Archive
Water Futures Join Wall Street
Water has now joined oil, gold, and other commodities traded on Wall Street, highlighting worries that the life-sustaining natural resource may become scarce across more of the world. The contracts, a first of their kind in the U.S., were announced in September of this year as heat and wildfires ravaged the U.S. West Coast and as California was emerging from an eight-year drought. They are meant to serve both as a hedge for big water consumers, such as almond farmers and electric utilities, against water prices fluctuations as well a scarcity gauge for investors worldwide. Farmers, hedge funds and municipalities […]
Water Infrastructure Resilience Report Released
In the third of its Community Resilience Benchmarks, the water benchmark addresses resilience of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. The Alliance for National and Community Resilience (ANCR) released the new benchmark recently after both the building and housing benchmarks were released in 2019. ANCR’s Community Resilience Benchmarks (CRBs) support communities in assessing their resilience and developing strategies for improvement. These benchmarks take a coordinated, holistic look at the people, services and processes that make communities work. The water benchmark was developed by a committee of subject matter experts co-chaired by Andy Kricun, Managing Director at Moonshot Missions and Senior […]
Dekalb County Receives EPA Water Infrastructure Loan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and EPA Southeast Regional Administrator Mary Walker recently announced a $265 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to DeKalb County, Georgia, for upgrades to its aging wastewater collection and treatment system. DeKalb County will use the EPA’s WIFIA loan to assess and rehabilitate the highest priority areas of its sewer system infrastructure. Upgrades will include sewer replacement, trunk sewer upsizing, full or partial length sewer lining, and related activities at various locations within the county. The project will help eliminate sanitary sewer overflows and improving water quality in […]
Corporate Sustainability Through A Pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause devastating social and economic impacts across the globe, companies are continuing, if not elevating, their efforts to become more sustainable. Some of these companies are now being recognized for their efforts. A survey put out this year, titled the 2020 Sustainability Leaders[1], revealed which companies are perceived to be leaders on sustainability during this unique and challenging time by sustainability professionals representing business, government, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Over 700 experts were surveyed online across 71 countries in May. The results showed that Unilever continues to be a recognized leader among the sustainability community, […]
Report Details Nationwide Shortfall for Infrastructure Funding
According to the new report released last week by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Value of Water Campaign, the United States is underinvesting in its drinking water and wastewater systems, putting American households and the economy at risk. The report, “The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure: How a Failure to Act Would Affect the U.S. Economy Recovery,” finds that as water infrastructure deteriorates and service disruptions increase, annual costs to American households due to water and wastewater failures will be seven times higher in 20 years than they are today —from $2 billion in 2019 […]