August 2024 Newsletter

If you haven't registered yet for #WRTX2024, you won't want to miss it! The conference is a little over a month away, and the program is coming together! Attendees will have access to the following events: 

• Your choice between three workshops
  • Workshop #1: Reuse 101 Boot Camp: An Introduction from the Experts
  • Workshop #2: Paying for the Future, organized in partnership with Water Finance Exchange
  • Workshop #3: Planning for a Future with Reuse
• OSCAR and CLARA system tour with Austin Water (extra fee, only a few spots left!)
• Opening Session with keynote by NASA International Space Station engineer Dr. Jill Williamson
• Awards Ceremony and Austin Water panel
• Networking Reception
• WateReuse Texas membership meeting
• And more! 

If all that wasn't enough, consider staying through Friday and attending the Texas Desalination Association conference! Conferences have separate registration and sponsorship opportunities. 

For more information about conference sponsorship and tabling, view our prospectus. Contact Noelle George to confirm sponsorship level or reserve tables (tabling space is limited)! 

WRTX Policy Priorities Survey: Deadline August 19

As part of our work engaging with the Texas House Natural Resources Committee regarding their reuse-related interim charges, we have created a survey to evaluate the current drivers and barriers that utilities experience when implementing reuse in Texas. The survey is less than ten questions and should take ten minutes or less of your time. 

As a reminder, the exact language for the House Committee directs them to "examine opportunities to expand the reuse of waters in Texas as an additional water supply and identify funding deficiencies for water reuse projects and regulatory impediments that make expansion of water reuse difficult in Texas."

WateReuse Texas will continue to advocate for reuse through legislative avenues, as well as with the TCEQ and TWDB. To get involved with our legislative and regulatory advocacy, please contact Noelle George to join our policy committee. 

Several reuse-related resources have been released in the recent months - have you seen them?

Texas Water Development Board's (TWDB) article about DPR and IPR: Ask an expert: Direct and indirect potable reuse provides much-needed water supply

WRTX member Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA) released this report about opportunities to use recycled water: Water Reuse in the Hill Country: Opportunities to Advance Reuse in Comal County

Do you have a report or other reuse-related resource to share? Email us so that we can include it on our Reports and Resources page!

_{WRTX Board Members at #WRTX2023, from left: Mark Vega, City of McAllen; Shela Chowdhury, NTMWD (now Fort Worth Water); Marisa Palmer, SAWS; David Sloan, Freese & Nichols; Sanaan Villalobos, Carollo; Christina Montoya-Halter, El Paso Water; Shannon Dunne, Fort Worth Water. Not pictured - Nathan Vassar, Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend}

WateReuse Texas will hold our annual membership meeting at our conference in Austin. The meeting will be from 4:30-5:00 Central time in the Permitting and Development Center. Prospective members and other interested parties are also welcome to attend this meeting, however only member representatives are eligible to vote on organizational business items. 

We will hold elections for open positions on our board of trustees and present a report on our finances and activities. If you are interested in joining our board, please reach out to one of our board members or Noelle. 

Member organization representatives do not need to purchase a conference ticket to attend, just RSVP. If you are already attending the conference, there is no need to RSVP. 

Analysis of Supreme Court’s Ruling on the Chevron Doctrine

The following analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine is provided by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).

The Chevron deference standard, coined for the case in which it was articulated - Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council – refers to the principle that a court should defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of a statute they administer where the statute is either silent or ambiguous. In a decision split along ideological lines late last month, the Court overruled Chevron and instead held that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires courts reviewing agency actions to exercise their independent judgment and decide all relevant questions of law. Read on for NACWA’s full analysis, including its impact on water and wastewater utilities. 

Austin Water Resources Supervisor Marisa Flores Gonzalez joined the city’s Water and Wastewater Commission last month to discuss a new indirect potable reuse project, designed to stretch Austin’s water supply during severe shortages. With rough schematics in place, the utility hopes to have the infrastructure fully operational by 2028. 

Read the article or read more about Austin's Water Forward Plan. 

The 2025 WateReuse Association Symposium will be held in Tampa, Florida from March 16 -19, 2025. The theme of the 2025 WateReuse Symposium is Turning the Tide Toward Water Reuse: in celebration of a unique moment for our industry. 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the WateReuse Symposium! In 1985, water professionals first convened to discuss emerging water reuse technologies and strategies. Today, water reuse drives prosperity, sustainability, and public health for communities worldwide. In 2025, we will reunite to turn the tide toward the next 40 years of water reuse.

WateReuse invites water recycling thought leaders, practitioners, researchers, and early career professionals to share their expertise and advice. We’re seeking fresh proposals emphasizing the essential role of water recycling in future water management and community resiliency. We welcome 60-minute panels, 30-minute presentations, and research posters. We encourage you to promote submissions from your section’s members here!

Noelle George, Managing Director
ngeorge@watereuse.org | (832) 619-9496