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The Water Resources Coalition was established in
2007 to promote the development, implementation and funding of a
comprehensive national water resources policy. With member
organizations representing state and local governments,
conservation, engineering and construction, ports, waterways and
transportation services, the Coalition works to ensure that a
comprehensive, national water resources policy is developed,
implemented and funded to provide a sustainable, productive
economy; a healthy aquatic ecology; and public health and safety.
For more information, visit the Water Resources Coalition Web site
at www.waterresourcescoalition.org.
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EPA Plans to Update National Water Quality Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
announced plans to update the agency's 27-year-old program for
establishing state water-quality standards under the Clean Water
Act (CWA).
Water-quality standards define the water-quality goals of a water
body and its segments by designating the use to be made of the
water body; establishing criteria that are protective of applicable
uses; and protecting water quality through antidegradation
requirements. State and tribal governments set the standards,
subject to EPA approval.
The first water-quality standards were set in 1983. EPA will
propose a rule in mid-2011 to upgrade the procedures for
establishing the standards required by the CWA.
The agency explains the details of its upcoming proposal on EPA's website.
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LaHood Announces Projects Eligible for Marine
Highway Funding
On August 11th Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
announced corridors, projects, and initiatives
eligible for funding as part of the America's Marine
Highway program. The Maritime Administration selected the projects
and initiatives from 35 applications submitted by ports and local
transportation agencies. The agency will assist the projects
sponsors in developing marine transportation services and identify
potential freight and passenger markets. The designated projects
are also eligible to compete for future Marine Highway federal
funding, including $7 million in initial funding which was made
available several weeks ago.
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GAO Issues Wastewater Infrastructure Financing
Report
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released
a report assessing wastewater infrastructure financing through a
national infrastructure bank or public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The GAO developed a questionnaire based on existing national
infrastructure bank proposals and administered it to 37
stakeholders with expertise in wastewater utilities, infrastructure
needs, and financing. The report identifies the advantages and
challenges presented by privately financed PPPs and discusses the
key areas that should be considered when designing a national
infrastructure bank.
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Reclamation Announces WaterSMART Grant Recipients
The Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSMART program
announced a series of grants this past month for basin study
programs, climate change analysis tools, and advanced water
treatment pilot programs. The WaterSMART is a program of the
Department of the Interior that focuses on improving water
conservation and helping water-resource managers make sound
decisions about water use. Each grant program follows those
principles.
Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor
announced that Reclamation will make $3.3 million available for six
basin studies through the Basin Study program, $2 million available
in grants for Advanced Water Treatment Pilot and Demonstration
projects, and $773,483 available in research grant proposals to
develop climate analysis tools.
The basin studies will be cost-shared on a 50/50 basis
with state and local partners and will generally be two years in
duration. The basins were selected based upon published criteria
and are areas where water supply and demand imbalances exist.
Those projects selected are: the Truckee River Basin in
California and Nevada, the Deschutes River Basin Study in Oregon,
the Henrys Fork of the Snake River Basin Study in Idaho, the
Niobrara River Basin Study in Nebraska, the Santa Ana Watershed
Basin Study in California, and the Southeast California Regional
Basin Study.
The goal of the Advanced Water Treatment grants
is to accelerate the adoption and use of these technologies to
help increase water supply. The hope for the funded projects
is that they will provide better understanding of the technical,
economic, and environmental viability of treating and using
brackish groundwater, seawater, impaired waters, or otherwise
creating new water supplies in a given locale. The three pilot
studies and one demonstration project selected are: the
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Joint Water
Purification Pilot Program, the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power Groundwater Replenishment Treatment Pilot Study, the West
Basin Municipal Water District (California), Ocean Water
Desalination Demonstration Project, and the Municipal Water District
of Orange County Pilot Plant Testing.
Finally, the research grants to develop climate
analysis tools are new this year. The program was developed to fund
research projects that will lead to enhanced management of western
water resources in a changing climate. The five grants selected are
for: Climate Central, Inc.; The University of Colorado Regents, The
Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Climatological
Survey, the University of Texas at Austin - Bureau of Economic
Geology, and the Arizona Board of Regents.
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Report Released Urging Increased Federal Investment
in Wastewater Infrastructure
In early August, the Healing Our Waters Coalition
released a report on the Great Lakes region, which emphasizes
the need for additional federal funding to prevent sewage from polluting
the nation's lakes. According to the report, "Turning the
Tide: Investing in Wastewater Infrastructure to Create Jobs and
Solve the Sewage Crisis in the Great Lakes," communities that
rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, economic development,
and recreation, dump tens of billions of gallons of untreated
sewage every year into the nation's largest source of surface fresh
water.
