What the group is working on:

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) has created a Working Group for IEEE P4129™, Recommended Practice for Evaluating Water Resource Management Technologies Considering Regional and Industrial Applications and Constraints. Rich will be Chairing this working group as it looks to create the new standard over the coming few years.

As of 2026, The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) has officially declared a state of Global Water Bankruptcy, a shift from crisis to a permanent state of systemic insolvency where many regions can no longer restore their historical water baselines

Over a decade ago in, 2016, UNICEF quoted a study published in Science Advances with a statistic that 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. This was followed up in 2026 analysis indicating that annual global drought costs have reached $307 billion, forming part of a broader $58 trillion water-related economic risk.

We’ve moved past the one-size-fits-all approach to water tech. The effectiveness of any solution whether it's AI modelling or high-tech desalination is now strictly dictated by the regional context (climate, energy availability, and geopolitics).

This recommended practice provides a structured methodology and decision-tree approach for the technical and operational assessment of water management technologies considering desalination, water reuse, and smart distribution systems. The document addresses regional constraints and industrial applications for the ongoing availability and prioritization of potable and usable water for long-term water positivity (e.g., reduction of water consumption, improvement of water quality and water ecosystems, and water conservation). The methodology includes:

• An impact assessment that utilises existing research and available metrics to identify overall water security and regional multistakeholder characteristics framing additional analysis;
• A constraint mapping that defines a matrix of regional variables such as source water chemistry, local energy grid stability, and climatic conditions; and
• An evaluation framework that establishes a multi-criteria analysis process to weigh technological performance

This standard work is crucial as we look to understand how we use water in technology and what ways we can utilise technology to decrease our water use globally.