Benchmarking risk management within the international water utility sector. PartII: A survey of eight water utilities.

Risk management in the water utility sector is fast becoming explicit. Here, wedescribe application of a capability model to benchmark the risk managementmaturity of eight water utilities from the UK, Australia and the USA. Ouranalysis codifies risk management practice and offers practical guidance as tohow utilities may more effectively employ their portfolio of risk analysistechniques for optimal, credible, and defensible decision making. For riskanalysis, observed good practices include the use of initiation criteria forapplying risk assessment techniques; the adoption of formalised procedures toguide their application; and auditing and peer reviews to ensure proceduralcompliance and provide quality assurance. Additionally, we have identifiedcommon weaknesses likely to be representative of the sector as a whole, inparticular a need for improved risk knowledge management and education andtraining in the discipline.