February 10, 2025

Water recycling provides flexibility to supply the right water for the right use. While many cities and states make strides toward direct potable reuse, there are even more communities that continue to achieve creative, affordable, and effective water resource goals by delivering non-potable recycled water. Join us at the 2025 WateReuse Symposium, March 16-19 in Tampa, to hear about a wide range of agricultural, irrigation, and landscape reuse projects. From Florida to California, from golf courses to wetlands, innovative reuse solutions are preserving precious water supplies, protecting receiving waters, and keeping our communities green through periods of drought.

The Industrial Water Solutions conference will bring together business and utility leaders for two days of knowledge-sharing, networking, and collaboration, June 23-25, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. WateReuse Association and the Water Environment Federation are seeking presentation proposals for panels, presentations, and TEDx-style lightning round talks. The submission link will be live shortly, and submissions will be due on March 24, 2025.

The U.S. House of Representatives worked over the weekend to finalize a budget resolution directing the House to develop a budget reconciliation package. The resolution, which has yet to be released, is expected to include instructions to the House Ways and Means Committee to develop tax legislation meeting certain numerical targets. At the same time, the Senate Budget Committee began developing its own budget resolution to initiate  two budget reconciliation processes, the first of which would focus on border security and defense spending. The House and Senate will also need to decide whether Congress takes the one-bill approach to reconciliation, which the House favors, or the two-bill approach, which the Senate favors. WateReuse has been working since early last year to secure a federal investment tax credit (ITC) to help scale up the use of recycled water by manufacturers, data centers, and other industrial entities. We continue to push for the ITC to be included in the upcoming reconciliation package. If your organization is interested in helping with this effort, please reach out to Greg Fogel, WateReuse Policy Director, at gfogel@watereuse.org.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Last week, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced President Trump’s Regional Administrator appointments for Regions 2, 6, 7, 10: Mike Martucci in Region 2, covering New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands; Scott Mason IV in Region 6, covering Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; Jim Macy in Region 7, covering Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska; and Emma Pokon in Region 10,  covering Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

U.S. Department of the Interior
Andrea Travnicek, former Director of the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, has been nominated by President Trump to be the next Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior. The Assistant Secretary oversees the U.S. Geological Survey as well as the Bureau of Reclamation, which administers the Title XVI Water Reuse Grants Program and the Large-Scale Water Recycling Projects Competitive Grant Program, among other important programs. Before joining the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, Travnicek served in various roles at the U.S. Department of Interior, including briefly as Acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.

The WateReuse Association congratulates these nominees and appointees and looks forward to working with them to advance water reuse goals.

WateReuse Association is proud to be welcomed to the State of Florida by the Florida Water & Pollution Control Operators Association (FWPCOA) for the 40th Annual WateReuse Symposium. The WateReuse Symposium takes place in Tampa, FL from March 16-19, and features three days of content for operators, engineers, utility managers, and other water and wastewater professionals. FW&PCOA hosts an extensive online training catalog, as well as multiple in-person trainings, state-wide, including brand new training for Direct Potable Reuse. Operators can take advantage of these options to receive CEU credits toward renewing their license, while helping to prepare for the future of water reuse in Florida. Contact training@fwpcoa.org or follow the link to learn more.

Two WateReuse members, City of Norman, OK and Google, joined forces recently. Google’s $500,000 grant will help upgrade a water reuse system within the city’s Water Reclamation Facility that recycles water for in-plant uses including cleaning and cooling equipment, as well as potential non-potable applications such as watering compost. Google’s grant is part of an initiative for the company to make up 120% of their water usage by helping communities save water across the country.

A recent study by Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin addresses a critical challenge in agricultural water reuse: how to validate that water treatment plants can meet regulatory performance targets. The research examines statistical methods for compliance with the European Union's Regulation 2020/741, which requires 90% of water samples to meet strict safety thresholds. The findings suggest that regulatory bodies could benefit from considering the adoption of tolerance intervals within water reuse guidelines. This would create a more robust and adaptable framework, encouraging wider adoption of water reuse practices to combat global water scarcity

Contact us at info@watereuse.org