Water utilities across Asia are increasingly adopting real-time monitoring systems to improve water quality management, decision-making, and infrastructure reliability. As climate change accelerates, Singapore faces rising flood risks, sea level pressures and long-term water security challenges. AECOM’s senior vice president, South East Asia, Jee Yi Yng, discusses with Water & Wastewater Asia how cities can move beyond traditional design standards, adopt phased and adaptive planning, and leverage digital tools to build stronger urban water and coastal resilience.

TOO MUCH WATER, TOO LITTLE WATER: A SIMULTANEOUS RISK
Jee emphasised that Singapore’s vulnerabilities lie at both ends of the spectrum: “The risk is always too much water or too little water,” she said. Periods of insufficient rainfall and dependence on external water sources pose one set of challenges, while extreme rainfall and rising sea levels pose another. She highlighted that sea level rise and heavy storms can occur simultaneously — a scenario that significantly complicates water management. “Sea level rise is real,” she noted, recalling observing unusually high waves along the East Coast in recent years. She added that there is nothing to prevent a major storm from coinciding with elevated sea levels, creating compound impacts.

DESIGNING FOR COMPOUND CLIMATE EXTREMES
Traditional approaches that rely on ten-year or hundred-year return periods are becoming insufficient. Recent events, such as the five hundred-year storm in Hong Kong, show that rare events can no longer be considered distant possibilities. “We are already not able to just design for return periods,” Jee explained. Instead, cities need dynamic risk models that consider multiple hazards An aerial view of Marina Barrage, one of Singapore’s key freshwater reservoirs and a central feature of the nation’s flood management and water resilience strategy occurring at the same time.

This includes designing infrastructure that can be upgraded or expanded in phases. She pointed to emerging coastal concepts that integrate multi-functional uses, such as combining protective structures with transport infrastructure. Hydrodynamic modelling, digital twins, and continuous monitoring enable engineers to simulate outcomes, test construction approaches, and verify actual performance on-site. Jee explained that engineers calculate and model expected behaviours at each construction stage. If early-stage monitoring shows unexpected results, work must pause to investigate before proceeding. “Instrumentation and monitoring are very important,” she said. “We must make sure that what we have predicted is the same as what is actually happening on site.” She added that robust digital tools help prevent unintended impacts on nearby infrastructure or surrounding waters, especially during reclamation or tunnelling works in densely built environments.

COLLABORATION ACROSS BORDERS AND DISCIPLINES
As climate risks cross political boundaries, collaboration is essential. Jee highlighted the importance of regional and global technical exchange within AECOM’s network. “We tap on our global technical skill sets from colleagues in the US and UK,” she said, noting that this cross border input helps ensure designs are both locally grounded and globally informed.

LOW-LYING CITIES FACE HEIGHTENED FLOOD RISKS
Flooding, she stressed, is a more immediate and visible threat in Singapore. The country’s low-lying nature, combined with increasingly intense storms, means that many areas are at risk. Jee drew on observations from an overseas study trip to the Netherlands in Oct, where participants visited Dutch coastal defence systems. “Their challenges are definitely different from ours,” she said, highlighting differences in geography and available land for multi-layered dikes. Singapore has limited space for such systems, but can adapt concepts using its own constraints and opportunities.

Phased coastal and water infrastructure development Looking ahead, Jee underscored the importance of phased development for major coastal and water infrastructure. Large scale reclamation or reservoir creation projects, she said, can be implemented in stages to manage cost and ensure adaptability. Each phase would be designed for the expected climate conditions of its time, with the ability to elevate or extend structures later as risks evolve. “We need to find a balance,” she said, adding that engineers must manage public funds responsibly while safeguarding long-term resilience.

DIGITAL TWINS, MODELLING AND MONITORING: ESSENTIAL TOOLS
Technology plays a critical role in strengthening resilience. She stressed that water and wastewater projects must be planned not only for present needs but for future technologies. “When we start designing a plant today, it does not mean the technology we select today will still be current when it is completed eight years later,” she said. Ensuring that facilities can be updated over time is therefore a critical part of future-proofing.

CO-CREATION AND COORDINATED IMPLEMENTATION
Jee concluded that resilience requires more than engineering solutions — it demands coordinated action across agencies, disciplines and timelines. Her approach rests on three principles: coordinate, co-create and collaborate. “We need to coordinate among agencies, co-create solutions and collaborate so that implementation can happen smoothly,” she said.