From January 2009 through January 2010, just five cities on the
U.S. side of the Great Lakes - Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo,
Milwaukee and Gary, Indiana. - discharged 41 billion gallons of
untreated sewage and filthy storm water into the lakes, according
to government data analyzed by the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes
Coalition. The report urges Congress to provide at least $2.7
billion this year for sewer upgrades nationally ($972 million for
Great Lakes states), with 20 percent of that money going to green
infrastructure projects.
ASCE President Blaine Leonard, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE was quoted in the
press release from the Coalition stating, "Failing
infrastructure cannot support a healthy economy, or a healthy
population. For more than a decade, ASCE's Report Card for
America's Infrastructure has been calling for increased funding and
leadership to protect and improve these critical infrastructure
systems. However, the funding gap and the consequence of inaction
have continued to grow larger. Today's report from Healing Our
Waters should serve as yet another reminder of what's at stake if
we do nothing."
For the report release, the Coalition also held press conferences
in Buffalo, NY; Detroit, MI; Cleveland, OH; Milwaukee, WI; and
Gary, IN.
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Organization Releases Report on Gulf Coast
Resilience
The Center for National Policy recently released a
report entitled "Before the Next Katrina: Urgent
Recommendations for the President and Congress on Gulf Coast
Resilience" which was written after interviewing Gulf Coast
residents and compiling their concerns and ideas to create a way to
manage a catastrophic oil spill (such as the Deepwater Horizon
spill) during and following a major hurricane. One recommendation
is to require BP to provide immediate and sufficient financial
support to NGO's providing support to those impacted by the spill.
Even a Category 1 storm will leave people needing assistance and as
a result of limited funds, those without adequate financial
stability may be unable to obey evacuation warnings. The report
reiterates the point that NGO's can only help the impacted
populations with proper resources.
According to the report, evacuation plans need to be updated to
allow for the quick reentry of citizens and insurance evaluators.
There also needs to be a pre-storm assessment of the needs of those
most vulnerable to the storm and a plan designed to respond to
their immediate and long term recovery needs.
Additionally, the report details the need for all planners-to
include federal, state and local-to immediately staff shelters and
points of distribution of supplies and to work with insurance
companies to expedite the claims process. Insurance carriers need
to make clear the claims process while working to streamline the
process itself.
The report also states that there is a lot of confusion among local
officials over who has jurisdiction after a spill. The federal
chain of command to support resources, reentry, and recovery
operations needs immediate clarification. It also calls for
immediate Presidential action in designating a senior federal
coordinator (as well as support staff) to serve as the primary
point of contact for NGO's during the recovery phase.
Another recommendation is to call on BP to fund training programs
for Gulf Coast residents and officials to deal with the possibility
of oil washing ashore and to help determine the number of and train
clean up workers.
The report also addresses the need to craft support for small
businesses impacted by the spill and develop disaster contingency
plans.
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California Water Bond Delayed
The California Legislature voted earlier this month to
pull the $11 billion water bond from November's ballot and delay it
for two years, a move that came as backers of the proposal became
increasingly concerned about its prospects at the polls. The
full Senate approved the delay of Proposition 18 by a 27-7 vote,
barely reaching the necessary two-thirds majority of the 40-member
Senate. The Assembly also passed the bill by the slimmest
of margins in the 80-person house, with a 54-22 vote.
Lawmakers from both parties have called for the bond
to be scrapped and rewritten. Senator Dave Cogdill, the
author of the original bond measure passed by the Legislature in
November, as part of a comprehensive package of water legislation,
was not happy about the delay but said that it is necessary to
ensure passage by voters. He noted the difficulty of getting it
passed in the first place and said he does not believe that a
better alternative exists.
The proposition, known as the Safe, Clean and Reliable
Drinking Water Supply Act, funds a wide array of projects across
the state, including $3 billion for storage projects like
reservoirs, for groundwater cleanup, drought relief and
forrestoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. It
has come under increasing criticism because of its cost, the
inclusion of nearly $2 billion in earmarks, and a provision that
would allow private corporations to own and operate taxpayer-built
reservoirs and other water-storage projects. The bill to
suspend the timing of the bond also removes that provision.
Opponents were not moved, however, and argued that the bond should
be stripped of all but essential needs for California's water.
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Register Now for the Fall Waterways Symposium
RESERVE YOUR HOTEL ROOM, REGISTER ONLINE NOW FOR WCI
ANNUAL MEETING/FALL WATERWAYS SYMPOSIUM NOW!
September 13 is the deadline to receive the early-bird
registration rate for WCI's Annual Meeting and Seventh Annual Fall
Waterways Symposium, sponsored by WCI, Informa Economics and The
Waterways Journal. The Symposium will take place October 5-6,
2010 and will be preceded by WCI's Annual Meeting on October 4,
2010, at the Saint Paul Hotel in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Early
bird registration is $595, $650 after September 13. Register
by visiting https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=14189& or going directly to www.waterwayscouncil.org
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Brian Pallasch and Marco Giamberardino
Water Resources Coalition
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