During the recent credit crisis and resulting economic downturn, a greater focus has been put on hidden risks in assets owned by major investors across the economy. Growing water scarcity in many regions of the United States is a risk running through municipal bond markets, one that must be addressed to protect the strength of those investments and finance our nation’s vast water and power infrastructure.
Public water utilities deliver more than 80 percent of the nation’s water to residential and industrial consumers and issue billions of dollars’ worth of bonds each year to fund infrastructure and ensure continued water delivery. The municipal bond market depends on accurate assessments of water availability and quality – now and in the future – to understand these utilities’ ability to pay back the debt on those bonds.
In the December publication of “The Source” we will discuss in more detail what risks the municipal bonds markets are addressing and what your utility can do to mitigate these risks.