Water agencies must manage large amounts of money. An agency with 100,000 customers may handle $5 million in cash each month, or $60 million in cash each year. The agency also has money in reserve for future expenses such as new buildings, repairing dams or pipelines, or conducting expensive environmental studies. The investment analyst:

• performs difficult treasury functions, such as investing and managing an agency's cash;
• coordinates long-term financial planning;
• participates in issuing bonds and other methods for raising capital;
• analyses plans for future projects to see if they make financial sense.