Water and wastewater infrastructure across the U.S. is aging and in need of repair and rehabilitation. New York State (NYS) is no exception, with projected capital needs of approximately $60 billion for water and wastewater over the next 20 years. Declining federal and state contributions have increased the burden of meeting capital improvement needs on local municipalities. The problem is acute in older cities where aging infrastructure combined with suburbanization has left cities with smaller tax bases taking on legacy costs. Recent extreme weather events, such as Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, highlighted the vulnerability of water and wastewater systems, and the need for communities, both coastal and inland, to adapt to high precipitation events, changing floodplains, rising sea levels, and variability in climate projections. New York State Water Resources Institute (WRI) at Cornell University is a federally- and state-designated institution, whose mission is to improve the management of water resources in NYS and the nation. In collaboration with the Hudson River Estuary Program of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), WRI conducts and funds research and outreach of interest to a broad set of stakeholders both in the Hudson River watershed and across the state. Over several years, WRI has established a coordinated research team focused on the assessment and management of the state’s water resource infrastructure, its relationship to environmental water quality and community economic vitality, and its resilience in the face of extreme weather and climate change1. In part, this work is inspired by various state policy developments, such as the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Protection Policy Act of 2010, the Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act of 2012, and efforts like New York Rising that foster community resilience to climate change.