Madison Water Utility received high ratings for water quality, communications, finances and infrastructure in Wisconsin’s first statewide water utility report cards, developed by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher to spotlight the performance and challenges facing the state’s drinking water systems.
The report cards, compiled by Manuel Teodoro, a professor at UW-Madison’s La Follete School of Public Affairs, evaluated 572 water utilities using data from 2022 and 2023 provided by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Teodoro’s research team.
Each utility received grades in four categories: water quality, customer communication, financial management and infrastructure condition. Final grades were assigned on a traditional A–F scale.
“The report cards help utilities identify voids in service and areas where we can improve, whether its water quality, infrastructure, operations, finances, or communications,” Marcus Pearson, public information officer for Madison Water Utility, told The Daily Cardinal in an email statement. “More importantly, information is accessible to the public.”
Statewide, more than 92% of utilities received A’s for water quality. But while the water itself remains safe in most places, the systems behind it tell a more complicated story. Over a quarter of Wisconsin utilities received D’s or F’s in finance, and 22% earned failing marks for infrastructure and operations.
Teodoro directed The Daily Cardinal to his recent blog post, where he used a football metaphor to describe the state of utility management: many utilities are playing "prevent defense"— a strategy that aims to avoid disaster rather than pursue excellence.
“In football, that approach can give up ground. In water management, it can put entire communities at risk,” he wrote. “A water system’s strategic goal might be public health, environmental quality, citizen trust, and economic prosperity, but the utilities’ management tactics often boil down to regulatory compliance. The practical goal is not so much to achieve good things, but to avoid bad ones.”
Because water systems are buried and invisible until something goes wrong, Teodoro argued that their value is difficult to communicate — until failure forces public attention.
“It’s hard to get anything done without a regulatory boot to your backside,” one utility executive told him, as indicated in the post.
Teodoro hopes his report cards will shift that mentality from mere compliance toward achievement.
Teodoro believes the report cards can empower both public officials and voters by making water system performance transparent, accessible and easy to understand.
“A simple, comprehensive report card would give a utility’s leaders a way to communicate progress,” he wrote. “Mayors and council members could trumpet the improvements, helping to demonstrate the value of those unpleasant rate increases.”
The goal, Teodoro said, is not just to avoid failure — but to recognize and reward excellence. Or, in sports terms: stop playing prevent defense, and start playing to win.
Alaina Walsh is the associate news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has covered breaking, city, state and campus news.
