AECOM's Alicia DuPree helps deliver safe water to communities

AECOM's People Spotlight series provides an inside look at the company's technical experts working around the world.

Meet water/wastewater engineering discipline lead Alicia DuPree, from AECOM's Water business in the U.S. West region.

Alicia has over 19 years of experience in the water industry, with a specialty in long-range master planning. Alicia has held roles on both the client and consultant side, beginning as a water resources engineer at a water engineering and consulting firm before working for seven years with Aurora Water in Colorado. At Aurora Water, Alicia held multiple positions, culminating with a role as lead planner for the water and non-potable system. In 2020, Alicia joined AECOM at the encouragement of colleagues who described a working environment that offers a work life balance with a great team.

Today, Alicia is a subject matter expert for water/wastewater master planning projects across AECOM, serving as project manager or technical lead on multiple large-scale, complicated projects with complex master plans. Alicia is also an active leader and resource in the water/wastewater master planning group in the Technical Practice Network.

Ensuring people have safe, reliable drinking water

Alicia explains what inspired her to join the industry.

"During college, I was deciding between the medical and the engineering routes, and a professor pointed out that when you’re a doctor, you can impact one patient at a time, but when you’re an engineer, you impact entire communities — and those impacts can be much larger and longer lasting. That was what made me choose engineering: I wanted to create positive impacts for my community," says Alicia.

"I chose water specifically because it is an absolute necessity, and directly impacts a community’s ability to thrive. It also allowed me to be a silent servant, which was important to me. I want to ensure people have safe, reliable drinking water and can be a part of responsible community decisions that will last for years to come. This is something that I can do to shape communities and help people, even as they may be unaware of the work behind the scenes to make sure they have everything they need," continues Alicia.

"The thing that is unique about AECOM is how they support work-life balance. It is a sweet time in my family life with a young daughter at home, and AECOM allows me the flexibility to enjoy that and be there for her. It’s rare for someone in my position to work part-time, but here I work 32 hours a week and am still advancing my career and working on amazing projects. It helps me enjoy my job so much more to have time for both my career and family. AECOM truly supports women and flexible working arrangements, and if you are ambitious and driven, there is plenty of opportunity for you to grow here in a supportive company," adds Alicia.

Working on an evolving AECOM project

One of Alicia's favorite AECOM projects that she has worked on is the Salt Lake City (SLC) Big Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant Rebuild Project. Alicia says this project is different than her other master planning projects as initially her team started working on just one project to rebuild their water treatment plant before it turned into a program.

"It’s been fun to see the project evolve and be able to support the client through the different evolutions. Part of the reason I love being on this team is the opportunity to provide guidance to the client on critical decisions needed to shape their strategy moving forward," comments Alicia.

"When we first started working on the project, the client was looking at six different location options for the treatment plant and having a very challenging time deciding the best option based on their complex scoring criteria. Since I have a utility background, I asked if they would be open to letting me provide a suggestion. I worked with them to narrow down their selection criteria to the most critical factors for success, the key items that should be driving the decision. Once we helped them identify those things it gave them clarity to see the best path forward. We are now helping them design their larger strategy as a result, and even ensuring they are capturing their water supply and protecting it from any natural disaster scenarios in the future by helping them design a pump station and creek channel," continues Alicia.

Helping communities overcome challenges

When asked about how her work positively impacted the community, Alicia says: "I would say all my projects positively impact the community because they are helping the community have a strategy for the future, but one project that has been especially great to work on is the City of Lakewood Wastewater Master Plan Update in Colorado."

Alicia describes how Lakewood is facing challenges frequently experienced by many cities in the U.S. West region, where the original wastewater infrastructure was not sized for the type of development and growth occurring today. Originally, the system was built for single family homes, but now the city is evolving to include many mixed-use developments with commercial facilities on lower floors and apartments and condos above. That’s created a much greater water demand and produced additional sewer flows.

"The pipelines now are too small, so as we evaluate and plan for their future system, we are making sure the infrastructure is adequately sized for today, as well as future development and growth. We prioritize the most important improvements, and continually monitor their wastewater system over time to keep pace with the changing landscape of their development," continues Alicia.

"The client is very forward thinking, and I’ve enjoyed collaborating with them to identify the problem, analyze it together, and decide on the best options going forward. I’ve been able to better help them develop a strategy to adapt their system to these new types of developments that communities want to see. We’re trying to help them plan ahead so when they make a change, it’s a lasting one," says Alicia.

"Lakewood is facing challenges frequently experienced by many cities in the U.S. West region, where the original wastewater infrastructure was not sized for the type of development and growth occurring today. The client is very forward thinking, and I’ve enjoyed collaborating with them to identify the problem, analyze it together, and decide on the best options going forward. I’ve been able to better help them develop a strategy to adapt their system to these new types of developments that communities want to see, " adds Alicia.

Always be willing to try something new

Alicia shares a great piece of career advice.

"Always be willing to try something new. I was able to find what I love to do because I’m always motivated to explore different opportunities outside my comfort zone. Even now, 20 years into my career, I’m constantly trying different things and that has helped me stay engaged and find my focus," says Alicia. "I also would say don’t be afraid to ask questions. Especially when people are new in their careers, they don’t want to look bad, but then they don’t learn and grow. If you ask your question, someone will help you figure out what you’re missing, and I wish I had learned that earlier in my career."