In Puerto Rico, more than 250,000 residents lack basic access to clean water or sanitation. While there are several barriers, one obstacle is a lack of coordination. At the local level, communities are working together to share knowledge and resources. Community-based groups (like OSAN) help members figure out where to focus their time. At the federal level, agencies create programs to improve access to water resources. These programs fund local projects and increase capacity for investing in water resources. Between the two levels, regional networks, universities, and nonprofits are bridging the gap.

How can we make sure all groups can support local communities in achieving their goals of ensuring clean water?

La Calidad del Agua en Las Curias (Water Quality in Las Curías).
One community that is creating a new model for engagement is Las Curías, in greater San Juan. Located up in the mountains, the community surrounds the only lake in San Juan, created by a dam built back in 1946. The Las Curías community is one of hundreds in Puerto Rico that use septic systems to treat wastewater. Without maintenance, theses systems break down over time. Pollutants leach into the lake, impacting water quality and potentially threatening public health. 

While the lake is beautiful to visit, residents have been working to clean it up. Improvements will benefit both the local community and the greater San Juan watershed. If done right, they can also provide a model for co-creating future improvements with local leaders.

Partners working in the Las Curías watershed include:

• Comunidad Las Curías, which operates drinking and septic water systems and maintains a community center near the lake. The Center was recently renovated with support from the Municipality of San Juan and the Puerto Rican legislature.
• The Limnology Lab at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. Run by Dr. Jorge Ortiz, the lab conducts field work with students.
• Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center. SU-EFC operates a Caribbean Program, run by Dr. Kaira Fuentes.
• The San Juan Bay Estuary Program, which convenes researchers, community leaders and other stakeholders.

In mid-2022, community leaders sat down with the team from UPRRP’s Limnology Lab and SU-EFC’s Caribbean Program. A team of students, supervised by Dr. Ortiz, are measuring water quality in the lake. The team is developing a community science program in partnership with community leaders to protect the lake, and give local leaders data they need to determine next steps. Additional support from EPA will help move this project forward in 2023 and beyond.

Building off Prior Research
The pilot project is the latest in a series of research partnerships. In 2018, the engineering firm Tetra Tech mapped out the Las Curías area. Their research goal was to support comprehensive watershed and lake management. It included three steps:

• Identify available data to support a watershed characterization;
• Provide stakeholders with an assessment of likely sources of nutrient pollution; and
• Give stakeholders information to seek community support and capacity to advance next steps.

Since then, studies have been conducted by UPRRP and partners, including a 2020 study on invasive plants. Cross-sector efforts have also helped connect research with local leaders and agency partners. The San Juan Bay Estuary Program, which EPA created in 1992, serves a critical role. Their efforts, and those of their partners, are setting the stage for projects that improve public health and protect the aquatic environment in Puerto Rico.

NEW! World Water Film Fest
In March 2023, a short film about the pilot project premiered at the first World Water Film Fest. The festival coincided with the UN Water Conference and the annual New York Water Week. Hosted at the Columbia Climate School, the free festival featured a day of in-person screenings, followed by a week-long online festival.

The Festival also brought together a panel of water experts from across Latin America to talk about their various projects. You can watch a recording of the panel, featuring Dr. Kaira Fuentes and others, here.

How to Support
This project has the potential to expand. Continued support from agencies like the USEPA and USDA is providing critical technical support. Funding from other sources, including private foundations, can help fill in gaps as they are identified. If you represent a funding organization and would like to learn more about supporting water quality improvements in Las Curías and other communities in Puerto Rico, contact a member of our team below.

Our Team

Dr. Kaira Fuentes, PhD, Caribbean Program Manager, Syracuse University
Dr. Jorge Ortiz, PhD, UPR Limnology Lab, University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras
Patrick Lynch, JD, MPA, Program and Development Manager, Syracuse University
Tess Clark, MS, Water Resiliency Manager, Syracuse University
Stefanie Anderson, MS, Caribbean Program Associate, Syracuse University
Averi Davis, BS, Communications Associate, Syracuse University

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Syracuse Center of Excellence, 727 E Washington St., Syracuse, NY 13210

Are you interested in learning more about funding and financing municipal infrastructure in your town or village? At the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center (SU-EFC)’s upcoming hybrid event, you can learn about funding opportunities for safe and clean water management, renewable energy, and other community investments from state and federal agency representatives. Lunch will be provided.

In-person attendance is encouraged, but sessions will be livestreamed for hybrid viewing. If you would like to attend virtually, please indicate so on the registration form.

Presenters will include representatives from:

• New York State Homes and Community Renewal
• New York State Departments of State, Health, & Environmental Conservation
• New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation
• US Department of Agriculture, Rural Development

Monday, March 6, 2023

Online via Zoom | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

The National Environmental Policy Act is one the most far-reaching environmental laws in the United States. If you are new to environmental project development and planning, this webinar is a great place to begin learning about NEPA. Join us for a discussion of important NEPA background and processes, knowing when NEPA applies, and what NEPA means for local projects.

