WateReuse and partner water associations held a briefing with Assistant Administrator Fox and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the water sector’s concerns with implementation of the infrastructure law’s Build America, Buy America provision. EPA expressed commitment to delivering guidance on implementation ahead of the May 14th deadline set by Congress. Earlier this month, WateReuse joined with other associations to submit a joint letter to the OMB and EPA outlining the impacts. Read more.

EPA Office of Water Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox highlighted water reuse’s central role in the Administration’s climate resiliency strategy in a quarterly update to National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) partners. Fox commended the work of EPA’s water reuse team and WRAP partners, noting EPA is poised to achieve important milestones in 2022. WateReuse looks forward to advancing reuse in partnership with EPA.

EPA is also seeking feedback on the four new WRAP actions. Read more here.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to review the jurisdictional scope of the federal Clean Water Act and Waters of the United States (WOTUS) in the case of Sackett v. EPA. The Court will weigh in on the legal test used to determine if a wetland is protected by federal law.

Currently, EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have a proposed re-definition of WOTUS open for comment through Feb. 7. The Administration has indicated that it does not intend to extend the comment period on the proposed definition despite the overlap with the Supreme Court case. Read more.

WateReuse will be submitting comments on the proposed WOTUS definition. Please reach out to Aliza Furneaux with any questions.

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued its final rule for a new Nationwide Permit (NWP59) for Water Reclamation and Reuse Facilities. The NWP authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for construction, expansion, and maintenance of water reclamation and reuse facilities and goes into effect February 25. In issuing the final rule, the Corps largely responded to the comments that WateReuse previously submitted on the draft proposal in November 2020 supporting the creation of the nationwide permit for reuse facilities.

Staff of a water utility in Kern County, CA listed recycled water as a top priority during a recent groundwater sustainability workshop. According to the utility's comments, recycled water “is new water that exists in the basin and can be optimally put to use relatively easily with existing tools and technologies, making it highly feasible and implementable, with a shorter term schedule than imported water.” Read more.

The City of Bartlesville’s Water Reuse Project became the first Oklahoma recipient of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Performance and Innovation in the SRF Creating Environmental Success Program (PISCES) award. The project will treat and pump water from the Bartlesville Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Caney River as an environmental buffer for indirect potable reuse. Read more.

Stantec was recently selected by Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) to provide design for recycled water transmission pipelines as part of the Harvest Water program. The program will provide tertiary-treated recycled water for growers to  irrigate crops, delivering up to 50,000-acre-feet per year of recycled water. Read more.

In a recent podcast David Sedlak, director of the U.C. Berkeley Water Center, highlighted the idea of engineering wetlands to recycle water for beneficial reuse. Sedlak discussed an ongoing research project that looks at wetlands as a means of managing brine produced from reuse processes such as reverse osmosis. Listen here.