She is also trying to pursue an "asset-light" strategy to avoid the burden of supporting the capital investment needs of building and owning huge water projects.
Some of this added burden has already come to light in the latest wholesale price index, which showed rising oil costs are driving an increase in manufacturing costs.
Douglas Sipkin, an analyst at Wachovia, said that while Merrill's third-quarter and future capital raise would be yet another burden, he believes there is light at the end of the tunnel.