July 17, 2015
Hagekhalil Elected NACWA President, New Board Welcomed
Adel H. Hagekhalil was elected NACWA President for 2015-2016 by the Association’s Board of Directors on July 14. Hagekhalil is the Assistant Director of City of Los Angeles – LA Sanitation, CA and has had a distinguished tenure of leadership within both the Association and the water sector. Also elected as NACWA officers were the following: Vice President, Ray Marshall, Executive Director, Narragansett Bay Commission, RI; Treasurer, Cathy Gerali, District Manager, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Denver, CO; and, Secretary, David St. Pierre, Executive Director of the Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL. The Association expresses its sincere appreciation to outgoing President, Karen Pallansch, Chief Executive Officer of Alexandria Renew Enterprises, VA, for her dedicated leadership of the Association during this important year in its history.
At the Association’s Annual Business Meeting NACWA’s membership elected a number of individuals to the Board of Directors. Those elected or re-elected to the Board are as follows: Samuel McGhee, Joint Meeting of Union & Essex Counties, NJ (Region 2); David St. Pierre, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL (Region 5); Ricky Clifton, Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, TX (Region 6); Stephen Meyer, City of Springfield, MO (Region 7); Jon Adams, Timpanogos Special Services District, UT (Region 8); Harlan Kelly, City & County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, CA (Region 9); and, Pam Elardo, King County Department of Natural Resources & Parks, WA (Region 10). Appointed by the Board of Directors to At-Large seats were George Hawkins, DC Water, DC and Tom Sigmund, NEW Water, WI. The Association congratulates its new and continuing leaders.
Board Adopts Resolution Opposing Sewer Overflow Legislation
On July 14, NACWA’s Board of Directors took a number of key advocacy actions, most importantly approving a resolution expressing strong opposition to language in the Senate’s FY 2016 EPA Appropriations package that would ban all sewer overflows and the use of blending for any wastewater treatment utilities discharging to the Great Lakes (see July 10 Clean Water Current). The resolution calls on Congress to strip the language from a final appropriations package and work with NACWA on policies that would better address the water quality challenges the Great Lakes face. The resolution further notes that the proposed legislation would force communities to spend significant municipal resources with no meaningful environmental benefit, while ignoring other pressing water quality challenges and undermining over 20 years of progress in improving the Great Lakes. It highlights the significant national implications if the legislation were to be enacted. This legislative proposal received significant attention during discussions at the conference, and the resolution demonstrates NACWA’s strong opposition. Association members are urged to contact their Congressional Delegation to oppose this language. For more information about NACWA’s advocacy efforts on this issue, please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, NACWA’s Senior Legislative Director.
New TAF Projects Focus on Water Quality, Wipes
The NACWA Board, this week, approved two new projects for funding from the Association’s Targeted Action Fund (TAF). Both projects received the endorsement of key Standing Committees, as well as the Association’s Legislative & Regulatory Policy Committee. The first approved project involves an expert evaluation of EPA’s recent literature review and assessment of coliphages as possible indicators of fecal contamination for ambient water quality. Coliphages, a subset of bacteriophages, have been identified by the Agency as the most promising viral indicator for new water quality criteria for pathogens. NACWA is especially concerned that EPA has not established a sufficient link between the presence of coliphage and public health risk. This study will help demonstrate whether such a link can be shown.
A second TAF project will develop a consistent and detailed protocol for collecting and identifying wipes and other materials that are flushed into sewer systems. Additional classification of these materials will assist NACWA’s current advocacy efforts on non-flushable products, and its related product stewardship initiative, by providing a baseline quantification of the amount and types of materials flushed. This baseline will allow the success of consumer education programs and new flushability guidelines to be measured, and will also be very helpful to individual utilities seeking guidance on identifying materials in their own collection systems. Work on developing the protocol is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Members Gather for 2015 Utility Leadership Conference & 45th Anniversary Celebration
Nearly 275 clean water professionals gathered this week in Providence, Rhode Island for NACWA’s Summer Conference & 45th Anniversary Annual Meeting. The conference featured informative presentations on funding and financing issues facing clean water utilities, substantive discussions on a number of critical advocacy issue during committee meetings, and key actions taken by the membership at the Annual Association Business Meeting, and by the Board of Directors.
The conference theme of Financing, Funding & Rates for the Future allowed for in-depth exploration of how clean water utilities can pursue new approaches to funding and financing issues. The topics covered including how to optimize public agency engagement with the private sector; what opportunities there may be for public-private partnerships and other private sector investments; how to strike the right balance between sustainable rates and affordability concerns; and, why innovative financing can help pave the way for the utility of the future.
