| | FEBRUARY 20198CIOReviewTHE IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE IN MUNICIPALITIESBy Bill Fahey, Senior Vice President-Technology, Veolia North AmericaThe damage caused by natural disasters last year proved that it has become increasingly important to make sure municipalities properly evaluate and manage their existing infrastructure in a way that minimizes the negative effects of extreme weather. The way I look at resilience is by asking questions like: How well would assets respond to changing events? How robust are they? How long will it take to regain asset function after a natural disaster? The vast majority of our infrastructure was designed 75 to 100 years ago, but weather patterns have changed, and now the infrastructure must serve more people and withstand more intense weather events. Our expectation that this infrastructure can handle today's conditions is not realistic.There are many commercial and regulatory challenges that the energy, water and wastewater sectors face today. Access to these services is essential to sustain the health and safety of the public. Each generation has an obligation to leave infrastructure that allows for a high quality of life to continue for future generations. We cannot continue to rely solely on investments of the past to meet our growing needs and asset reliability expectations. Utility operators have done such a good job over the past 50 years, people often taken for granted that the public has access to electricity, water and wastewater services at all times.People do not value energy, water or wastewater utilities until they're without their services for Bill FaheyIN MYOPINION
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