Greg Pierce, Associate Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation, faculty member in the Department of Urban Planning and the co-director of the UCLA Water Resources Faculty group
This talk discusses the methodology and results of California’s inaugural statewide needs assessment for drinking water quality and affordability. The needs assessment, led by the State Water Board in conjunction with UCLA and 4 other partners, carried out 3 novel research activities: (1) identifying California small water systems and domestic wells that are failing or at risk of failing to provide access to safe drinking water; (2) estimating the cost of interim and long-term solutions for these systems; and (3) determining the statewide funding gap and affordability challenges that may be barriers to implementing these solutions. The talk situates this multi-team undertaking in the context both of California’s broader research-policy efforts to carry out its legislated Human Right to Water, and the academic literature on household water insecurity.
Since joining the Luskin Center in 2015, Greg Pierce has been instrumental in guiding the Center’s leadership to inform Human Right to Water policy in California, as well as across the United States. He has authored 35 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous major research reports, including many with California state and local agencies. His broader research interests lie at the intersection of public finance, infrastructure planning and environmental justice. Greg holds a PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA.