The Make Water Work Podcast - Episode 29 Featuring Glenn Barnes

Episode 29: Glenn Barnes - Unlocking Water Infrastructure Funding

In this episode of Make Water Work, Isaac Pellerin and Megan Glover sit down with Glenn Barnes to unpack one of the biggest challenges facing the water industry today: affordability.

Glenn brings deep expertise from his work helping utilities navigate funding, rates, and long-term infrastructure planning. This conversation goes beyond the headlines to explain why water rates are rising, why small communities face outsized challenges, and what needs to change to build resilient systems for the future.

What you’ll learn:

- Why water utilities are not funded by taxes and how the “enterprise fund” model works

- The hidden history of federal grants that kept rates artificially low for decades

- Why small and rural communities face the toughest financial challenges

- The real reason water rates are rising faster than other utilities

- How programs like SRF and USDA loans actually work (and where they fall short)

- The growing infrastructure funding gap and what it means for public health

- Why asset management, regionalization, and consolidation are becoming critical