This seminar with Dr Kasey Faust is part of the CIB Presidential webinar series, “Women researchers in the built environment”

Providing water services in rural Alaska is a complex endeavor. Intertwined environmental, economic, and social factors can create barriers to reliable water services in communities. For instance, melting permafrost can threaten the structural integrity of infrastructure, or a lack of trained workforce can lead to system neglect. The geographic isolation of these communities can lead to extreme challenges for construction spanning basic maintenance to capital projects. Thousands of homes in rural Alaska still today do not have in-home water services, with many communities experiencing a decline in the number of homes that have access to water. Those that are served often experience disruptions. Such gaps in service lead to extreme water conservation and water quality issues, causing health disparities in Native communities that have been historically disenfranchised.