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Adapting to Financially Challenging Times
Author(s) -
Crea Joseph F.,
Beckley Thomas A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2016.108.0054
Subject(s) - business , capital (architecture) , asset (computer security) , per capita , finance , resource (disambiguation) , natural resource economics , economics , computer security , computer science , computer network , population , demography , archaeology , sociology , history
Over the past decade, rehabilitation and replacement of water utility infrastructure have taken a back seat in the capital plans of US water utilities. Sanitary and combined sewer overflows, water resource planning, and nutrient removal are just a few of the items that dominate the top spots on our capital to‐do lists. As we wrestle to fund our growing capital needs, we are also pressed to control overall costs and keep customer rates low, which has become increasingly difficult in the face of declining per capita water sales. The inevitable result is a looming water infrastructure emergency – assets at or near the end of their useful lives, under‐funded asset management programs, and an unaware public that takes safe, reliable drinking water for granted.