Institutional Challenges and Opportunities: Decentralized and Integrated Water Resource Infrastructure

Small-scale water, stormwater and wastewater are more sustainable in the environment than traditional centralized infrastructure. The failure to adopt these decentralized technologies is increasingly attributed to institutional and market barriers. The framework of institutions needs to be altered and expanded in the following key respects: integrated planning, funding, regulations, and design across water, stormwater, and wastewater; collaborative design processes to assess multiple community benefits and engage stakeholders; expanded private sector role in technology development, systems management, and finance; stimulus of continuous innovation and reform; development of robust patterns and models of installation, maintenance, financing, regulatory oversight, and customer acceptance.