Leading an impressive array of conference speakers, The Hon. Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island, welcomed conference attendees and highlighted the importance of clean water to a healthy environment, and also stressed the importance of investments in infrastructure as a core of our economy – highlighting the need for financing mechanisms to support those investments. Andrew Sawyers, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, was on hand to discuss the role of EPA and its new Water Infrastructure & Resiliency Finance Center in helping to establish new finance opportunities for clean water utilities. A host of other expert speakers from the public and private sector provided valuable insights on funding and rate challenges facing clean water utilities.
The conference also provided a forum for release of the Executive Summary  of the Water Resources Utility of the Future 2015 Annual Report. The Report, slated to be released in full later this summer, is a joint effort of NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), and WateReuse. It details the compelling work being done by the municipal clean water community to advance the Utility of the Future concept.
The conference also included meetings of a number of NACWA’s committees to discuss critical clean water advocacy issues. Key topics included emerging water quality challenges with EPA’s move in the direction of virus-based pathogen indicators; regulatory and legal developments involving biosolids management; recent NACWA litigation victories; and, the current regulatory issues and trends impacting municipal stormwater management. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) also participated in one of NACWA’s committee meetings to discuss EPA’s Clean Water Rule. More detailed summaries of all the committee meetings will be provided in an upcoming Member Update. Handouts and other materials from the full conference program (including committee meetings) are available on NACWA’s website.
Anchoring the conference was a dinner gala celebrating the Association’s 45th Anniversary and saying farewell to Ken Kirk, NACWA’s Executive Director, who is retiring at the end of July after nearly 40 years of service to the Association, and 26 years as its Executive Director. A series of current and former NACWA Presidents, Board Members, staff, and personal friends paid tribute both the Association and Kirk, highlighting the transformation role of his leadership. Kirk will officially retire from NACWA on July 31, with Adam Krantz assuming duties as NACWA’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on August 1.
FY 2016 Budgets Approved
At its July meeting, NACWA’s Board of Directors took action to approve the Association’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 General Fund Budget and FY 2016 Targeted Action Fund (TAF) budget. These two spending plans will provide strong financial support for the Association’s operations and advocacy agenda over the coming year, ensuring that NACWA can provide its members with the highest level of service.
The approved FY 2016 General Fund includes a 4.5% dues increase for all Public Member Agencies. This increase implements the third year of a NACWA Board of Directors-endorsed financial sustainability plan, with the goal of moving away from reliance on the unsustainable practice of voluntary assessments and contributions – and toward an approach that sustains the General Fund and Targeted Action Fund through membership dues. The FY 2016 General Fund budget also includes a revised and updated dues schedules for all Affiliate Members (Corporate, Legal and Supporting), in lieu of the 4.5% dues increase.
In FY 2016, the TAF will continue to support numerous key Association initiatives and programs. TAF projects significantly bolster the effectiveness of the Association’s advocacy agenda, maximize the ability of Member Agencies to collectively conduct and complete initiatives identified as critical by the membership, and offer an incredible return on investment by saving clean water agencies millions of dollars annually in cost savings and avoided costs. Consistent with the Board-endorsed three-year financial sustainability plan, the approved FY 2016 Targeted Action Fund budget includes a $600,000 dues allocation, a $50,000 increase over FY 2015.
NACWA Comments Support DC Water Consent Decree
NACWA submitted comments this week to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) supporting a proposed modification to the consent decree for Member Agency DC Water. The Association’s comments praise the proposed modification, which was lodged with the court in late May and is currently undergoing a public review period, as a more innovative, cost-effective, and beneficial path forward for the District of Columbia, its residents, and the environment. In particular, the comments support the modification’s hybrid approach to controlling wet weather flows through use of both green and gray infrastructure (GI). NACWA’s comments endorse a five-year extension to the decree to allow for greater use of GI, as well an innovative adaptive management approach to ensure that the GI is used in the most effective manner possible to achieve the desired water quality benefits. Additionally, NACWA strongly supported the proposed modification’s commitment to employing local residents to help install and maintain the GI projects over time.
NACWA is always happy to provide comments in support of consent decrees or decree modification for Association members when such assistance would be appropriate and helpful. Members can contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
for more information.
 
Trending on Engage
Have you gotten engaged? NACWA's online network, EngageTM, continues to be the premiere resource for wastewater professionals. Recent, discussions include:
- Controlling Roach Infestation;
- Impacts of Onsite Food Waste Disposal on Wastewater Infrastructure;
- Carbon Monoxide in the Sewer Atmosphere;
- Sanitary Lateral Standards;
- Using Solar Energy to Power a WWTP; and,
- Death of a Contractor's Employee.
If you would like to learn more about Engage™ or have questions on this unique online community, please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, Director of Marketing & Digital Media at 202.533.1802.
|
