Water Finance & Management recently talked with George Hawkins, founder of Moonshot Missions, Andy Kricun, managing director at Moonshot Missions and Greg Baird, frequent contributor to WF&M and president of the Water Finance Research Foundation. The discussion largely focused on the financial and operational outlook for the water/wastewater sector amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Writing for WF&M in a recent article on the subject, Hawkins and Kricun discuss how challenges from this pandemic are not new in and of themselves, but that they have manifested to an unprecedented degree and projected duration. The article notes the positive outlook that solutions being implementing by necessity today can help achieve permanent improvements for the future, mentioning three major themes of resilience, workforce and affordability that will be key areas of opportunity for drinking and clean water utilities to address.
During the conversation with WF&M, Hawkins also discussed his current participation on a committee in Washington, D.C. that is exploring options for re-opening the city’s economy. Hawkins, who is part of the committee’s infrastructure and transportation subcommittee, talked about the challenges being discussed and how many of the issues affecting the water sector are similar to other utilities and entities concerned about cost savings, workforce management and affordability. Watch the full discussion above and click the link below to read the recent article from Hawkins and Kricun.
Pandemic & The Future: From Darkness to the Light in the Water Sector
George Hawkins is the former CEO and general manager of DC Water and Andy Kricun is the former CEO of the Camden Country Municipal Utilities Authority in New Jersey. They are widely considered among the most respected authorities on water utility management in the United States.
As a management consultant, Greg Baird specializes in long-term utility planning, infrastructure asset management and capital funding strategies for municipal water utilities in the United States. He has served as a municipal finance officer in California and as the CFO of Colorado’s third-largest utility. Check out our April 2020 cover story, written by Baird, on the impact of COVID-19 on water.
