Setting targets is a common way for organisations to establish performance expectations. However the validity of targets is challenged when performance is influenced by factors beyond the control of the manager. This project examines the issue of target setting for a single asset performance measure across different geographical areas. The performance measure is “Wastewater Blockages per 100km” at the Water Corporation (WC). Factors relating to these blockages are examined for eight operating locations with quite different characteristics. A generalised linear regression model is developed to determine the influence of age, pipe type, network length, population, rainfall as well as costs associated with preventative and corrective maintenance. Preliminary results reinforce that age and pipe type significantly influence blockage rates and this confirmation can be used to develop an understanding of how different districts might perform. A key result is that there is no relationship inside a district between management-controlled activities such as preventative maintenance and blockages. Unless a relationship can be established it would be premature to set targets for managers as the variables they can control (costs) do not appear to make an impact on what they are being assessed against.