Sometimes there’s a little to say about a lot of things. Welcome back to Variable Flow.i can haz clean river?Tribal ripple effectsSince the late 1980s, tribal governments in the United States have had the option
Lessons from six years of income-based water assistance in PhiladelphiaSix years ago, to great fanfare, Philadelphia Water launched a new approach to bill assistance for low-income water and sewer customers: the Tiered Assistance Program
Customer perceptions of utility quality & premise plumbing both contribute to consumer choices about drinking watertrustworthy tap?A central theme that emerges from The Profits of Distrust is that the choice to drink bottled water
Opinion published in Newsweek, 3/29/2023 Everything is more expensive these days—even tap water.U.S. water utility prices have been rising faster than general inflation, driven in large part by a need to replace and update aging
Sometimes there’s a little to say about a lot of things. Welcome to Variable Flow.*coming for your COVID leftoversCongress giveth, Congress taketh awayThe debt ceiling drama that recently roiled D.C. culminated in the Fiscal Responsibility
Strategic guidance for water sector leadersOver the past several months I’ve written a series advancing five pillars of affordability: broad principles to guide affordability policy for leaders of America’s water and sewer utilities. These
The fifth pillar of affordability is Delinquency ManagementAn epic battle of good & evil at the water meterThis is the final in a series of posts outlining five pillars of affordability strategy for water
It’s hard to ask for help. Utilities should make it easier.Paperwork can be burdensomeWater and sewer affordability is a complicated challenge that demands a multifaceted solution; to meet that challenge, I’ve developed five pillars
Initial thoughts on EPA’s proposed PFAS standardsThis is a perfluorooctanesulfonic acid molecule. It's kind of cute! Almost.As regular readers of this blog are likely aware, this week EPA announced proposed Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCLs)
A conversation with Sabina Shaikh, University of ChicagoThe burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive bottled water, rather than cheaper, sustainable, and more rigorously regulated tap water?
A thought experiment and back-of-envelope illustrationWater/sewer utility customer assistance programs (CAPs) don’t run themselves. When utilities use rate revenue to pay for CAPs, administrative costs can quickly eat into benefits that such programs can
Administratively costly assistance programs can hurt more than they helpperpetually stylish. timelessly true.Water and sewer affordability is a complicated challenge that demands a multifaceted solution; to meet that challenge, I’ve developed five pillars of
How much assistance should each customer get?When things get hot, coverage matters more than fitCustomer assistance programs (CAPs) form the fourth pillar of affordability strategy. Previous posts described the first three pillars of affordability—quality,
The fourth pillar of affordability is income-qualified assistancesimplify, simplify, simplify...in which I lay out a framework for water utilities that want to set up customer assistance programs.This is the latest in a series of
Sustainable solutions for Jackson, MississippiNot a sustainable solution. (Photo credit: Mississippitoday.org)National attention is back on drinking water utilities, and once again for all the wrong reasons. As readers of this blog surely know by now,
Cambridge University Press, 2022The choices people make about drinking water reveal deeper lessons about trust in government and civic life.The burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive
The third pillar of affordability is Rate Design“Affordable” means different things in different contextsThis post is the third in a series outlining five pillars of affordability strategy for water and sewer utilities. None of
The second pillar of affordability is EfficiencyOne of these matters more than the otherThis post is the second in a series outlining five pillars of affordability strategy for water and sewer utilities. Together, these pillars
The first pillar of affordability is QualityGotta count the bottles and the billsSo long as water and sewer services operate on a fee-for-service basis, ensuring that these critical services are affordable will remain a
Gendered and partisan responses to proposed rate increases[An absurdly busy couple of months has kept me away from the blogosphere—sorry. Will try to get back into a regular groove now]Winning public support for investments
AWWA Water Science, March 2022This study uses an embedded survey experiment to evaluate the effects of issue framing on willingness to pay water and sewer rate increases. Government-owned utilities require public support for financial
Ramiro Berardo, Director...And Water For All is an educational documentary about water affordability in Ohio. The film aims to amplify the voices of those who work toward providing clean, affordable water for all. Even
The science of talking about water rate increasesIt’s not about the water tower—it’s about what’s insideStrictly from a value standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anything that provides more bang for the buck than well-built
Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part IIIWater professionals of America, unite!Late last year Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, authorizing $63.3 billion
Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part II*The Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act is 1,039 pages long. That’s a lot of tea.The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, better known as the Bipartisan
Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part INo need for air conditioningIn November President Biden signed the long-awaited $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) better known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
How much consolidation is enough?You know it when you hit the sweet spot.There’s a growing consensus that there are way too many water utilities in the United States.America’s 50,000 community water systems are operated
Better federal water bill assistance with this one weird trickClick here to read my op-ed on this topic in Newsweek.When Congress created a new $638 million federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP)
How to stop taxing waterIt’s hard to know exactly how much money Americans are paying in taxes at the tap, but it’s a lot. Last time I described the variety of ways that governments
Sovereignty, primacy & environmental protectionPolicy Studies Journal, May 2020Mellie Haider, Manuel P. TeodoroThe landmark American environmental laws of the 1970s originally made no mention of American Indian tribal lands, and subsequent research on environmental
Collecting tax revenue through water bills hurts affordability & turns utilities into coercive agents of governmentCan you find the tax?They may not realize it, but tens of millions of Americans pay taxes on the
California utility regulators lead the way with comprehensive affordability assessmentWonderboy was the star of the movie, but Savoy Special won the gameBetween a global pandemic and a presidential election, you might have missed it, but
What happens when governments ask the public to report water waste?Ever feel like you're being watched?Rainfall has been low, the mountain snowpack is thin, and Californians are bracing for another year of scarcity. But
Contextual correlates and conservation outcomesWater Resources Research Y. Zhang, M.P. Teodoro & D. SwitzerKey PointsParticipatory surveillance is a way for governments to increase water waste monitoring capacity and achieve conservation goalsSocial and institutional aspects
On the limits of means-tested assistance programs for water & sewerRed Sox legend Ted Williams was the last player to bat over .400... in 1941**Warning: sports metaphor ahead**Like hitting a baseball, running a means-tested
