Why Rethink Resilience?

The latest data from NASA reveals water-related crises will intensify six-fold by 2040 - costing up to $1.5 trillion in capex annually if investment strategies remain unchanged. It's a major institutional, financial, and technological challenge, putting water utilities on the frontline of managing urban risk and resilience. 

This GWI white paper, developed in partnership with Xylem, demonstrates that though 41% of global utility capex is already dedicated to resilience, this will not be enough. This new era of extremes demands a shift in water utility investment strategies.

Download your copy now for expert analysis on utility spending, including detailed case-studies and country-wide close-ups, as well as practical solutions and strategies for resilience.

Find Inside:

• Exclusive data from NASA's GRACE: Mapping the correlation between global warming and extreme water-related crises.
• 5 Case Studies: Analysis of utility capex spending plans on resilience, ranging from 10 to 100 years, from Sydney Water to NYC DEP.
• Actionable Methods for Rethinking Resilience: Key new approaches from new tech to tariff education.
• Innovation Opportunities: Solutions to innovation gaps, identifying the crucial technologies utilities will need to tackle resilience.

Urgent and Universal

Water professionals are familiar with the challenge of water security. Yet the scope is even greater than predicted, meaning utilities will need as much support as they can get to create urban resilience. Stakeholders must totally rethink business models, infrastructure must be future-proofed, and utilities facing varying regulations across the globe must create long-term, affordable, and realistic capex plans.

To protect cities and communities from frequent water crises, utilities cannot spend their way to resilience. The entire water sector and its corollaries must rethink what it means to respond to climate change.

Published by Global Water Intelligence | May 2025

For further information, please contact: rd@globalwaterintel.com