David Catt

Assistant Policy Researcher; Ph.D. Candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Santa Monica Office

Education

B.S. in civil engineering, University of Kansas

One Page Bio

Overview

David Catt is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. student at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His major fields of interest include water supply, energy resources, climate change, infrastructure finance, management, and governance, and housing and land use policy.

Catt has a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Kansas. Prior to joining Pardee RAND, he was a civil engineer at Black & Veatch, where he designed drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, conducted cost analyses, and analyzed long-term master plans for water utilities. As a fellow with the WISE Program in Washington, D.C., he analyzed technical and policy solutions to increase the fresh water supply in drought-stricken U.S. states.

Research Focus

Commentary

How to Ensure Quality Drinking Water Service for All? One Option Is Fewer Utilities
California's Human Right to Water Bill declares that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water.” One clear barrier to reaching this target is the sheer number of small water utilities that pose service sustainability and public health risks to their customers.
Mar 26, 2019 The RAND Blog
How Federal Policy Could Help Water and Wastewater Utilities
A targeted approach could help the federal government address the root causes of infrastructure problems more effectively than a spending initiative that simply spreads money around with the hope that more spending might do some good.
Jan 16, 2018 Inside Sources

Publications

Research Brief
How Can Green Infrastructure Help to Manage Rainfall in an Urban Watershed?
This brief describes a proposed system of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in Pittsburgh's Negley Run watershed, evaluates its potential benefits and costs, and presents recommendations to improve urban stormwater management.
Oct 29, 2020
Report
Managing Heavy Rainfall with Green Infrastructure: An Evaluation in Pittsburgh's Negley Run Watershed
RAND researchers estimate the potential benefits and costs of a green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) system in Pittsburgh's Negley Run watershed, evaluate a series of GSI investments, and make recommendations to improve urban stormwater management.
Oct 26, 2020
Report
Beyond Recovery: Transforming Puerto Rico's Water Sector in the Wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria
The recovery plan for the water sector in Puerto Rico involves not only repairing hurricane-damaged water infrastructure and systems but also fixing the significant legacy challenges in the sector's infrastructure, operations, and governance.
Sep 30, 2020
Draft
A Systemic Framework for Understanding the Dynamics of Rural Communities in America
Describes a basic, multi-level framework for mapping the system of factors and mechanisms that most influence positive and negative outcomes in rural communities.
Oct 23, 2019
Report
Updating the Costs of Compliance for California's Hospital Seismic Safety Standards
California Senate Bill 1953 requires structural and nonstructural upgrades to hospital buildings to enhance resilience to seismic events. This report estimates the costs to hospitals of compliance, with a focus on the 2030 deadline.
Mar 28, 2019
Draft
Estimating Future Water Demand for San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District
Evaluates the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District's Regional Urban Water Management Plan and an alternative approach to calculating future water demand in their service area.
Dec 28, 2018