Joining Forces for Improved Water Systems
An MIT Sloan Food Supply Chain Analytics and Sensing (FSAS) Initiative project supported by Bangkok Bank is proving to bear fruit. In the Southeast Asia Water Project, FSAS faculty researchers collaborate with local stakeholders to build AI-enabled models and decision-support tools that strengthen the region's response to irregular weather patterns and access to safe, usable water.
With support from Bangkok Bank, the project launched in 2025 to address water management challenges and the impact on Thailand’s agriculture, economic development, and environment. Community-based decision support tools, prediction and optimization AI models, and statistical analyses that evaluate the impact of weather and agriculture on the region’s systems are under development by the FSAS team—innovative tools that stand to support advancements in water management both locally and around the world.
The project is led by Retsef Levi (J. Spencer Standish (1945) Professor of Management; Professor of Operations Management; Faculty Director of FSAS).
“Every global societal problem that you can think about—hunger, bird flu, the environment—has a direct connection and relationship with food, agricultural, and water systems,” says Levi.
Every global societal problem that you can think about—hunger, bird flu, the environment—has a direct connection and relationship with food, agricultural, and water systems.
Thailand’s variable weather strains the country’s overall viability. Unpredictable rainfall combined with extended drought periods results in floods, water scarcity, and compromised water quality. These risks are exacerbated by ineffective water resource management—a web of systems that the FSAS research team has already taken significant steps toward improving.
First, researchers set out to build detailed models of existing water management systems. Community members and local decision-makers were engaged through extensive interviews, which uncovered three main challenges in the Thai agricultural sector: local management of water reservoirs results in consistent flooding in downstream provinces; forecasts regarding water availability are often ignored; current water treatments are often deficient. The team then turned to developing tools that will aid local decision makers—at the province, municipality, and district level—in mitigating these risks.
The FSAS research team is leveraging the power of digital innovation—particularly that of artificial intelligence (AI)—as the AI-enabled models integrate machine learning in tandem with predictive and optimization capabilities. Employing an end-to-end approach that ensures usable outcomes, the AI-enabled models allow for forecasting of both mid- and long-range outputs. For example, AI-enabled decision support tools stand to inform the operations of over 1,200 water pumps in Bangkok—improvements that support a more resilient future for the megacity.
The research team is also addressing challenges related to deforestation, as the region’s forests are believed to play a critical role in mitigating runoffs caused by variable rainfall. The barrier of watershed forests can reduce surface runoff and improve the replenishment of groundwater during heavy rain, thus stabilizing river streams. By leveraging data around changing forest coverage, the research team is working to develop models that can assess forestation’s impact on local agriculture and water access.
Innovation in Water and Agricultural Systems with Retsef Levi
The Southeast Asia Water Project research group includes FSAS affiliates Yanchong (Karen) Zheng (George M. Bunker Professor of Management; Associate Professor of Operations Management); Ali Aouad, PhD ’17, (Sloan School Career Development Assistant Professor; Assistant Professor, Operations Management); and Miho Mazereeuw (Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism; Director, Urban Risk Lab). While the team has already made tremendous strides toward understanding, modeling, and improving Thai water systems, they have no plans of slowing down.
Researchers intend to continue their engagement with local communities to better evaluate the diverse demands related to water management. Adopting a systems approach, the team will reconstruct datasets in support of developing more advanced decision-support tools, mitigating water-related risks, and enabling effective allocation of water for agricultural production—by uncovering water-resource trends through satellite imagery and historic field mapping, for example. AI, machine learning, and predictive and optimization modeling will continue to be applied in the advancement of this work.
The mission of FSAS is to support equitable access to safe and nutritious food—a basic societal need that impacts the health, livelihood, and wellness of all humans. Across a portfolio of international and domestic projects, FSAS researchers are at work developing novel tools and technologies that improve the design and management of food supply chains that are safe, accessible, reliable, and sustainable.
Bangkok Bank’s generous commitment to these efforts has enabled FSAS faculty to conduct cutting-edge research through the Southeast Asia Water Project—exemplifying the support of MIT Sloan by industry that addresses immediate challenges while generating far-reaching impact. The project stands to not only improve local water management systems and strengthen local communities but provide solutions to challenges that affect food and water systems in every corner of the globe.
Learn more about support and engagement by visiting the FSAS initiative’s website.