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February 4, 2019

Deadline Thursday: Don’t Miss Your Chance to Tell Your Water Reuse Story at the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium, Submit Your Abstract Today!

Abstract submissions are due Thursday, February 7 for the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium, taking place Sunday, September 8, through Wednesday, September 11, 2019 in San Diego, California. This year’s theme is “Collaborate to Innovate.” The program will showcase recycled water collaborations among utilities, farmers, and industry; regulators working together at both the state and federal level; sustainability; public/private partnerships; and, for the first time, the latest in reuse research led by the Water Research Foundation. The Annual WateReuse Symposium is the nation’s premier conference on water recycling. The event attracts more than 600 water professionals from around the nation. Submit an abstract now!

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Washington Update

Join WateReuse in Washington, DC for Water Week 2019, March 31-April 6

Registration is open for the National Water Policy Fly-In, April 3-4, in Washington, DC. Held during Water Week 2019, March 31–April 6, the National Water Policy Fly-In brings together the nation’s water sector to speak with one voice to Congress and the Administration. With a new Congress in place, your attendance and engagement are more critical than ever. WateReuse urges members to join us in Washington DC to ensure that the water reuse message is an integral part of the Water Week message.

Building off the momentum of major advocacy wins in 2018— including the bipartisan passage of the America’s Water Infrastructure Act that incorporated key provisions beneficial to water recycling —and the significant potential for congressional focus on infrastructure during the next session, it is crucial that policymakers hear directly from you about the specific challenges to your utility and community.

Join us as we call on the Administration and the new Congress to work in partnership with the sector and invest in our nation’s water infrastructure, including drinking water, clean water, and recycled water. With an engaging format and affordable price point, you won’t want to miss the next Fly-In, the most significant water policy event of 2019!

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Continuing Resolution Opens Government, Funds Key Water Infrastructure Programs

On Friday, January 25, Congress passed and the President signed a short-term spending bill, known as a “Continuing Resolution (CR),” to reopen the government for three weeks, until February 15. Federal employees at departments and agencies that were shut down – including the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – returned to work last week and have been picking up where they left off before the shutdown began. For EPA, this means that staff can return to implementing existing programs as well as new agency initiatives. At USDA, staff will finally be able to start implementing the recently passed 2018 Farm Bill, including rural water development programs as well as natural resource conservation programs. Other agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, were fully funded for fiscal year (FY) 2019 earlier in 2018 and so remained open during the shutdown.

For the employees of EPA, USDA, and many other departments and agencies, the three-week agreement is welcomed relief – it will allow them to receive back pay and to continue their work; however, many are worried about another possible shutdown come February 15. Between now and then, the President and Congress will negotiate with the aim of reaching a funding deal to keep the government open for the remainder of FY 2019. If they are able to come to a resolution, the final funding package will include funding for critical water programs, including EPA’s state revolving fund loan programs and Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Program, as well as key USDA water programs. If they are not able to come to a resolution, then Congress will have to pass another continuing resolution to extend last year’s funding levels for some period of time, or the government will once again shut down.

As a reminder, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and in some cases, the full House or Senate, passed individual appropriations bills for EPA and USDA last year; however, those bills never became law. Final funding decisions for FY 2019 will be based on the funding levels included in these individual bills; and current indications are that negotiated levels will align closely with the numbers included in the Senate bill. See below for a recap of the funding levels included in the House and Senate bills:

Clean Water State Revolving Fund
- House bill: $1.54 billion
- Senate bill: $1.69 billion
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund:
- House bill: $1.01 billion
- Senate bill: $1.16 billion
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Program
- House bill: $70 million
- Senate bill: $63 million
USDA Rural Water and Waste Disposal
- House bill: $638 million
- Senate bill: $958 million
USDA Conservation Programs
- House and Senate bills: full funding

WateReuse will continue to track and report on federal budget developments as they occur. Members interested in learning more, please contact Greg Fogel, Policy Director for WateReuse, at gfogel@watereuse.org.

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Bureau of Reclamation Intervenes in Colorado River Drought Deal

On Friday, February 1, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation moved closer to imposing water delivery cuts along the drought-depleted Colorado River after California and Arizona failed to meet a deadline for inking a broad agreement on how the seven states that depend on the river would cope with shortages.

