Water Finance

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a $436 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan – the largest initial disbursement under WIFIA to date – to the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA). EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the loan closing along withRead More

The Senate Appropriations Committee recently passed a fiscal year 2020 (FY20) Interior & Environment Appropriations bill, which funds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and key clean water programs. The full House previously passed its FY20 Interior & Environment Appropriations bill earlier this summer and now awaits passageRead More

According to a new forecast from Bluefield Research, municipal utilities in the United States are expected to spend $629 billion on capital expenditures (CAPEX) over the next decade to address increasing demands on water and wastewater infrastructure. While the baseline forecast projects a 2.6 percentRead More

The Financial Research Institute (FRI) has awarded Robert Powelson, president and CEO of the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), its FRI Crystal Award for Distinguished Contribution. The FRI Crystal Award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to public utilityRead More

By Peter Yolles and Cynthia Koehler Newsflash: our water-stressed, climate-changing world is a major resilience challenge for communities. But there’s also an upside to meeting this challenge. Building resilient water solutions can create important, and sometimes catalytic, opportunities for private investors. That’s especially so inRead More

By Kristy Neckowicz Although roles in planning differ, we’ve seen, time and again, the same handful of challenges related to the effective planning and execution of capital programs. If I walk a mile in a director of engineering’s shoes, here’s how my world would look… IRead More

During meetings on Capitol Hill and at EPA in late August, the lead authors of the joint NACWA, American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) report, Developing a New Framework for Household Affordability and Financial Capability Assessment in the Water Sector, provided backgroundRead More

By Andrew Heath It’s no secret that the United States is facing a water infrastructure crisis of epic proportions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that $473 billion in drinking water infrastructure investment will be needed over the next 20 years as aging pipes andRead More

By Kristy Neckowicz Optimizing a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) can be a daunting task for any organization given the inherent complexities and many “moving parts” that constitute the plan. When a CIP comprises a hundred or more projects, juggling the budgets, timelines and resources – allRead More

By Michael Curley The public finance industry is not well known for breathtaking innovations nor spontaneous breakthroughs. But in the past three years a truly innovative development has occurred: Environmental Impact Bonds (EIBs). In 2008, the World Bank issued what it called a “green bond.”Read More