We sponsor research to protect and sustain our drinking water supplies – and water providers.

Our nation depends on the best scientific minds and the studies we sponsor to determine appropriate and cost-effective solutions.

WaterRF Announces Significant Improvement to Its Research Program

At its January 2011 meeting, the Water Research Foundation’s Board of Trustees took action to advance its research mandate. Most significantly, the Board approved a restructuring of the Foundation’s research program.  The restructuring is intended to streamline the research planning and funding process and to deliver research solutions to subscribers in a more timely manner. 

As part of this restructuring, which will not impact overall funding committed to research, the Board voted to reduce the number of discrete research programs from six to three, as follows:

• The Focus Area Program will identify a limited number of broadly relevant subscriber issues and solve them with a targeted, multi-year research response. Sixty percent of the annual research budget will be allocated to this program, which incorporates and replaces the Solicited and Strategic Initiative Programs.
• The Emerging Opportunities Program enables the Foundation to respond quickly to emergent subscriber challenges and research opportunities identified throughout the year. Twenty percent of the annual research budget will be dedicated to this program, which replaces the Unsolicited, Rapid Response, and Partnership programs.
• The Tailored Collaboration Program enables the Foundation to partner with utility subscribers on research that may be more limited or regional in impact. This program is unchanged and funding for it will increase from fifteen to twenty percent of the annual research budget.

Funds for all three programs will be allocated in January of each year by the Board so that projects can be funded more rapidly throughout the year as they are identified. It is important to note that this restructuring is not about reducing overall funding for research. Rather, it is focused on streamlining the research process and delivering results our subscribers need and expect in a timelier manner. We are confident this new program structure will help us achieve three specific goals, as established by the Board’s Research Strategy Committee:

1. Focus on solving the most pressing subscriber problems more completely
2. Minimize the timeframe from identification of need to delivery of results
3. Reduce the level of effort for volunteers and staff without compromising quality of results

Many of our colleagues were actively involved in supporting the Research Strategy Committee review that led to the Research Program restructuring. Some of their comments about the restructuring follow:

“I am confident the new Research Program will significantly enhance WaterRF’s ability to conduct  and deliver the research the water utility industry needs. This is terrific news for all subscribers.”
Patricia Mulroy
General Manager
Las Vegas Valley Water District
        
“This restructuring will help WaterRF conduct more in-depth research in a more timely manner. As such, it will go a long way to enhancing the Foundation’s position as a real partner to all those interested in providing safe and affordable drinking water to the public.”
Charles Murray
General Manager
Fairfax Water