DC Water’s efforts to build a more resilient water supply took a significant step forward with the announcement today of Rabia Chaudhry, PhD, PE, as the first Director of Water Supply Resilience. The new position reflects the importance and urgency surrounding the Authority’s reliance on the Potomac River as its only water source and the need for alternatives.

At DC Water, Dr. Chaudhry will lead the resilience strategy, exploring additional resources to supply water and initiating the long term implementation. This work is essential to ensure reliable drinking water for more than 700,000 District residents, commercial office buildings, federal and local agencies, and millions of visitors to the nation’s capital each year.

“Dr. Chaudhry understands the complexity of water supply resilience. There is no ‘silver bullet’ to address the unique challenge facing the nation’s capital,” said DC Water Chief Executive Officer and GM David Gadis. “DC Water is crucial to the federal government’s ability to operate without disruption and ensuring safe, reliable water to the White House, Congress, and various agencies. A resilient water supply is not only important to our customers, but to the entire country.”

Dr. Chaudhry’s experience includes deep technical knowledge, financial expertise in water infrastructure, and familiarity working with federal agencies that will be essential to the role. She will lead the Authority’s strategy to explore all options to secure a more resilient water supply and provide reliable drinking water for the nation’s capital.

If a major water disruption occurred on the Potomac, DC Water would only have enough reserves for 24 hours and it could cause significant economic damage. A recent report by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River estimated the loss to the region would be $146.9 million after the first day.

Previously, Dr. Chaudhry worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency. In her most recent roles, she managed federal financial resources for water infrastructure and technical assistance as the manager of the Drinking Water Protection and Grants Branch and as the Director of the Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center. She has also served as the National Water Reuse Expert at the EPA where she built diverse coalitions of stakeholders to facilitate resilient water systems through the National Water Reuse Action Plan.

In addition to her positions at the EPA, Dr. Chaudhry has worked on large scale, global water infrastructure programs at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Dr. Chaudhry holds a Civil and Environmental Engineering doctorate from the University of California Berkeley focused on advanced treatment technologies for water reuse, and a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.