The $9.5 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board recently approved a new, more detailed investment policy for its portfolio.

Before making the drive from Santa Barbara, Calif., to San Francisco after the final day of the Water Rights & Trading Summit – California (hosted by American Water Intelligence and West Water Research, who produced an insightful and engaging event), I stopped to refuel.

There is increasing “noise” around the impending water crisis and the greater degree of water scarcity. In February, parts of England were put on drought alert, reflecting reduced levels of rainfall over the past two winters, while other parts of England have more than sufficient supplies. In March, the European Environment Agency identified that a lack of water resources could threaten Europe’s productivity, and that in some river basins water scarcity continues to worsen. Water scarcity is an issue; it is a local problem but has global implications for society and business.

Alex Trembath is a policy associate, Energy and Climate Program, with Oakland, Calif.–based Breakthrough Institute and co-author of Beyond Boom and Bust: Putting Clean Tech on a Path to Subsidy Independence,a new report co-authored by researchers at the Breakthrough Institute, the Brookings Institution and the World Resources Institute.

The pace of development in the infrastructure market has been relatively swift, at least by institutional standards.