Robert Traver, PhD
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems; Director of the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership | College of Engineering
Robert Traver, PhD., P.E., D. WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, is an expert on green stormwater infrastructure.
Media
Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies
Selected papers from the 2011 Low Impact Development Conference, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 25-28, 2011. Sponsored by the Low Impact Development Committee of the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE As federal, state, and local governments realize that traditional approaches to stormwater management are not achieving the desired environmental protection goals, they are increasingly adopting low impact development (LID) technology as the preferred approach to stormwater management in land development and redevelopment. Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies contains 22 papers that address a wide range of LID design applications and includes a number of practical case studies. Topics include: rain gardens and bioretention systems; green streets and hardscapes; green roofs; and watershed restoration. A companion volume, Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics, is also available. Both collections will be of interest to engineers, land planners, and government officials working on stormwater management and land use policy.
Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics
Selected papers from the 2011 Low Impact Development Conference, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 25 28, 2011. Sponsored by the Low Impact Development Committee of the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE Insite development, the rapid adoption of low impact development (LID) technology for stormwater management, can create conflicts among the various municipal agencies tasked with overseeing land use decisions. Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics contains nine papers that address implementation procedures and the economic impact of LID technology. Topics include: regulations and codes; planning and information exchange; policy incentives; outreach activities; operations and maintenance considerations; and life-cycle costs and performance metrics. A companion volume, Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies, is also available. Both collections will be of interest to engineers, land planners, and government officials working on stormwater management and land use policy.
Dr. Robert Traver on Hurricane Katrina
Dr. Robert Traver, a professor of civil engineering at Villanova University, and a nationally-recognized authority on urban stormwater management, played a significant role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina. He served as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers External Review Panel (ERP) charged with determining why the city’s levee system failed. As the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, Dr. Traver looks back on what happened in New Orleans that day, how far urban stormwater management has come since, and where it is headed in the future.
Areas of Expertise (5)
- Flooding
- Green Infrastructure
- Stormwater Management
- Urban Watersheds
- Water Resources
Biography
Dr. Robert G. Traver has been a member of the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Program at Villanova since 1988. He currently serves as Director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems (VCRWS), which joins with government and industry to advance the field of comprehensive stormwater management. In taking the lead with VCRWS, Dr. Traver has transformed the Villanova campus into a living laboratory with on-site experimental projects such as a green roof, rain garden, stormwater wetland, pervious concrete and porous asphalt. Dr. Traver played a significant role in the Corps of Engineers' investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers External Panel (ERP). Dr. Traver has previously testified before Congress and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Education (3)
- Pennsylvania State University: PhD
- Villanova University: MCE
- Virginia Military Institute: BSCE
Select Accomplishments (7)
Affiliations (5)
- Associate Editor and Co-Founder of the ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment
- Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE)
- Diplomat and Former President of the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers
- Committee Member of the National Research Council Committee that authored “Urban Stormwater Management in the United States” (2009)
- Steering committee of the Water Environmental Federation Stormwater Institute
Select Media Appearances (10)
With the 100-year Flood Model Seemingly Obsolete, What Now?
American Society of Civil Engineers
11/6/2024
“Research over the past 20 years shows us increases in precipitation over time – and that’s a pretty short period of time,” said Robert Traver, Ph.D., P.E., BC.WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems. “It’s not just that the 100-year event – the 1% every year being equal or exceeded – needs to be updated, but we also need to update our models based on the mechanisms in the atmosphere that are changing now due to climate change and will continue to change as we move forward.”
MSD Asks Voters to Increase Their Sewer Bills. If They Don’t say Yes, Massive Hikes Await.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
3/21/2024
Policies like Prop S that take aim at runoff from impervious surfaces are becoming increasingly common around the country, as cities and towns grapple with how to address problems from “water off pavement,” said Rob Traver, a Villanova University professor of water resource engineering and an urban stormwater expert. “It is directly related to what causes the problem,” he said. “It’s definitely growing. I’m seeing more and more areas doing this.”
Study Shows Federal Weather Model Underplays Flooding, Putting Infrastructure Spending at Risk
Politico
6/26/2023
Some states and cities are updating their design standards on their own to account for climate-driven precipitation changes, said Robert Traver, a professor and director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems. Traver is working with Pennsylvania to update its design specifications to use the upper bounds of the Atlas 14 rainfall range. He said doing so would better account for how climate change is driving more intense rainfall events.
Inside the Billion-Dollar Effort to Clean Up the World’s Most Romantic River
TIME
3/13/2023
There is a reason that it’s taken so long: most of the world’s largest cities were built long before modern sanitation networks were knit into urban planning. “You cannot put in a whole new sanitation system. It’s ridiculously expensive,” says Robert Traver, a leading urban-river specialist and engineering professor at Villanova University in Philadelphia. That city, for example, has had a plan for years to transform its section of the Delaware River and make it swimmable; much like the Seine in Paris, the river cuts through the city.
With a Green Makeover, Philadelphia Is Tackling Its Stormwater Problem
Yale e360
3/29/2018
At nearby Villanova University, the Urban Stormwater Partnership, founded in 2002 under environmental engineering professor Robert Traver, had begun experimenting with green stormwater infrastructure. Neukrug developed a couple of low-impact pilot design projects, and in 2009, the Philadelphia Water Department released a revision — 12 years in the making — to its stormwater and sewage management plan.
Those Surprising Gardens Along I-95 in Fishtown? They'll Manage Olympic Amounts of Stormwater
Philadelphia Inquirer
9/3/2017
One recent day after a heavy rain, Robert Traver, a professor of civil engineering at Villanova and chair of the university’s Urban Stormwater Partnership, was out inspecting one of the rain gardens. This one, running along Richmond Street, between Shackamaxon and Marlborough Streets, covered about 1.7 acres.
I-95 Overhaul Includes Green Infrastructure to Reduce River Pollution
WHYY
5/8/2017
“They’re building a lot of green infrastructure, rain gardens and bioinfiltration sites that weren’t there before,” said Villanova engineering professor Robert Traver, who is working on the project. “So that means all those acres of impervious surface that used to go directly into the combined sewers now get cut off and reduce the volume tremendously.”
Cities Enlist Nature to Tame Rising Flood Risks
Christian Science Monitor
12/20/2016
But in recent years, the method has gained credence as a buffer against climate change, said Robert Traver, a professor and director of the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership at Villanova University in Philadelphia, a city replete with porous pavement and other projects that’s turned it into the US poster child for green infrastructure.
10 Years After Hurricane Katrina, US Still Lacks Comprehensive Strategy to Tackle Floods, Experts Warn
Fox News
8/28/2015
“There has been a lot of work done in the areas that were flooded out,” Robert Traver, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University, told FoxNews.com. “Where we still need a lot of good work is in treating everything like a system – it’s not just the barrier systems such as levees and sand-dunes, it’s ‘how good is our evacuation system?’ ‘What do we do to make the houses more resilient?’ ‘What do we do about land use decisions?’ and ‘How good is our public notification system?’”
Engineers Call for National Approach to Flooding
Associated Press
9/22/2014
An organization of civil engineers is calling for a national strategy for mitigating flood risks, saying the U.S. has not fully heeded lessons from Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy... Robert Traver, the Villanova University professor who was chairman of the group that made the report, said the issues are critical. “The failure to act today has future consequence,” he said.
Select Academic Articles (7)
Dynamic design of green stormwater infrastructure
Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering
2017
Green Infrastructure Recovery: Analysis of the Influence of Back-to-Back Rainfall Events
ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment
2017
The Impact of Drainage on Green Roof Evapotranspiration
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
2016
Contact Robert Traver, PhD