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Institutional Reforms to Enhance Urban Water Infrastructure with Climate Change Uncertainty
Author(s) -
Ananda Jayanath
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/1759-3441.12072
Subject(s) - clarity , flexibility (engineering) , climate change , business , water supply , water infrastructure , environmental planning , critical infrastructure , urban planning , water scarcity , environmental economics , environmental resource management , water resources , environmental science , economics , civil engineering , computer science , environmental engineering , engineering , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , computer security , management , biology
Climate change adds another layer of uncertainty to the complex issue of urban water infrastructure provision. Current institutional configurations surrounding infrastructure investments are deemed inflexible and ill‐equipped to deal with climate uncertainty. This paper evaluates the regulatory and planning frameworks surrounding the urban water infrastructure provision in Victoria. Regulatory inflexibility, lack of clarity in the objectives of the water agencies and opaque supply augmentation policies constrain water businesses from making flexible infrastructure decisions. Future reforms need to focus on clarifying roles and objectives of water agencies, removing barriers to supply augmentation options including inter‐sectoral transfers and a regulatory model that embeds flexibility in infrastructure decision processes.