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This webinar is presented to you by the NYS Tug Hill Commission, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC, and the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Online via Zoom | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST

When employees leave their positions, they take with them all of the experience and knowledge that may have been essential to the work they did, and critical to your organization, community, and current and future employees. If that knowledge is lost, it can undermine organizational capacity, and cause disruptions in services and performance.

In this webinar, we will share examples of the impact of when knowledge transfer goals were not met, examples of ways to prevent too much knowledge loss, and will discuss completing a Position Knowledge Inventory. This allows organizations to get an idea of the knowledge and responsibilities required to fulfill all current positions in order to seamlessly transfer key information to future employees.

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Resources for Download:

• Position Knowledge Inventory
• Presentation slides

This webinar is presented to you by the NYS Tug Hill Commission, the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, the Northern Oneida County Council of Governments, and the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center.

Check out this blog from the SU Environmental Finance Center! Available in both English and Spanish, this blog discusses the challenges community aqueducts in Puerto Rico face, as well as their resiliency following natural disasters like Hurricane Fiona.

Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Time: 10:00am-11:00am EST

Description:

Scientific breakthroughs show that levels of coronavirus genetic material in wastewater systems can provide an unbiased measure of coronavirus transmission for a community to guide public policy and response to the pandemic.

This free, 1-hour webinar introduces the New York State wastewater-based epidemiology network. The network provides real-time monitoring of wastewater for coronavirus RNA. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Dr. David Larsen’s team is working to scale a wastewater surveillance network across New York State to aid the response to public health threats.

By January 2022, this new network aims to include at least one wastewater treatment plant in each New York State county to monitor for COVID-19. Join us to learn more about the current progress for monitoring wastewater for public health benefit and ask questions about the network during a facilitated discussion. Wastewater treatment staff are encouraged to attend.

For additional information, check out the Wastewater Surveillance Network website!

Presenters:

• David A. Larsen, PhD MPH, Associate Professor and MPH Director, Falk College Department of Public Health, Syracuse University
• Mary B. Collins, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
• Dustin T. Hill, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, Falk College Department of Public Health, Syracuse University

Webinar Resources to Download:

• NY State Wastewater Surveillance for COVID-19, Presentation Slides
• Tracking COVID-19 with Wastewater, Nature Biotechnology article
• NYS Governor Press Release
• SU Falk College Press Release

Partners:

This webinar is organized by Syracuse University Falk College Department of Public Health and the SU Environmental Finance Center, and is co-sponsored by the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) and NYS Water Resources Institute.

Check out SU-EFC’s new webpage of resources focused on Wayne County, New York. Find innovative tools to explore flood risk for property parcels along the Lake Ontario shoreline.

Photo Credits: Coastal Flooding Survey Project,  Cornell University and New York Sea Grant

Presentation Date: November 15, 2021
10:00am-11:30am ET

Approved for 1 CEC for Certified Floodplain Managers by ASFPM. Registrants must have attended the full duration of the live broadcast on November 15, 2021 to receive a certificate of attendance. Each viewer must register and attend individually, and participate for the entire duration of the webinar. Attendees, please contact adavis02@syr.edu to request a certificate of attendance.

Increasing intensity and duration of rainfall events and impervious surfacesare causing runoff that can overwhelm stormwater and combined stormwater/sewer systems. High flows into aging, undersized systems can result in localized flooding and overwhelming flows to municipal water treatment facilities.

One strategy to reduce runoff into stormwater systems is to implement municipal downspout disconnect and green infrastructure programs. Disconnecting downspout connections and redirecting the water to green infrastructure reduces runoff into pipes and roads and results in: cost savings for wastewater utilities, decreased combined sewer overflow events, reduced demand on already stressed and aging pipes, and reduced stormwater runoff in neighborhoods and local waterways.

This free, 90-minute webinar provided an opportunity for municipalities to learn about the regulatory, financing, and implementation of a coupled disconnect/GI municipal program from experts who have experience working with municipalities to implement these types of projects. Participants learned how these approaches can – and have – helped NYS communities manage their stormwater.

Speakers

• Andy Sansone, Industrial Waste Engineer, Monroe County Stormwater Coalition/Monroe County
• Khris Dodson, Associate Director, Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center
• Kristen Hychka, Research and Outreach Specialist, NYS Water Resources Institute

Panelists

• Ethan Sullivan, MS4 General Permit Coordinator, Assistant Engineer, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• Dave Gasper, P.E., Stormwater Permits Section, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• Mary MacSwan, Chief Environmental Compliance Specialist, Erie County: Department of Environment & Planning/Western NY Stormwater Coalition
• Nancy Heinzen, Program Coordinator/Coalition Director, Stormwater Coalition of Albany County

Additional Resources:

Presentation slides:
Kristen Hychka, NYS WRI, Introduction to Municipal Downspout Disconnection
Khris Dodson, SU-EFC, Getting the Green for Green: an overview of Cost Savings & State Funding Resources for Green Infrastructure

For more information on developing a Downspout Disconnect and Green Infrastructure Program, download the resource below. This document was developed in collaboration with the Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center and the NYS Water Resources Institute at Cornell University.

This webinar is organized by Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center and the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University and is co-sponsored by the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) Stormwater Committee and New York State Floodplain and Stormwater Managers (NYSFSMA).