By Timothy D. Stark and Ana Pinheiro Privette The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly increasing demand for both electricity and water. Data centers, which provide the computational infrastructure for AI systems, are among the fastest-growing electricity consumers in the United States. Recent analyses estimate that U.S. data-center electricity consumption could increase from […]
By: Paolo Gardoni, Ana Pinheiro Privette, and Ana Barros Executive Summary Structures and infrastructure are vital for economic growth, quality of life, and social connectivity, providing essential services like water, transportation, healthcare, energy, and communications. However, they face significant threats from both natural and human-made hazards, risks that in many cases are worsened by climate […]
By: Ana Pinheiro Privette*, Ximing Cai*, Hari David#, Zach Sugg@, and Peter Colohan@ *Center for Secure Water, The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, #The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, @ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Header image: Hugh Kenny/The Piedmont Environmental Council Executive Summary The rapid expansion of AI, […]
On the 30th of October 2025, a team from the Center for Secure Water (C4SW) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign traveled to Peoria Heights, IL to participate in an all-day event organized and led by Ray Lees of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. The visit brought together local, regional, and academic leaders to address […]
In this white paper from the Center for Secure Water, Director Ana Barros, Deputy Director Ximing Cai, Managing Director Ana Pinheiro-Privette and Professor Na Wei detail the ways in which circular economy principles can be used as a foundation for sustainable water management. Read more.
Center for Secure Water Director Ana Barros reflects on the devastating Guadelupe River flooding that devastated parts of Texas this summer and offers her thoughts on how AI and weather models can power next-gen flash flood preparedness. Read more.
Extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as floods and hurricanes, are increasingly disrupting critical infrastructure systems worldwide. Urban transportation networks, which are essential for evacuations, delivering emergency resources, and maintaining connectivity during crises, are particularly vulnerable. Recent hurricanes, which have caused widespread disruptions along the southern states and the U.S. East Coast, have underscored […]
The rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intensifying the water crisis. The data centers required to run large AI models consume vast amounts of power. This significant energy consumption generates large amounts of heat, which in turn requires cooling systems to prevent server overheating. Most common cooling methods (e.g., cooling towers) depend on substantial quantities of […]
Understanding the response of aquatic ecosystems to a rapidly changing environment is a challenging task that requires the participation of multidisciplinary teams to understand physical and biological processes across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Through collaboration between civil engineers, hydrologists, and biologists, we have advanced our knowledge on how fish eggs and […]
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has launched the Center for Secure Water (C4SW), a new initiative dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions in the water resources sector. The Center seeks to address both current challenges and future water needs while upholding core values of excellence, adaptability, equity and impact creation. Read more.