AWWA JAW68940

The State of the Industry (SOTI) Report 2008, the fifth installment of AWWA's annual study of issues confronting the water industry, provides valuable insight into the trends and factors influencing water industry challenges and creates a framework for setting priorities and strategies to address these issues. Professionals from all segments of the water community shared their individual experiences as well as some suggestions for tackling the challenges ahead. According to the 2008 survey respondents, the top concerns are source water supply, infrastructure, regulatory issues, workforce needs, and business factors. This year's survey results indicate that perception of the overall soundness of the industry has continued its negative trend; U.S. respondents were even less optimistic about the state of the industry five years down the road. For industry leadership, the 2008 SOTI data constitute a call to action for increased vigilance in the issue areas deemed most essential and inadequately addressed and the development of innovative strategies to resolve these concerns. Includes tables, figures.