Small water utilities face increased costs of providingclean water because of regulation, urbanization,and customer demands. As the need for water financingincreases, so does the competition for available capital.Many managers turn first to the Drinking Water StateRevolving Fund (DWSRF), which is the largest governmentenvironmental infrastructure loan program available.However, a number of other low-cost loans andgrants are available to small water systems that offer aviable funding alternative to the DWSRF.The author identifies several funding alternativesavailable through entities such as the Rural BusinessCooperative Service, the Rural Utilities Service, andCommunity Development Block Grant Programs.The author also explains that knowledge of the utility'sfinancial health is important and describes howto track basic financial ratios, which can indicate thecurrent financial shape of the utility and help establishthe steps needed to build a strong foundation forthe future.
Product Details
Edition: Vol. 98 - No. 1 Published: 01/01/2006 Number of Pages: 7 File Size: 1 file , 140 KB