How Water Corporations Can Overcome the Asset Management Crisis
The Growing Asset Challenge: A Financial Ticking Time Bomb
Across Australia, water corporations (and councils) face an escalating crisis of ageing infrastructure is failing faster than budgets can keep up, while population growth demands new assets. This leads to a dangerous financial cycle:
❌ Capping customer rates while infrastructure costs soar.
❌ Expanding asset portfolios without securing funding for maintenance.
❌ Chasing short-term grants that don’t solve long-term financial pressures.
❌ Facing political and community pressure to keep prices low, despite rising costs.
Water corporations are expected to balance asset renewal, expansion, and affordability, but government funding models don’t support long-term planning. The challenge is about ensuring sustainable investment in asset renewal to future-proof essential services.
Why Short-Term Asset Funding is a Losing Strategy
Many agencies react to funding shortfalls rather than proactively structuring a long-term funding roadmap. This short-term thinking leads to:
- Deferred maintenance, increasing repair costs by up to 4x over an asset’s lifetime.
- Unfunded asset growth, leading to customer price increases.
- Emergency breakdowns, causing capital expenditure blowouts.
- Missed government funding, due to poorly structured applications.
Example: The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office found that many councils and water corporations fail to meet asset renewal benchmarks, forcing them into reactive spending cycles instead of planned investment.
Instead of continuing this unsustainable cycle, water corporations need a proactive investment roadmap that attracts multi-million-dollar funding for asset renewal and long-term sustainability.
The Solution: A Funding Strategy That Prioritises Asset Sustainability
At Grantus, we specialise in helping water corporations develop investment-ready strategies that secure funding for both asset renewal and growth, whilst ensuring long-term financial sustainability.
Here’s how:
Many agencies chase funding for new infrastructure, but fail to secure funding for ongoing asset maintenance. A sustainable asset strategy must:
- Prioritise renewal over expansion—extend asset life instead of just building more.
- Use cost-benefit analysis (CBA)—prove why funding for asset renewal will reduce future costs.
- Justify government investment—if an asset isn’t financially viable but provides critical social or environmental benefits, external funding should be used to prevent customer price increases.
One of the biggest financial mistakes applicants make is accepting new infrastructure responsibilities without considering the lifecyle of the asset. Instead of taking on more responsibility without a budget, organisations must:
- Ensure all new assets have long-term operational funding secured.
- Structure funding applications to include asset renewal, not just construction.
- Push back against cost-shifting from government when funding isn’t attached.
Example: Some councils now refuse to accept new assets unless state or federal governments commit to covering future maintenance costs, ensuring they don’t become financial burdens.
Government funding does exist for infrastructure renewal, but many applications fail because they don’t align with broader government priorities. The most successful water agencies:
- Frame asset renewal as a climate resilience project—funders prioritise projects that mitigate risks like drought and extreme weather.
- Demonstrate regional economic impact—show how infrastructure supports industry, agriculture, and job creation.
- Integrate social equity outcomes—highlight how better infrastructure improves public health, Indigenous water access, and community resilience.
Example: GWMWater successfully secured $375,000 for an infrastructure feasibility study, proving that proactive renewal planning would benefit the entire region, unlocking further investment funding.
One of the biggest funding mistakes is failing to prove why an asset investment is the best financial decision.
At Grantus, we are certified facilitators and use Investment Logic Mapping (ILM) and cost-benefit analysis to help agencies:
- Demonstrate the need for asset renewal and investment
- Demonstrate why investing now prevents higher costs later.
- Quantify return on investment (ROI) to attract government and industry funders.
- Strengthen funding submissions by aligning them with economic, social, and environmental goals.
Example: ILM helped a regional council secure funding for water infrastructure upgrades by proving that early investment would prevent future emergency spending, making it the most cost-effective choice.
Government agencies prioritise projects that share risk and investment. Water corporations can strengthen funding proposals by:
- Securing private sector co-funding (e.g., industry partnerships).
- Collaborating with councils & regional development bodies.
- Building consortia for larger, high-impact funding applications.
Example: A water security project that integrates industry, health, and energy stakeholders is more fundable than a standalone infrastructure upgrade.
Why Water Corporations Need a Funding Strategy Now
Without a strategic funding roadmap, water agencies risk:
- Government cost-shifting, increasing financial strain.
- Infrastructure degradation, leading to higher long-term maintenance costs.
- Critical failures, requiring expensive emergency repairs.
- Missed funding opportunities, due to poor project positioning.
The Grantus Approach: Unlocking Asset Renewal Funding
At Grantus, we help water corporations:
- Develop multi-year asset funding strategies that align with government priorities.
- Use Investment Logic Mapping (ILM) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) to develop strong business cases.
- Secure funding for renewal, not just expansion, ensuring long-term sustainability.
Upcoming Resource:
Grantus is developing a Water Infrastructure Funding Report, providing key insights on funding trends, policy shifts, and investment opportunities.
Want to receive the report first? Contact us to be added to the pre-release list.
Final Thought: Asset Management is Investment Management
Water corporations can’t afford to keep reacting to funding shortfalls. The only way to secure sustainable investment for asset renewal is through a proactive, strategic funding roadmap.
At Grantus, we work with water corporations, councils, and industry leaders to develop investment-ready funding strategies that ensure financial sustainability and future-proof water infrastructure.
Need a tailored investment strategy for your water assets? Let’s talk. Get in touch today to develop your funding strategy.
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