Decatur, IL is a city in Macon County—right in the center of Illinois—that is home to approximately 70,000 people. Decatur (“the City”) owns and operates a drinking water system that serves around 76,000 people as well as a few large industrial customers. Over the last couple of decades, the City has experienced some loss of the residential population, coupled with industrial growth, including potential development of data centers. The City is grappling with the need to repair and replace its current infrastructure to serve existing customers and accommodate new infrastructure to support these growing industries. In addition, the public regularly elevates concerns to the City about affordability and equity of existing water rates.
In light of these competing priorities, as well as the recognition that many of the City’s financial studies and plans were outdated, the City requested Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA). Based on the City’s request and the Alliance’s skillset and access to technical partners, they were matched with us, the US Water Alliance’s Environmental Finance Center team.
We have been working with the City since January 2024. After a few preliminary discussions, the City identified a need for an updated Cost of Service study to understand the true cost of providing water services to the wide range of customers in their service area. Without it, the City would continue to struggle with revenue generation to support infrastructure repair, replacement and growth. This Cost-of-Service study could form the foundation of an updated, more equitable rate study that enables capital projects and ensures residential customers are not shouldering an undue burden for the costs of industrial or commercial water service.
To complete these studies, we partnered with our technical partner, Raftelis, an industry leader in financial modeling and rate studies. Raftelis assembled a local team and quickly got to work, meeting regularly with several staff at the City to ensure they understood the City’s policy objectives, capital needs and debt capacity, and had the data they needed to complete the studies.
Amidst this work with Raftelis, we continued to meet with one City staff member—Robert—on a monthly basis. These monthly calls quickly illuminated Robert’s interest in One Water, affordability, and authentically engaging with the public about water. Robert’s interests and goals for the City went well beyond our limited TA support. Instead, the City seemed like a perfect fit for joining the US Water Alliance as a member, highlighting its readiness to work with our larger network on water issues. Robert jumped at the opportunity and has continued to take advantage of all that membership has to offer. Robert is a true One Water champion, and his energy and enthusiasm have made an impact on fellow Alliance members and our Alliance staff.
Case in point, Robert jumped at the opportunity to write a part of this blog from his perspective!
Robert Weil at the 2025 One Water Summit in Pittsburgh, PA
At first, I wasn’t sure about joining the Alliance. We’re (Decatur) a medium-sized utility with limited staff and budget. What sold me was the imperative that, to be successful, we need to better engage with our community and communicate what we do to sustain life with clean water. The Alliance helped with that because it is full of positive, forward-thinking people with a passion for water – people that help busy water types to come out of their silos and work together for solutions.
As an Alliance member, I have connected with professionals who helped me better understand and serve the segments of my community that struggle to pay their water bills. And I have also networked with large utilities and other thought leaders who helped me prepare for where the industry is headed in the future. Going forward, I want to take advantage of the fact that our Alliance membership is available to all of the employees of the utility. Next month, I plan to engage our customer service team in the “Imagine a Day without Water” activities provided through our Alliance membership.
“The bottom line is that I’m glad we joined the Alliance, and I see a lot of value in our membership.”
Decatur is just one example of how the Alliance’s technical assistance and membership have coalesced. Like Decatur, Joshua Basin Water District (CA) received community technical assistance and joined the Alliance as a member shortly thereafter (check out our blog on Joshua Basin Water District here!). Conversely, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Buffalo Sewer Authority—long-standing Alliance members—recently received technical assistance from our team. We’re excited to see more opportunities for TA communities to become members and for members to benefit from TA. Stay tuned!
Interested in learning more about membership or technical assistance? Check out our website or reach out to us directly!
