» Clean Water Current Archive

January 25, 2013

EPA Submits Strong Brief in Mississippi River Nutrients Litigation

EPA filed a brief Jan. 18 in litigation over nutrient issues in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB), forcefully defending the Agency’s denial of a 2008 environmental activist petition requesting federal numeric nutrient criteria (NNC) and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for the entire Mississippi River watershed.  The EPA brief in Gulf Restoration Network v. EPA helps to lay the groundwork for arguments that NACWA will make in its own brief in the ligation.  EPA’s court filing acknowledges nutrient pollution in the MRB as a water quality problem, but argues that federal imposition of NNC is not an appropriate or effective solution.  The Agency highlights many of its ongoing efforts to help states develop and implement appropriate nutrient criteria, including recent successes in addressing nutrient concerns though this approach.

The litigation was initiated last year by environmental activist organizations to challenge EPA’s denial in 2011 of a request to develop federal NNC and TMDLs for all waters in the MRB and the northern Gulf of Mexico.  NACWA successfully intervened in the ligation to help EPA defend its denial of the NNC request and ensure the interests of the municipal clean water community are aggressively represented in the case.  NACWA is currently working on its own brief, which will provide an important municipal perspective on the issues involved and will be submitted in early March.  Additional information on the lawsuit is available on NACWA’s Litigation Tracking webpage.

NACWA, ACWA, WEF and EPA Partner on Regional Integrated Planning Workshops

NACWA is partnering with EPA, the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) to offer a series of Integrated Planning (IP) workshops.  The next workshop will bring together key stakeholders from Region 7 and will be held in Kansas City, Kansas on March 12.  A  Region 10 workshop will take place in Portland, Oregon on April 3 and is being hosted in conjunction with the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies (ORACWA).  NACWA encourages members in these regions that are interested in pursuing integrated plans to attend and register on NACWA’s website.

These workshops will bring together clean water agencies, state regulators, EPA Regional and Headquarters staff to discuss the Agency’s IP framework.  It will provide utilities that are still considering the development of an integrated plan – or are already in the throes of negotiating one – with an opportunity to discuss implementation issues, barriers and lessons learned.  These workshops are especially timely given EPA’s recent release of its January 18 memorandum to its regional offices on financial capability assessments.  This memo commits EPA to an ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders on determining the level of flexibility communities have in determining their financial capability for purposes of meeting Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations.  Integrated planning is a fundamental tool to help communities assess their affordability challenges.

NACWA has devoted considerable time and resources on the financial capability issue, and continues this with a new Targeted Action Fund initiative, currently underway, to assess financial capability in an IP context.  It is anticipated that these workshops will be a forum for frank discussion of how IP and financial capability complement one another and how to develop a successful integrated plan.

A future workshop is proposed to be held in Region 5 in the late spring.  NACWA will provide the complete IP workshop schedule when it becomes available.  Interested utilities may contact Brenna Mannion at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

NACWA/WERF/WEF Steering Committee Gives Green Light to the Utility of the Future Blueprint for Action

The joint NACWA, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), and Water Environment Federation (WEF) Steering Committee overseeing the Water Resources Utility of the Future:  Blueprint for Action initiative has completed its review and approval process.  NACWA members will receive the Blueprint via an Advocacy Alert next week, and it will be the subject of significant discussion at NACWA’s upcoming Winter Conference in Miami, Florida.  It will also be featured at upcoming meetings convened by WERF, WEF and an array of regional and state organizations.  The Blueprint sets out a comprehensive list of potential advocacy actions for NACWA, and the water sector as a whole, to help facilitate the transition to the utility of the future (UOTF) – and also provides a new vocabulary to define and characterize the many complex elements that are part of the UOTF concept.  The three collaborating organizations, NACWA, WERF, and WEF, will be sharing the Blueprint with the media next week.  NACWA will also share the report with its state and regional group liaisons via the Exchange for posting on their websites and distribution to their memberships.  NACWA thanks WERF, WEF, and all the volunteers from the three organizations who made this initiative possible.

Water Sector Coordinating Council Discusses Security and Natural Disasters; NACWA’s Patty Cleveland Elected Vice Chair

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) conducted a two-day meeting this week to discuss water sector security and emergency preparedness issues.  The WSCC was joined by the Government Coordinating Council (GCC), which includes representatives from EPA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the second day of the meeting.  Both of NACWA's representatives for the WSCC – Patty Cleveland, Assistant Regional Manager with the Trinity River Authority, Texas, and Jim Davidson, Manager of Safety & Security with the Northeast Regional Sewer District, Ohio – participated in the meeting.

Patty Cleveland’s commitment and service to the Council were recognized with her election as Vice Chair of the WSCC at the meeting.  She began her two-year term immediately, serving collaboratively with newly-elected Council Chair, Charles Hilton, General Manager of Breezy Hill Water & Sewer in South Carolina.

The WSCC and GCC discussed the priorities of the water sector and actions that could be taken to advance these priorities.  A workgroup will be formed to review the Roadmap to a Secure and Resilient Water Sector and update it to reflect current priorities.  For example, cyber-security was not a prominent issue when this Roadmap was written five years ago, but it is now an issue that the sector must address.  Another problem that the sector plans to address with government agencies is the difficulty faced by utility workers that need to gain access to restricted areas after a natural disaster.  While electric utility trucks seem to be given full access, water utility workers are often turned away or delayed while their status is verified.

The WSCC meets quarterly, and NACWA will continue to keep members informed about WSCC activities and opportunities that are available to utilities to improve their agency’s security and emergency preparedness as well as the water sector more broadly.

This Week on Engage: New Discussions; New Help Section

You’re invited to join the discussion on NACWA Engage™.  Two new discussions are underway in the Utility Management interest group focused on rates charged for effluent, and sending the scrubbed/cleaned biogas to a natural gas utility, respectively.  We invite you to come share your expertise and perspectives.

All individuals at NACWA member organizations have access to Engage™.  NACWA members should use the same email and password that you use to access the Member Pipeline on the NACWA website. You can reset your password online, or, if you need a new account, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Several new help resources are now available to users on NACWA Engage™.  It is hoped that these resources will help users maximize their experience on Engage™ as it continues to expand. These new resources include:

1. An FAQ guide that answers many questions users have about the community;
2. A Getting Started guide that walks users through the initial steps of creating an account and using the system;
3. A Getting Started with Groups guide that provides insight into how to harness the power of group discussions and collaboration; and
4. NACWA’s Online Community Policy, which governs terms of use for participants on all of the association’s social media platforms, including The Water Voice blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

As always, if you need additional support, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at 202.530.2758.