Thinking Catchments: a holistic approach to asset management in the water sector

The hypothesis of this work is that the application of life-cycle thinking at a catchment scale will assist in the evaluation of natural capital and the integration of natural assets into the asset management portfolio of water industries. Drawing from literature on asset management and ecosystem services, this paper demonstrates the need for a holistic asset management strategy in the water sector. Through a detailed analysis, an approach coupling Integrated Catchment Management and Life Cycle Thinking is proposed. Within the paper, the background to the challenges facing the sector is described, followed by an analysis of the methods used to define the approach and the techniques required to undertake the analysis. The main focus of the work is the water sector in the UK. In order to evaluate the approach research is undertaken with Wessex Water Services Ltd.