Water Resources Center at IPA

Aerial view of Brandywine River, with a red covered bridge and fall foliage

Institute for Public Administration

Learn more about UD Water Resources Center at IPA

Contact Us

Jerry Kauffman
Director, Water Resources Center

jerryk@udel.edu

302-831-4929

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providing assistance to governments in Delaware, the Delaware Valley, and along the Atlantic Seaboard

The University of Delaware Water Resources Center (UDWRC), established in 1965, is one of the 54 National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWRs) at land-grant universities in the 50 states, District of Columbia and island territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The UDWRC receives funding through Section 104 of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, which was originally signed into law by Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964. The U.S. Geological Survey administers the provisions of the Act and provides oversight of the nation’s Water Resources Centers through the National Institute of Water Resources (NIWR).

As a member of the NIWR, the UDWRC has two key missions related to Delaware’s water resources—our precious ground water aquifers and our streams, ponds, lakes, and coastal waters:

To support research, education, and public outreach programs that focus on water supply, water management, and water quality – issues of considerable importance to Delaware citizens who are concerned about the future of our water resources. We are specifically charged with the “exploration of new ideas that address water problems or expand our understanding of water-related phenomena”.

To foster and support training and education programs for the future water scientists, engineers, managers, and policy-makers who will lead the water resources research, planning, and management efforts in our state in the future.

UDWRC staff and students take leadership roles in the following organizations and programs.

Featured PROJECTS

Jillian Young takes water samples in White Clay Creek

Improving Drinking Water Quality

Through funding from the William Penn Foundation, the University of Delaware Water Resources Center works with the Delaware Nature Society and partners to implement the Clean Water Campaign and Clean Water Alliance.

The Delaware Clean Water Alliance is a broad-based coalition of organizations and stakeholders across the state working to secure funding for clean water initiatives. The Alliance is working together to improve water quality across the state and to secure dedicated funding for clean water.

Learn More about the Clean Water Act

Northeast Boulevard bridge and surrounding area underwater after Hurricane Ida

Research on Coastal Flooding

Climate change is a rising environmental crisis threatening the United States with unpredictable storms, flooding, and natural disasters imposing menace on many structures and homes. UDWRC conducts a variety of research on coastal flooding, including:

Analyzing flood insurance premiums, claims, and coverage in Delaware to find high-risk areas and determine whether the flood insurance program is adequately funded of subsidized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Using hydraulic models developed by FEMA to reconstruct and examine the effects of Tropical Storm Ida remnants along the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware.
Combining climatic, hydrologic, hydraulic, and geographic information systems (GIS) data to document and map the worst-case effects of hurricanes, fluvial flooding, high tides, and sea-level rise inundation on the highway, railroad, transit, and pedestrian/bicycle transit assets of the Delaware Department of Transportation.

Image of students gathered around a Delaware Sea Grant guide who is holding net reptile

Green Jobs Program

The City of Wilmington Green Jobs is a 6-week employment program for city youth, ages 14 to 18. Participants work 25 hours per week and earn minimum wage while experiencing hands-on outdoor environmental work, career exploration, exposure to environmental issues, and mentoring.

Host organizations work hard to ensure the interns exit the six-week program with a greater understanding of the local environment, how to improve it, and their individual impacts on it (both positive and negative). The program is coordinated by the University of Delaware Water Resources Agency and led by the City of Wilmington’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

Learn More about the Green Jobs Program

Meet our Team

Gerald Kauffman

Gerald Kauffman is Director of the UD Water Resources Center, one of the 54 National Institutes for Water Resources designated by Congress at land grant universities in the U.S.

Dr. Kauffman holds faculty appointments in the Biden School, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Geography and teaches, researches, and writes about water science and policy.

Andrew Homsey

Andrew R. Homsey is Geospatial Services Manager at the University of Delaware’s Water Resources Center (UDWRC), a unit of the Institute for Public Administration at the Biden School of Public Policy & Administration. Andrew supports the mission of providing watershed technical, policy, and research support to state and local governments in Delaware and the surrounding region.

Project areas include water quality, stormwater mapping and modeling, watershed management, and support for a variety of collaborations with water professionals within the University community as well as governmental, nonprofit, and watershed organizations.

Specific areas of interest and expertise include using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to track, model, and analyze water resources and watershed trends. Current and past projects include inventory and analysis of tidal marsh conditions, effects on infrastructure from storms, tidal surges, and potential sea level rise, and economic benefits of clean water and healthy ecosystems.

Martha Narvaez

Martha C. Narvaez is a Policy Scientist and Associate Director at the University of Delaware’s Water Resources Center (DWRC), a unit of the Institute for Public Administration at the Biden School of Public Policy & Administration.

In this role, Martha is responsible for providing regional watershed technical, policy, and research support to state and local governments; University staff and faculty; and nonprofit organizations in Delaware and the Delaware Valley.

Prior to her work at the Water Resources Center Martha worked at the USEPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program (Annapolis, MD); the City of Wilmington Public Works Department (Wilmington, DE); the Conservancy of Southwest Florida (Naples, FL); and Environmental Consulting Services Inc. (ECSI) (Middletown, DE). Martha received her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology from Lehigh University and her Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the University of Delaware.

Nicole Minni

Nicole M. Minni is an Associate Policy Scientist (GIS/Graphics Specialist) for the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration. She has 32 years of experience using GIS for a wide range of projects, which allows her to work with colleagues across three colleges within the University and with nonprofits and state and local governments. Some of these projects are Delaware Equitable Planning for Local Adaptation Needs (DE-PLANs), Comprehensive Planning, Connecting Food Resources to Delaware Communities, DelDOT Transportation Improvement Districts, DelDOT Byways Program, Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program, Delaware Watersheds, and K-12 Education Initiatives.

She is a Certified GIS Professional (GISP). She has been recognized for her work in digital cartography and spatial analysis. She serves on several committees within Delaware: Co-Chair of the GIS Day Committee, Delaware Geo Education Subcommittee/DGDC, member of the Delmarva GIS Conference Committee, and Chair of the Delmarva GIS Service Award Committee.

Engaging Students in APPLIED Research

Hayley Rost graduated in 2022 with a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Delaware, where she was awarded the 2022 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration Excellence in Water Resources Scholarship Award.

While earning her graduate degree, Hayley became an integral team member at UD Water Resources Center during her fellowship as a Public Administration Fellow. Her projects included the National Park Service on a Reconnaissance Study of Potentially Eligible National Wild & Scenic Rivers in Delaware and the Indigenous and European Place Names of Rivers and Streams in Delaware.

Hayley's peers also recognized her leadership at the Water Resources Center. Elizabeth Shields, a 2023 graduate of the Master of Public Policy Program and fellow UDWRC intern remarked, “Hayley taught me so much about what she had learned and picked up on in her first year before my start this past fall and she helped me with all the projects we worked on together. She has been a patient and knowledgeable mentor and teammate!”

Hayley now works as a program officer at the Chesapeake Bay Trust in Annapolis, Maryland, where she supports environmental literacy and workforce development programs and initiatives as part of the Outreach & Education team.

Hayley's hands-on experience in research and project management at UDWRC prepared her for a career in environmental outreach.