CAMDEN, N.J., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation's largest regulated water and wastewater utility in the U.S., announced today that it achieved its resilience goal that uses the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) Utility Resilience Index (URI) as a metric as of year-end 2025, marking a milestone in the company's overall efforts to strengthen its ability to respond to emergencies and extreme weather events.
"Incorporating resilience into a risk management framework helps a utility improve their response and recovery strategies, thereby mitigating the potential for loss of service. The URI helps a utility identify opportunities to improve its capacity to respond and recover from an incident," said Kevin M. Morley, PhD, Senior Manager, Federal Relations, AWWA. "We applaud American Water for their continued commitment to building resilient systems for customers and communities."
URI is a measure developed by AWWA, a nonprofit association for the water industry, which helps to determine a utility's readiness to handle emergencies and its ability to safely restore service. The index evaluates preparedness across several key areas, including:
- Operational and financial capabilities;
- Robust, emergency response and business continuity plans; and
- Social vulnerability factors in the local community.
"In 2020, American Water set a goal to increase its weighted average URI score by 10 percent by 2030. Through proactive targeted infrastructure investments, enhanced emergency planning, and continued employee training, the company has met that goal five years early," said Cheryl Norton, EVP and Chief Operating Officer, American Water. "Reaching this goal ahead of schedule shows our deep commitment to resilience and preparedness. It means our people are ready, our systems are strong, and our communities are better protected when extreme weather events occur. Every investment we make helps ensure safe, clean, reliable, and affordable service for our customers and communities."
The URI goal is just one element of our commitment to resiliency. Over the next 10 years, American Water plans to invest approximately $48 billion in capital improvements to our systems, including infrastructure renewal, water quality, resiliency, technology, and water and wastewater system acquisitions.
Learn more about American Water's approach to resiliency here.
About American Water
American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886 and celebrating 140 years in 2026, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water's approximately 7,000 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company's national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.
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SOURCE American Water
