Washington Update

President Trump Signs Legislation in Support of Water Reuse

President Trump signed America’s Water Infrastructure Act into law on October 23, enacting legislation that authorizes several flood control and related programs administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and creates significant investment in water infrastructure including water recycling. The package is the biennial reauthorization bill for the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).

“As a candidate, I called for a great rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure. Today, we’re taking another major step toward that goal,” President Trump said at the signing ceremony.

“Through targeted financial assistance, we will support projects that protect our nation’s waterways and water supplies, create well-paying jobs, and help rural and urban communities thrive,” Acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said.

After months of active legislative advocacy, the WateReuse Association is pleased that that package included Sec. 1164, Local government water management plans, which helps advance water reuse by aligning water resources development projects supported by the Army Corps of Engineers with local water management plans. Many local management plans include projects such as stormwater capture and reuse, water recycling, and aquifer recharge. The WateReuse Association led a coalition of water associations in support of this measure being included in the WRDA package. In the House, the provision was championed by U.S. Representatives John Duncan (R-TN) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Grace Napolitano (D-CA); while in the Senate, we received support from Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

Other provisions included in this package that will also facilitate greater adoption of water recycling are listed below:

Sec 2004: encourages the use of non-potable water recycling to address water demand challenges, particularly for industrial applications, sends an important signal to both the private and public sectors to consider a water recycling approach for their water supply needs;
2007: Innovative Water Technology Grant Program provides $10 million annually to support investments in innovative water technology including water reuse or recycling and technologies to increase water supplies;
2013: Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability authorizes $ 25 million for investment in resilient and sustainable water infrastructure, including water recycling projects
Sec 4201: Reauthorizes the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act for $50 million annually through 2021, a critical financing tool for water infrastructure including water reuse infrastructure, which continues to provide low-cost financing tool for water recycling infrastructure.
Sec 4101: requires the EPA to establish a Stormwater Infrastructure Funding Task Force, a multi-government and non-profit task force, to examine ways to improve stormwater infrastructure, including infrastructure that can facilitate greater capture and reuse of stormwater resources.

The WateReuse Association’s advocacy on this legislation included:

A letter to Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Carper (D-DE), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), urging swift passage of the Senate WRDA bill. (August 4, 2018)
A Coalition letter of support for proposed WRDA language to the Senate committee leadership. (May 17, 2018).
A Letter to House committee leadership from Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and John Duncan (R-TN) championing proposed WRDA language. (May 11, 2018)
Coalition letters of support for proposed WRDA language to the House and Senate. (April 6, 2018)
A Proposal document for an integrated water resources management provision in the 2018 WRDA bill. (March 2018)

Show less

WateReuse Association Attends Grand Water Challenge Kick-Off Meeting and Summit

On Thursday, October 25, the WateReuse Association participated in the launch of the Water Security Grand Challenge, a White House initiated, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) led framework to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water.

Using a coordinated suite of prizes, competitions, early-stage research and development funding opportunities, critical partnerships, and other programs, the Water Security Grand Challenge sets the following goals for the United States to reach by 2030:

Launch desalination technologies that deliver cost-competitive clean water
Transform the energy sector’s produced water from a waste to a resource
Achieve near-zero water impact for new thermoelectric power plants, and significantly lower freshwater use intensity within the existing fleet
Double resource recovery from municipal wastewater
Develop small, modular energy-water systems for urban, rural, tribal, national security, and disaster response settings.

DOE will partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Water Security Grand Challenge, and is pursuing additional opportunities to collaborate with other agencies, industry, and stakeholders.

The WateReuse Association participated in a DOE hosted stakeholder workshop last Thursday at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO designed to gather input from external experts on potential DOE prizes and next steps. As the Challenge matures, DOE expects to continue to bring new partners on board and identify additional prizes and other program contributions.

Show less

EPA Announces WIFIA Information Sessions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced three new dates for Information Sessions designed to give utilities the opportunity to learn about funding opportunities for water, wastewater, and recycled water infrastructure available under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). WIFIA program staff will provide an overview of the program, explain the financial benefits of WIFIA loans, and discuss the application process. The announced dates are:

State Updates and Member Profiles

California: West Basin to Receive Up to $35 Million for Water Recycling in New Federal Package

America’s Water Infrastructure Act, the comprehensive infrastructure legislation signed by the president on Oct. 23, will allow West Basin Municipal Water District to access an additional $35 million in federal funding for its Harbor South Bay Water Recycling project. This major federal water infrastructure package includes a specific provision to allow West Basin to pursue significant funding through the Army Corps of Engineers to upgrade and increase capacity at the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility in El Segundo. S. 3021 includes provisions to double the original project authorization from $35 million to $70 million, which will assist West Basin in ensuring that an adequate water supply for the Los Angeles region is met for current and future demands. Read More.

California: Mike Bloomberg Names San José Winner in Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge

WateReuse Association member the City of San José was one of 20 cities to win the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, a $70 million program that will accelerate efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for residents. Through the Climate Challenge – which is part of Bloomberg’s American Cities Initiative, a suite of more than $200 million in investments to strengthen city halls and advance critical policies – San José is accepted into a two-year acceleration program and will be provided powerful new resources and access to innovative support to help meet or beat the city’s near-term carbon-reduction goals. Bloomberg Philanthropies selected San José as a winning city because of its innovative and ambitious climate action plan, Climate Smart San José, which will reduce air pollution, save water, and improve quality of life. Read More.

Oregon: Clean Water Services Highlights One Water, Resource Recovery

WateReuse Association member Clean Water Services released its Annual Report highlighting a focus on “One Water” and the use of creative approaches to improve water quality, recover resources, gain efficiency, create value, and connect people to their ecosystems. In Oregon’s Washington County, Clean Water Services and a network of partners promote the healthy flow of One Water. As a Utility of the Future, Clean Water Services is committed to services the whole community – families and businesses, plants, and wildlife. View the Annual Report.

Conferences and Events

Webcast: Learn about the New Recycled Water User Network

Please join us on Thursday, November 15 at 2:00 pm EST to learn about the WateReuse Association’s newest membership opportunity, the Recycled Water User Network. The network gives businesses, governments and nonprofits that use recycled water the opportunity to receive a green designation, Water Star^TM and to access information and resources on recycled water and access to the Association’s membership benefits, including access to monthly webcasts, weekly newsletter, and discounts on conference registration fees. To learn more about how your utility can take advantage of the Recycled Water User Network, register today for the webcast.

Webcast: Reducing the Cost of Concentrate Disposal: Using a Novel Hybrid NF-RO to Enhance Sodium Chloride Removal

Concentrate disposal is a major cost for desalting operations, and for many water-recycling applications only partial desalting is needed, often targeting sodium chloride specifically. Please join us on Wednesday, November 14 at 2 p.m. EST to learn about a pilot study that was conducted to demonstrate the viability of a two-pass system, combining an NF pass with a second RO pass and blending the NF concentrate with the RO permeate. Findings indicate that sodium chloride can be preferentially removed from the recycled water, chemical and power consumption can be reduced when operated at system recoveries comparable to typical RO systems, and much higher recoveries are achievable with modest increases in power and chemical usage. Register Now!