Detroit Water Infrastructure Consultation Project
Class:
Contextual Inquiry
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Timeline:
September 2023 - December 2023
Team H20 Members:
Garima Muzumbar, Katherine Polasek
Problem Statement:
What educational efforts or information resources need to be made available to educate citizens on how to best prepare and protect themselves? And what actions can citizens and government take together to lower flooding risks?
Project Focus
The Detroit Water Infrastructure project is a comprehensive analysis of the water infrastructure in Detroit and Michigan. The project aims to identify the problems related to the water infrastructure and recommend solutions that can be implemented by citizens and the government together to mitigate the risks of flooding. The project also focuses on educating citizens about how to prepare and protect themselves from any water-related emergencies.
Problem Areas
1. Not enough involvement and attention to the water issues from our stakeholders.
2. Their is a lack of education on the water infrastructure issue to the general public.
3. Age of infrastructure has caused an increased flood risks, mostly in lower income communities.
Interviewing Stackholders
To get a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of flooding, we also conducted two interviews - one with a middle-income class homeowner couple and one with representatives EGLE (The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy). From our interviews with our stakeholders, we discovered the perceived inadequacy of current government-led flood education and awareness efforts in metro-Detroit. Hence, building on these insights, our next step would be to conduct a comprehensive information accessibility and dissemination study to uncover the specific barriers, challenges, and gaps in the distribution of flood preparedness information
The Process
By interviewing various stakeholders and researching through third party sources, we compiled an affinity wall to organize our notes and collect usable feedback to properly address the usability needs of the water problem and provide recommendations.
Recommendations
1. Advocate on the water infrastructure issue and bring more awareness.
2. Send flyers, start blogs, and post information on government/organizations websites to educate the community on the issue.
3. Introduce new technologies, such as AI, and re-structure the water infrastructure to last and to handle heavy floods.
Please contact me if you would like a copy of the full report/project