In December, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman warned the seven states of the Colorado River Basin that if they missed a January 31 deadline to agree on a drought plan that Interior would impose unprecedented restrictions on water supplies in the basin. Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming finished their plans in December. Arizona and California did not put final signatures on the necessary seven-state agreement, Burman announced.

In a statement last Friday, Burman said the Interior Department would seek recommendations from the governors of the seven states about the protective actions the Bureau should take amid prolonged drought along the stressed, overburdened waterway. However, she added that imposing protective actions is not the Interior Department’s preferred approach and indicated that she would terminate the request and rescind the notice if the basin states quickly wrap up their plans.

California missed the deadline because the Imperial and Coachella Valley irrigation districts held out. Arizona’s plan remains unfinished despite approval by the state legislature and a signature by the governor. Arizona was the only state of the seven that required legislative approval of the plan. The Colorado River is the drinking water supply for more than 40 million people and provides irrigation water for nearly 5.5 million acres of farmland. Over the past two decades, the basin has faced the most severe drought in its history and the river’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are approaching critically low levels.

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State Updates and Member Profiles

Welcome New Member!

The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new member:

Broad Creek Public Service District

California: Legislation Introduced to Change Terminology for Recycled Water

California Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) introduced a WateReuse California sponsored bill (AB 292) on January 28 that would remove the terms “indirect” and “direct” from sections of the California code that discuss potable reuse. AB 292 builds on previous legislation and recent work by the State Water Resources Control Board and WateReuse California to align the terms with how California water agencies are using recycled water. In 2017, Assemblymember Quirk introduced AB 574, which was signed by the Governor, and requires the state water board to develop regulations for the safe use of recycled water through raw water augmentation. The legislation introduced last week is intended to ensure clarity in the uses of recycled water. In 2016, in a report to the Legislature the water board concluded it is feasible to develop and adopt regulations for using recycled water as drinking water, provided that certain research and key knowledge gaps are addressed.

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California: Las Virgenes and Triunfo Partner on Pure Water Project

WateReuse Association members Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and Triunfo Sanitation District have formed an alliance to build a $120-million purification project that will treat wastewater normally released into local streams and return it to the customer as safe drinking water. Construction will begin this spring on a $3 million demonstration project that will begin operating later in the year with the ability to treat between 50 and 100 gallons a minute. The full-scale project is expected to be complete by 2030. Read More.

California: One Week Left to Obtain WateReuse California Gear Before Annual Conference

The WateReuse California (WRCA) Gear Store will be open for one more week! If you haven’t been able to purchase your WRCA swag, now is the time! As a reminder, all pieces will be embroidered with the WateReuse California Logo. Please note that this is a store for members to purchase WateReuse Apparel, and is not a fundraiser for WateReuse. The store will remain open until Saturday February 9, 2019. Once the store closes all orders will be processed and shipped within 3 weeks. If you have any questions about the store or ordering process, please see the contact information in the online store. Check out the WateReuse California Store here and place your order!

Georgia: Stadium’s Water Reuse System Combats Atlanta’s Flood Problems

Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the location for Saturday’s Superbowl, opened in August 2017 as North America’s first LEED platinum venue complete with a water recycling system. A significant component of the facility’s sustainability initiatives include water conservation, with a focus on reducing the amount of flooding in its neighborhood in northwestern Atlanta. The stadium has a capacity to store over 2 million gallons of storm water on site. The facility is equipped with a 680,000-gallon cistern for rainwater recapture and reuse, which goes towards landscape irrigation and the site’s cooling tower. Read More.

Oregon: Intel Secures $150 Million in Bonds for Water Recycling Project

The State of Oregon approved a $150 million in industrial development bonds to help Intel finance a $600 million water recycling facility, which could cut Intel’s water consumption by a third. Intel uses its Hillsboro, Oregon, factory to produce microchips, which requires large amounts of water to clean silicon wafers as residue accumulates on them throughout the production process. The tax-exempt bonds allow Intel to pay interest rates that are as much as 25 percent below standard corporate bond interest rates. Read More.

