All Additional Resources
Guides
A most comprehensive guide to climate change portals and tools for the Western U.S. This guide can help communities navigate the myriad of different climate tools in order to get climate data for a variety of purposes. Provides comparison table of over 20 different climate tools.
The AWE Sales Forecasting and Rate Model is a new analytical tool that can explicitly model the effects of rate structures. Typical water rate models assume that future sales are known with certainty, and do not respond to price, weather, the economy, or supply shortages — that is to say, not the world we live in. The AWE Sales Forecasting and Rate Model addresses this deficiency and enables analysis of the following:
- Customer Consumption Variability – weather, drought/shortage, or external shock
- Demand Response – Predicting future block sales (volume and revenue) with empirical price elasticities
- Drought Pricing – Contingency planning for revenue neutrality
- Probability Management – Risk theoretic simulation of revenue risks
- Fiscal Sustainability – Sales forecasting over a 5 Year Time Horizon
financingsustainablewater.org/tools/awe-sales-forecasting-and-rate-model
Building Better Water Rates for an Uncertain World provides the background and concepts needed to develop, evaluate, and implement an effective rate structure. It provides the latest thinking, guidance, and real-world examples on the following topics:
- Ratemaking Principles and Concepts
- Steps for Building a Better (Efficiency-Oriented) Rate Structure
- Implementing an Efficiency-Oriented Rate Structure
- Public Engagement and Communications
- Financial Policies and Planning for Improved Fiscal Health
financingsustainablewater.org/tools/building-better-water-rates-uncertain-world
A Manual for Land Use Planners in the Colorado River Basin –outlining how to incorporate water into a community comprehensive plan.
The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience. The Toolkit offers information from across the U.S. federal government in one easy-to-use location.
Insight report available for purchase which offers insight and analysis on water and wastewater utility pricing in 50 U.S. metropolitan areas highlighting trends.
bluefieldresearch.com/research/u-s-municipal-water-wastewater-utility-rate-index-2022/
The basics about how municipal water is used and billed.
A collection of tools and dashboards highlighting utilities rates in various states. Water Rates dashboards for Arizona and California can be found here, though no other Colorado River Basin states are currently represented.