Utilities Have a New Financing Option to Protect Drinking Water Sources

by Martha Sheils | Feb 20, 2020 | Access to Water Funding Sources, Financial Management

The principal mission of public water systems is to supply clean, safe drinking water to the public. Several very good economic studies exist that demonstrate that protection of the land surrounding drinking water sources is the most economical and most effective way...

Metrics and Methods to Determine Principal Forgiveness Eligibility: Highlighting EPA Regions 9 and 10

by Claudia Flores | Aug 1, 2019 | Affordability, Financial Management

In 2018, the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) published findings from a study that assessed the metrics and criteria used to determine principal forgiveness eligibility in the state revolving funds (SRFs) in EPA Region 4. To complete a more comprehensive analysis,...

What’s Trending? A Look Into North Carolina Household Water Bills and the Income to Pay

by Austin Thompson | May 15, 2019 | Affordability, Financial Management, Rates

The 2019 North Carolina Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard was deployed just over a month ago, marking another year in a long partnership between the Environmental Finance Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and the North Carolina...

Strengthening Utilities Through Consolidation: The Financial Impact

by Jeff Hughes | Mar 6, 2019 | Financial Management, Partnerships

A synthesis of the financial implications of consolidating water utilities based on the experience of eight communities. The US Water Alliance and the UNC Environmental Finance Center are committed to advancing fact-based, common-ground solutions to our nation’s most...

The Perils of Comparing Water Rates

by Glenn Barnes | Feb 13, 2019 | Financial Management, Rates

The Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducts surveys of water and sewer rates in many states across the country and turns those results into rates dashboards. In recent years, at least three news outlets in...

How Important was Water Pricing in Achieving Conservation Goals During the California Drought?

by Liz Harvell | Jan 15, 2019 | Financial Management, Rates, Risk and Resiliency to Climate Hazards

California’s severe drought and statewide conservation mandate provided an opportunity to analyze the effects of pricing strategies as a tool to curb water use. In 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board was charged with implementing a reduction of 25 percent on...