Research Update

New Research Addresses Monitoring, Treatment, and Agriculture

The Water Research Foundation released several new reports on research related to water reuse:

Review of Non-Culture-Based Methods for Pathogen Monitoring in Potable Reuse (Reuse-14-17/4768)
Predicting Reverse Osmosis Removal of Unique Organics (Reuse-14-19/4769)
Carlsbad Desalinated Seawater Integration Study (Desal-15-06/4773)
Agricultural Use of Recycled Water: Impediments and Incentives (Reuse-15-08/4775)

Conferences and Events

Webcast: Community Engagement for Potable Reuse Success

Please join us on February 14, Valentine’s Day, to learn about the latest techniques in engagement and public education that will help your community fall in love with potable reuse. The water professionals on this panel have one common objective: to ensure a potable reuse project will be evaluated on its own merits and not dismissed as dangerous and too risky to pursue. The presenters will describe key elements that have helped their past efforts and discuss new outreach tactics they are relying on to take their outreach efforts to the next level. Register Now!

Register for the 2019 WateReuse California Annual Conference

Registration is open for the 2019 WateReuse California Annual Conference to be held March 17-19, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove, CA. The conference is designed for individuals, organizations, and agencies that are associated with or interested in the design, management, operation, and use of water recycling facilities and projects in California. Register Now!

Upcoming Events

Apr

Wed

WateReuse Pacific Northwest Meeting

Tickets

Apr 15 all-day

Categories: WateReuse Pacific Northwest

Webcast: Breaking Down Implementation Barriers for Onsite Non-Potable Water Systems

Tickets

Apr 15 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Presented in partnership with The Water Research Foundation, this presentation will cover key components of successful onsite non-potable water systems.

Webcast
2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern ; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific
WateReuse Members and WRF Subscribers: Free
Others: $49
PDHs: 1

Register Now!

Across the nation, onsite non-potable water systems (ONWS) are becoming increasingly common as a means to conserve and recycle water. Ensuring consistent implementation is one of the principal challenges for ONWS programs, particularly when multiple, new stakeholders are involved. Water Research Foundation project 4909 sought to identify key knowledge gaps and provide the resources needed to aid in the smooth implementation of ONWS. Through interaction with the National Blue Ribbon Commission for Onsite Non-potable Water Systems, the project team identified common pitfalls that have impacted the design, operation, permitting, and implementation of ONWS.

This presentation will cover key components of a successful ONWS program including: (1) treatment goals that control public health risk, (2) effective design of both treatment and non-treatment (i.e., management) barriers, (3) strategies for effective operation and monitoring of ONWS systems, and (4) frameworks for regulating and permitting ONWS. The goal of this presentation is to convey the importance of stakeholder knowledge for consistent protection of public health at ONWS installations. This information will be presented through a survey of the projects two main deliverables: the comprehensive guidance manual and interactive training modules.

Presenters

Brian Pecson, Ph.D., P.E., Principal Engineer, Trussell Technologies
Brie Post, P.E., Senior Engineer, Trussell Technologies
Paula Kehoe, Director of Water Resources, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Categories: Featured Webcasts

Apr

Tue

Webcast: America’s Water Infrastructure Act – Implications for Water Reuse and COVID-19

Tickets

Apr 21 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Are water recycling utilities well prepared to address the COVID-19 crisis and other potential future risks?

Join Us!
2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern ; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific
WateReuse Members: Free
Others: $49
PDHs: 1

Register Now!

The America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) requires all utilities serving 3,300 or more people to complete a risk and resilience assessment (RRA) for their water systems, followed by the completion of an emergency response plan (ERP). The RRA’s are part of an overall effort to improve the ability of water systems to prepare for and respond to events from water resource limitations to cyber attacks, from extreme weather to an assault on the utility, and from contamination to treatment and distribution infrastructure, among others. In short, it is an all-hazards approach to managing risk.

This webcast will discuss how water reuse interacts with the RRAs and highlight some the ways that risks are viewed and managed from an AWIA perspective. It will also discuss how we are interpreting and acting upon risk in the midst the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and how we can use RRAs to prepare for future risks. This webcast will offer a fresh look at risk and resilience through the lens of preparation and response. The presentation will begin with an overview of AWIA requirements, RRAs, and the role of water reuse in those assessments followed by a focus on risk and risk perceptions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presenters

Dr. Ben Stanford is an Associate Vice President with Hazen and Sawyer in the Denver office where he leads the implementation of innovations in water, wastewater, and water reuse. He is currently leading or supporting over a dozen risk and resilience projects in FL, NC, TX, CO, AZ, and CA.

Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was Founding Director of the Institute for the Environment, and at the University of Cambridge, where he was Director of the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research.