Water Institute receives Wells Fargo grant to document vulnerability of water, sanitation systems

The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received a $75,000 grant from Wells Fargo & Company on Oct. 30, during the Institute’s annual Water and Health Conference. Wells Fargo also is the conference’s Platinum Sponsor.The funding enables The Water Institute to develop a state-by-state ranking system to show vulnerability of municipal drinking water and sewage systems to hazards associated with climate change. The ranking will be based upon climate-related hazards such as hurricanes and droughts, the condition of municipal systems and technologies, urban and rural population concentrations, and the adaptive capacity of different states and municipalities.

“Wells Fargo’s impressive commitment to protecting the nation’s lands and waters in the face of increasingly extreme weather events will make a huge impact here in North Carolina and on municipalities across the U.S. through this project,” said Jamie Bartram, PhD, director of the Water Institute at UNC and Holzworth Distinguished Professor of environmental sciences and engineering at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. “By mapping vulnerability to extreme weather events and climate change, municipalities will be able to determine which areas have the highest risks and can take steps to avoid a future major threat to their local water and sanitation services.”

“This environmental grant is an investment in research to identify and avoid environmental risks before they happen so that local areas can transition to safer, more sustainable and adaptable water and sanitation for their residents,” said Puon Penn, head of Wells Fargo’s Global CleanTech Group. “We’re proud to collaborate with The Water Institute at UNC in our efforts to use our financial resources, as well as the expertise of our team members, to protect the communities we serve.”

The grant is part of a new Wells Fargo environmental grant program that aims to award $100 million to nonprofit organizations and universities by 2020. Wells Fargo has developed a long-term strategy aligning its vision and values to support local environmental priorities and projects, foster economic development in the “green” economy and inspire innovation from entrepreneurs and researchers working on critical environmental issues. More information about the new environmental grant program is available online.

The Institute’s annual Water and Health Conference is being held this year Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 at The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education in Chapel Hill.

 

The vision of The Water Institute at UNC is to bring together individuals and institutions from diverse disciplines and sectors and, through academic leadership, empower them to work together to solve the most critical global issues in water and health.The Water Institute focuses on the interfaces between water, health and development. Its leaders build sustained, effective partnerships between government, industry, civil society and academia, and partners with the best and most committed organizations and individuals. Institute staff members tackle issues of major importance to global public health, both present and future, from policy through management to practice, working from local to global levels and from source to tap.

Based in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, The Water Institute is at the forefront of UNC-Chapel Hill’s cross-campus commitment to water as an issue vital to public health and human development. The Water Institute builds capacity and stimulates innovation through research, teaching, networking and public service. For more information, visit www.waterinstitute.unc.edu.

About Wells Fargo
Since 2006, Wells Fargo has provided more than $11.7 billion in environmental finance, supporting sustainable buildings and renewable energy projects nationwide. This includes investments in more than 260 solar projects and 34 wind projects that generate enough clean renewable energy to power hundreds of thousands of American homes each year. A leader in reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions and building sustainably, Wells Fargo has been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project and the U.S. Green Building Council. The company was listed as one of the 2012 “Best Corporate Citizens” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine.

Wells Fargo & Company, founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. The company’s 265,000 team members serve one in three households in the United States and have offices in more than 35 countries Wells Fargo & Company was ranked 26th on Fortune’s 2012 rankings of America’s largest corporations. For more information, visit www.wellsfargo.com/environment.

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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, dpesci@email.unc.edu.