Climate change and other global pressures are putting a strain on local service providers and their ability to provide reliable, high quality drinking water for the public. In a new study, Alexandra "Ola" Smialek, a PhD Candidate in Regional Planning at UMass Amherst, worked with Professor Anita Milman of the UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation and Professor Tamee Albrecht of the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability at Colorado State University to examine how local drinking water providers choose from a variety of actions to adapt to climatic stressors. The research investigates the influence of institutions on this decision-making, finding that institutions can limit local providers' control over adaptation decisions, constrain the set of feasible actions, and add substantial transaction costs.
Click here to read the article, "Institutional dependencies shape adaptation pathways for local service providers: A study of US water utilities responding to climatic stressors" in the Journal of Environmental Science and Policy (2025).