Measuring financial capacity and the effects of regulatory changes on small water systems in nova scotia

Abstract

Municipal water systems are dealing with increasing regulatory compliance costs, aging infrastructure and declining government support. The hypothesized negative effect on financial capacity is assumed to be greatest for rural water systems that have to meet the same quality standards, but with higher marginal service costs and a lower revenue base. This paper examines whether regulatory changes that occurred in the drinking water industry in Nova Scotia in 1995 had negative repercussions on the financial capacity of four rural water suppliers in the Annapolis Valley. The extent of the impacts varies across the four water systems. © 2005, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.