Catie Sauer and Christopher Wisener, first-year master’s degree students in UGA’s College of Environment and Design, are part of the first-place team in Emory University’s Sustainability Case Competition for addressing Georgia’s water crisis.
The team, which also includes three Emory students, will share a $2,000 prize and be eligible for paid internships with the city of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management next summer.
The entry was a PowerPoint presentation in the competition that outlines a five-year plan for Georgia to mitigate the state’s water needs. Ideas proposed by the team included revenue-neutral taxes, several mandates for water conservation, rebate programs for water-saving measures and a method of replacing failing infrastructure. Eight teams and six judges took part in the Nov. 12 competition, and the teams had a limited amount of time at the gathering to come up with cohesive, interdisciplinary suggestions.