title: Risk management, financial evaluation and funding for wastewater and stormwater reuse projects.
abstract: This paper has considered risk management, financial evaluation and funding in seven Australian wastewater and stormwater reuse projects. From the investigated case studies it can be seen that responsible parties have generally been well equipped to identify potential risks. In relation to financial evaluation methods some serious discrepancies, such as time periods for analysis, and how stormwater benefits are valued, have been identified. Most of the projects have required external, often National Government, funding to proceed. As National funding is likely to become less common in the future, future reuse projects may need to be funded internally by the water industry. In order to enable this the authors propose that the industry requires (1) a standard project evaluation process, and (2) an infrastructure funders' forum (or committee) with representation from both utilities and regulators, in order to compare and prioritise future reuse projects against each other.
authors.affiliation: School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia. Electronic address: casey.furlong@rmit.edu.au.
authors.forename: Casey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Furlong
authors.affiliation: School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Silva
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Water Corporation, 990 La Trobe St, Docklands, VIC 3008, Australia.
authors.forename: Kein
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
authors.forename: Lachlan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guthrie
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Water Corporation, 990 La Trobe St, Docklands, VIC 3008, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Considine
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D012308:Risk Management; D062065:Wastewater; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Integrated urban; Reclaimed water; Recycled water; Risk; Water management; Water reuse; Water sensitive urban design