most.

The Problem

The problem facing many of the world’s developing nations is how to match the appropriate infrastructure technology to their specific problems and to deliver, install and maintain that technology. All developing nations need to establish certain basic environmental infrastructure such as a potable water supply, basic sanitary wastewater treatment, and sustainable energy supplies and distribution networks. These basic systems allow residents to develop a local economy that can provide jobs, income, and products available for commerce. They also support the improvement of public health, stabilize social networks and support community functions.

The Center

NYIT has established a Center for Water Resources Management to bridge the obstacles that prevent developing nations from securing new technology to provide safe water supplies, effective wastewater treatment systems and the renewable energy supply necessary to improve the quality of life for their small local communities.

The MISSION of the Center for Water Resources Management is:

To address problems created by a lack of clean and sustainable water and energy for nations and communities in need by matching available and emerging technology with the specific conditions of such developing nations in order to improve the quality of life and public health of their people.

NYIT is perfectly situated to bring together nations in need of technical assistance to meet the water and energy needs of their citizens with individuals and businesses that have the technology and technical knowledge to meet those needs.

The Goals of the Center for Water Resources Management are:

To work with representatives from individual developing nations to identify the specific problems and hurdles facing such nation and their people;

Develop a feasibility study for how to provide the technology or management expertise that addresses the specific water or energy problem that needs to be solved;

Work with the specific nation to develop a Request For Proposal (RFP) designed to solve the identified problem;

Assist the nation or community in the RFP review and selection process; and

Act as the project manager to implement the selected project.