Managing Finances & Cost of Service By JP Joly 1. Every water and sewer utility needs a financial plan. Every water and sewer utility are unique with their operational costs, maintenance routines, timing of repairs and prioritization of asset replacements. 2. Remote work and accessRead More

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has announced the availability of a new document entitled “Improving the Evaluation of Household-Level Affordability in SDWA Rulemaking: New Approaches,” to help facilitate discussion of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) analysis of household-level affordability when making regulatory decisions. AWWA convenedRead More

By Andy Kricun Economically distressed communities face many challenges, especially — and most obviously — the challenges of lack of funding and lack of resources. In addition, their funding and resource deficits can also lead to an additional challenge – being unable to share inRead More

The Water Finance Conference is again shifting to a virtual format for 2021. The seventh annual event, which exclusively covers financing in the U.S. water utility sector, was originally scheduled for Aug. 18-19 in Washington, D.C. With lockdowns and restrictions beginning to ease, conference organizersRead More

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan has announced a $156 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water). The loan will help finance water infrastructure improvements throughout the city, includingRead More

By John Ryan In its 2020 annual report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program describes itself as a “government bank with unique flexibilities.” Can those flexibilities be useful for Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs)Read More

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would come out as a big winner in an initial FY22 budget outline released by the Biden administration, according to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Under the plan, the agency would be in line for a total funding allotment ofRead More

By Greg Baird In the 1998 blockbuster movie, “Armageddon,” when two advanced space shuttles slingshot around the moon at 22,500 miles per hours to land on the global killer asteroid, the pilots see the asteroids debris field and using the FOD (foreign object debris) radar,Read More

The Spring Series of the 2021 Water Asset Management Conference Online will kick off on the afternoon of April 28 with Session 1, presenting a series of expert presentations highlighting new trends and approaches, as well as industry-wide initiatives for asset management as they relate to theRead More

  Water and sewer credit ratings incorporate an assessment of an entity’s resiliency to manage unexpected events, including cyberattacks, which could pose financial and operating risks that ultimately affect utility credit quality, Fitch Ratings says. Event risks like cyberattacks are considered asymmetric risks per Fitch’sRead More