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Like every drop, every donation helps keep our work flowing.
Please consider a gift to Ceres today!
Bond Financing Distributed Water Systems
Across the U.S., communities are planning major investments in water
conservation and green stormwater infrastructure to manage droughts and
floods. While these distributed approaches to managing water are often
more cost-effective than building new reservoirs, pipelines, tunnels and
treatment plants, figuring out how to fund them is challenged by old
financing structures. With limited cash available for distributed water
solutions, it is no surprise that these types of investments struggle to
keep pace with debt-financed centralized infrastructure. This report
asks the question, can we learn from U.S. cities how to make better use
of the bond market to finance distributed infrastructure?
Read the report.
Measuring and Mitigating Water Revenue Variability
As water utilities across North America look to finance the
replacement and expansion of outdated water delivery systems, the need
for confident revenue projections grows. This report examines real
financial and water use data from three North American water utilities
to demonstrate how rate structures can mitigate or intensify revenue
variability. It also introduces alternative financial and pricing
strategies that can assist water utilities in stabilizing revenue
without compromising their commitment to water conservation.
Read the report.
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Dear friends,
Last month 400,000 people - including representatives of the world's
largest companies and financial firms - came together in New York City
to march and raise their voices in support of climate action.
Climate change is poised to affect every aspect of our economy and our
lives - including the vital water supplies we all depend on. At Ceres,
we are working to elevate the voice of businesses and investors in
support of tackling climate change and protecting freshwater for the
future.
Increasingly, this means grappling with the trade-offs posed by the
growing collision between energy development and strained water
supplies. It means moving away from water utility revenue models that
emphasize ever-increasing water sales in times of intensifying droughts.
It means identifying ways for farmers who supply major food companies
to irrigate their fields with less water while also saving energy.
I believe that we are making progress on all these fronts. Although
there is still much to do, with your partnership we can build an economy
that is truly sustainable.
Sincerely,
 |
Brooke Barton
Water Program Director
Ceres |
Examining Water Risks as Hydraulic Fracturing Goes Global
Over 3,600 scientists, government representatives and businesses people from 140 countries came together last month at World Water Week
in Stockholm to find solutions to the growing conflict between our
energy and water demands. Ceres' Monika Freyman presented insights on
water supply risks in regions of significant hydraulic fracturing and
highlighted relevant lessons learned from the U.S. as shale energy
development is poised to go global.
Watch a video of the session.
Amidst Devastating Drought, California Companies Take Action
 It's
in the news and on the minds of many - the ongoing drought in
California, now entering its fourth year. In the face of growing water
constraints, some California companies are advancing innovative solutions
for reducing water use and stewarding resources for the future success of their businesses, communities and natural systems:
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PG&E is helping Central Valley farmers reduce their water and electricity use at the same time - saving both resources and money;
- Driscoll's Berries has partnered with local landowners, farmers and government agencies to help solve the Pajaro Valley's groundwater crisis;
- KB Home
is building "Double Zero" homes in Antelope Valley that are both energy
and water efficient, using less than half the water of an average home;
- Campbell's,
which processes 14 million pounds of tomatoes every day at its plant in
Dixon, California, is working with local farmers to reduce water use by
20% per pound of tomato by 2020.
Save the Date: Ceres' 2015 Conference
May 13-14, 2015
San Francisco, CA
Join us at the annual Ceres Conference
next May 13-14 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Each year the
conference brings together more than 600 corporate sustainability
leaders, the country's largest institutional investors, and leading
social and environmental advocates to mobilize action on the world's
most significant sustainability challenges, including water.
Registration opens in December.
Scaling Up Distributed Water Solutions
Wednesday, November 5
2:00-3:00 pm ET
Cities from Philadelphia to Los Angeles are planning to spend billions
of dollars on distributed water projects - including landscaping
irrigation retrofits, stormwater infiltration and water-efficient
building systems - to augment their water supplies and help them meet
clean water mandates. This webinar explores how some of the largest U.S. cities are using bonds to fund distributed infrastructure.
Learn more and register here.
Wait, you missed it? Explore Ceres' Agricultural Stranded Assets webinar
In September, Ceres hosted a webinar on the Environmental Drivers of Stranded Assets and Volatility in Agricultural Markets with guest speakers from the Smith School of Enterprise and GMO Renewable Resources.
Download the presentation here. |
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