Health-related economic benefits of universal access to piped water in Arctic communities: Estimates for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska

Fuente, David; Mosites, Emily; Bressler, Sara; Eichelberger, Laura; Lefferts, Brian; January, Gerald; Singleton, Rosalyn; Thomas, Timothy K.

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113915

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In smaller communities, water haulers transport potable water via small tanks and ATVs from the central water treatment plant to residents’ homes. Without water haulers, residents of rural Alaska communities would likely need to haul their own water, creating a labor burden, as well as a significant barrier to access for many residents. , Indeed, water haulers directly impact service provision in communities that utilize the hauled water distribution process. As shown in Figure , a major finding emergesworker retention impacts water provision via hauled distribution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Stakeholder-Systems Analysis of Water Provision in Rural Alaska

LaPatin,

Ritsch,

Armanios

et al. 2024

ACS EST Water

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People are paramount in the operations of water infrastructure systems. While such processes are similar throughout most communities in the United States, including treatment and distribution, each community encounters localized challenges. In the Yukon−Kuskokwim (YK) Delta of Alaska, specifically, water sector professionals (e.g., water plant operators and water haulers) encounter unique and extreme challenges. The harsh arctic weather makes road navigation dangerous for water haulers, and water plant operators must contend with a precarious supply chain when ordering supplies for maintenance. Such challenges can disrupt water provision for communities. In this study, we analyze semistructured interviews with 24 Alaska water sector professionals, using qualitative content analysis and semicognitive mapping. We built a conceptual integration of systems and stakeholder theory to identify barriers to water provision and leverage points for improvement. We examine three components of the water provision process in rural Alaska communities: water treatment, hauled water distribution, and piped water distribution. We show that to increase workforce retention, limit worker burnout, and ensure reliable water provision, practices including training and certification need to become more localized. Moreover, working conditions and operating environment around the worker need to be more central in water system considerations, especially for water hauling, where workers play a critical role in water distribution. This analysis reveals a key conclusion that underlies all our propositions: people are a leverage point for water provision improvement. In so doing, we contribute to the literature in public administration and bureaucracy, sociotechnical systems, and stakeholder theory as applied to infrastructure systems, more generally, and water systems, more specifically.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Stakeholder-Systems Analysis of Water Provision in Rural Alaska

LaPatin,

Ritsch,

Armanios

et al. 2024

ACS EST Water

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“…Studies suggest that water could restrain economic development through hydro-economic links if water decouples with economic development. For example, water supply disruption [ 26 ] and water-related public health [ 27 ] could raise direct economic losses. Through resource nexus, water could exacerbate conflicts among different users, thus further dampening economic development [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Water Matter? The Impact of Water Vulnerability on Corporate Financial Performance

Zheng

Wang

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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This study aims to understand the potential relationship between water vulnerability and corporate financial performance for listed companies in China. Studies have argued that water risk has begun to affect the sustainability of firms, but few studies have included water conditions in the research framework to examine whether and how water conditions have a direct impact on firms. In addition, studies on environment governance have emphasized the impact of government environmental regulation on firms. This study focuses on both regulation and government investments that have been previously neglected. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2016 to 2020, this paper uses pooled cross-sectional regressions with year and industry fixed effects to examine the effects of water vulnerability on corporate financial performance and analyze the mechanism of government water governance (which can be divided into water regulation and water investment) on the relationship between water vulnerability and corporate financial performance. This study finds that water vulnerability could negatively impact corporate financial performance, and water regulation can intensify but water investment couldn’t significantly relieve the negative impact. The relationships above differ between SOEs and non-SOEs and water-intensive and non-water-intensive industries.

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