Urban communities rely on a complex network of infrastructure assets to connect them to water resources. There is considerable capital investment required to maintain, upgrade and extend this infrastructure. As the remit of a water utility is broader than just financial considerations, infrastructure investment decisions must be made in light of environmental and societal issues. One way of facilitating this is to integrate consideration of externalities into decision making processes. This paper considers the concept of externalities from an asset management perspective. A case study is provided to show the practical implications to a water utility and asset managers. A framework for the inclusion of externalities in asset management decision making is also presented. The potential for application of the framework is highlighted through a brief consideration of its key elements.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	externalities; risk assessment; sustainability; utility management
Research Division:	Economics
Research Group:	Applied economics
Research Field:	Environment and resource economics
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Environmental policy, legislation and standards
Objective Field:	Environmental protection frameworks (incl. economic incentives)
UTAS Author:	Hatton MacDonald, D (Professor Darla Hatton MacDonald)
ID Code:	103183
Year Published:	2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:	18
Deposited By:	TSBE
Deposited On:	2015-09-23
Last Modified:	2017-11-23
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