June/July 2014 Clean Water Advocate - page 1

JUNE/JULY 2014
Inside
Web Seminar Series Charts
Path to Utility of the Future........... 2
Court Rulings Reflect NACWA
Advocacy ....................................... 2
Clarification Necessary on
Proposed Rule................................ 3
Toilets are Not Trash Cans!........... 4
Karen Pallansch Elected
NACWA President......................... 5
Finance Dialogue Opens
Door to Collaboration................... 6
NACWA Recieves Top Honor........ 6
Look Who’s New!.......................... 7
Mark Your Calendar for
WEFTEC’14................................... 7
Utility Excellence Celebrated......... 8
Karen Pallansch was elected NACWA President for
2014-2015 on July 15. Pallansch is the Chief
Executive Officer of Alexandria Renew
Enterprises in Alexandria, Virginia.
A
t its July Summer Conference in Portland, Oregon NACWA
released a new report,
T
The report
highlights the billions of dollars in savings and return on
investment from innovative projects at the Nation’s clean water agen-
cies. This burgeoning innovation has come about as a result of a
number of key trends.
Clean water utility leaders have amassed more than four decades
of experience implementing the complex requirements of the
Clean Water Act (CWA) and are redefining their role by reconsid-
ering the economic value of their inputs – like water, nutrients,
and organic matter – as well as their own ability to create direct value for
the Nation. The Water Resources Utility of the Future (UOTF) can separate, extract, reuse
and generate valuable water, energy, nutrients and other commodities from wastewater while using utility
assets in innovative ways to reduce costs, increase revenue, and strengthen the local and national econo-
mies. This new report offers a valuable tool to help utility leaders tell their UOTF stories and provides
economic and financial data pointing to the hundreds of billions of dollars in added value that the UOTF
is unleashing.
But the full potential of the transition to the UOTF will be unleashed when regulators and governing
boards acknowledge the substantial returns associated with making this transition and, based on that,
support new ways of doing business locally and in the Nation’s Capital. NACWA looks forward to making
this new paradigm a reality.
New NACWA Report
Spotlights Utility ROI
House Holds Hearing on Clean Water Affordability
T
h
he House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment held a hearing on July 24
to examine the status of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Integrated Planning Framework
and legislative efforts being
made to supplement the approach and promote clean water affordability issues. Stephen Meyer, Director of Environmental Services
for the City of Springfield, Missouri, and a Member of NACWA’s Board of Directors, testified on NACWA’s behalf. Meyer spoke about
Springfield’s affordability challenges and the City’s efforts to develop an integrated plan in order to better manage their wastewater and storm-
water requirements under the Clean Water Act. Springfield hopes to incorporate their requirements under the Clean Air Act and the Solid
Waste Disposal Act into their integrated plan, as well.
“Like many others across the nation, the City of Springfield-Greene County region is being required to devote more money and resources
to comply with Clean Water Act and other environmental regulations” said Meyer during his oral testimony. “Because of our challenges in-
volved with meeting these federal statutes, an Integrated Planning approach is really the only practical and affordable way forward to
A
Clear
Commitment to America’s Waters
National Association of
Clean Water Agencies
1816 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington DC 20036-2505
p
202.833.2672
f
202.833.4657
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