Water bonds

The drought-prone Texas city's $300 million utility system bond issue comes to market after rainfall and ongoing projects boosted water supplies.

Illinois lawmakers are hammering out legislation to raise cybersecurity protections for local water utilities, a timely effort after cyberattacks this summer.

A cutback in federal funding for state revolving loans to water utilities is among the things pressuring water utilities in Florida.

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook to stable from negative on the Corpus Christi utility and S&P removed it from CreditWatch with negative implications.

Chicago will be a regional water supplier, and its water could draw the next Great Migration, Department of Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner said.

KeyBanc Capital Markets will price for the Ohio Water Development Authority $160.1 million of water development revenue and revenue refunding bonds on Tuesday.

"The people of New Orleans deserve better results from the Sewerage and Water Board," said Mayor Helena Moreno.

Water issues are getting attention on Capitol Hill as questions about reauthorizing state revolving funds and the impact of data centers on ground water supplies are mixing with politics.

For the second time in a year, the Texas city's elected officials voted against moving forward with the Inner Harbor project to boost long-term water supply.

Rating analysts are tracking the potential departure of the DuPage Water Commission, the largest wholesale customer of Chicago's water enterprise.

Thursday's move marks another formal step back from a water supply crisis that has negatively impacted the city's bond ratings. 

Rating agencies say they don't expect federal plans for the drought-plagued river to spark near-term credit concerns, but they may develop over the longer term.

The ratings agency cited strong financial metrics and affordable utility rates.

Oregon's largest city plans to issue $585.6 million in revenue bond debt to finance upgrades its Bull Run water filtration facility.

The governors of Arizona and Nevada said their states would suffer disproportionately from the management plan for the drought-starved river.

The city moved to a less-restrictive Stage 2 drought status for water use in another sign after recent rain that a water supply emergency is no longer imminent.

The planned Sites Reservoir project in California faces financial uncertainty as officials await a regulatory decision about its usable water supply.

Beneficial rainfall allowed the Texas city to move its timeline for a projected water supply emergency to September 2028 from the same month in 2027.

Water infrastructure projects in the 2027 plan are aimed at accommodating projected population growth and addressing dwindling supplies.

The Texas city needs higher rates in part to support future debt that would be issued for $1.1 billion of water supply projects that are underway.