The number of water and wastewater projects executed via collaborative delivery is at an all-time high and estimated to expand further. (A collaborative project is any method other than the typical design-bid-build; such as Construction Manager At Risk, Fixed-Price Design-Build, and Progressive Design-Build.) This presentation will provide recent trends in the water/wastewater market and surveys that project the growth of collaborative delivery methods through the United States, with an emphasis on Kentucky and Tennessee. Recent reports estimate that the water/wastewater sector will experience the fastest growth of any construction sector. The utilization of design-build for water/wastewater is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8% over the next 5 years. Design-build for water/wastewater projects in the United States is estimated to grow from $30 Billion in 2024 to $41 Billion in 2028. General contractors, public owners, and engineers in the southeast United States are all utilizing the collaborative methods as alternative to the typical design-bid-build. Studies indicate that 44% utilize design-build, 25% utilize CMAR, and 31% utilize design/bid/build in the southeast United States. So why are water/wastewater projects trending towards Collaborative Delivery? This presentation will provide a brief overview of why many public owners are adding collaborative delivery to the “toolbox” of project delivery methods. Many owners report the following improvements in project success with a collaborative project: streamlined communication, schedule compression, flexibility for market shifts (supply chain issues), risk sharing, early involvement of key stakeholders, fosters innovation, improved quality control. This presentation will present additional details regarding these benefits and provide best practices for owners to consider implementing. The presenter will provide a specific example of a TN project that was hard bid with a $7 million low-bid. This low bid exceed the project budget, so the Engineer and Owner decided to transition to the CMAR delivery method with the same construction scope. The executed price utilizing the CMAR delivery method was $4 million. This resulted in over $3 million savings to the Owner and a testament to the value of properly discussing risks with the Contractor and properly value engineering portions of the projects to consider reductions in costs and risks.