DENVER — The Water Research Foundation (WRF) board of trustees (BOT) approved $5.24 million to fund WRF's research programs in 2014 at its January meeting, according to a press release.
The funds will be allocated to three different WRF research programs: 60 percent to The Focus Area Program, which identifies a limited number of broadly relevant subscriber issues and solves them with a targeted, multi-year research response; 20 percent to The Emerging Opportunities Program, which enables WRF to respond quickly to emergent subscriber challenges and research ideas identified throughout the year; and 20 percent to The Tailored Collaboration Program, which enables WRF to partner with utility subscribers on research that may be more limited or regional in impact, the release reported.
“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," said Denise Kruger, board chair. "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.”
The BOT also voted to maintain all ten existing focus areas, while adding a new one, "Integrated Water Management: Planning for Future Water Supplies," noted the release.
According to the release, this 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.
