Eric Schuler

Deputy Commissioner, Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection

Eric Schuler is a Deputy Commissioner for a public wastewater system serving a population of roughly 350,000 residents. In his leadership role he oversees all of Capital Programming, Construction, Asset Management, Fleet, and Inventory Control. Mr. Schuler has over 10 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY and has primarily been involved in wastewater, drinking water, civil-site, and stormwater sectors. Eric is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York whose design, project management, and construction-related experiences have helped successfully execute many “trenchless”-focused projects.

Early in his engineering career he gained exposure to various trenchless technologies through utility evaluations and development of utility project design alternatives. He immediately started to envision great opportunities for communities plagued by utility deficiencies and construction constraints to utilize CIPP, HDD, among other trenchless technologies; and for them to be able to benefit from both social and economic perspectives. Eric has also stressed the importance for municipalities to incorporate asset management into utility system evaluations and system rehabilitation designs in order to aid development of capital projects and to determine the most suitable trenchless applications for implementation.

Eric is currently the Past Chair (Chair 2022-2023) for NASTT-NE, while also a President for the Central New York Branch of the American Public Works Association (APWA), and a Director of the Central New York Water Works Conference (CNYWCC). Eric continues to push for growth of trenchless technologies in upstate-New York and has trained utility owners on the use of hydraulic modeling methods for proper development of utility rehabilitation project design. He is an advocate for educating (designers & installers) of trenchless applications through proper training and increased accessibility of industry standards/guidelines to ensure successful project design and execution. The successful use and increased awareness of modern-day trenchless technologies that incorporate innovative equipment and materials are what Eric believes will continue to shape and drive the direction of the utility industry for the coming decades.