Grace Harrison

Project Manager of Water Equity Research

Grace Harrison (she/her) is a project manager of water equity research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Her work addresses persistent inequities in access to safe and affordable water across California and the United States. This work is intersectional and focuses on public policy, public health, infrastructure, and environmental science.

Grace has been working in the water field for much of her professional and academic career. Prior to joining the Luskin Center for Innovation as a staff member, Grace graduated from UC Berkeley with a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health. While completing her degree, she worked as a graduate student assistant with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment on their Human Right to Water Project, specifically focusing on water affordability for individuals using small water systems and domestic wells in California. She also holds a B.S. in Society and Environment from UC Berkeley.

CURRENT PROJECT(S)

The researchers aim to address the persistent issue of unsafe and unreliable drinking water across the U.S. by focusing on the widespread fragmentation of community water systems. They will build a scalable, data-driven model that estimates feasible compliance solutions – either treatment upgrades or system consolidation – and associated capital costs for systems violating drinking water standards.

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Researcher(s): Khalid Osman, Greg Pierce, Grace Harrison, and collaborators
Funder: Stanford University

No one knows exactly how many of the 100,000 miles of sewer lines and 900+ utility providers and treatment plants in California provide adequate service, yet. We are conducting a first-of-its-kind study to answer this question and advance equitable sanitation services.

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Researcher(s): Gregory Pierce, Grace Harrison, Jean Claude Iradukunda, Anna Young, and Max McNally
Funder: California State Water Resources Control Board

This project seeks to understand the economic impacts of reduced water availability (due to urban conservation) on recycled water and wastewater systems in California. The multi-university team is forecasting water demand and efficiency trends, evaluating links between urban water supply and wastewater systems, identifying potential impacts to recycled water production, and assessing impacts on affordability for systems across the state.

Researcher(s): Greg Pierce, Grace Harrison, Erik Porse, Rachel Shellabarger
Funder: California Department of Water Resources

Led by Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated, the Luskin Center for Innovation, and partners are conducting six assessments for drinking water quality/compliance in five states and one US territory over the next four years. This report will enable state officials and water system managers to identify solutions and access federal funding for much-needed water quality improvements.

Researcher(s): Grace Harrison, Gregory Pierce, Lena Schlichting, Laura Landes, Steve Wilson, Hideyuki Terashima, and others
Funder: National Environmental Finance Center

Led by the Pacific Institute, the Luskin Center for Innovation, the University of North Carolina Environmental Finance Center, and Corvias Infrastructure Solutions are researching emerging approaches employed by utilities implementing affordable water programs for low-income customers.

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Researcher(s): Gregory Pierce and Grace Harrison
Funder: Water Research Foundation

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