AWWA JAW72806

This year marked the seventh State of the Industry (SOTI) study, AWWA's annual survey of how water professionals perceive critical concerns confronting the industry today. Responses received in 2010 made it clear that repercussions from the economic downturn of the past two years continue to reverberate through the industry, affecting virtually every aspect of operations. Business factors continued to reign as the chief concern among the more than 2,000 respondents. Other top issues included infrastructure, source water supply, regulatory concerns, and workforce issues. Respondents rated the overall "soundness," or health of the water industry, as about the same as last year. Data were broken out according to the five regions to gain a more localized perspective on industry soundness and critical issues. Utility capital spending for 2011 was projected to drop modestly by about 1% overall. Responses indicated that utility sources of capital have shifted dramatically as the hard realities of the economic downturn sink in. Working with its broad membership, AWWA is seeking solutions to all the issues identified in the report, with a particular focus on meeting the funding challenges.

Includes tables, figures.