Print

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 18, 2013

CONTACT:
Pat Sinicropi
Director, Legislative Affairs
202.533.1823
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


NACWA Submits Testimony Emphasizing the Critical Role of Wastewater Utilities in the Administration’s Climate Action Plan

WASHINGTON D.C. – The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) submitted written testimony pdf button today for a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power on the Obama Administration’s climate change policies and activities. In its testimony, NACWA emphasized the fact that climate change is fundamentally about water and underscored the critical role wastewater utilities play in helping our nation adapt to climate change and extreme weather events. The testimony urged Congress to ensure that the wastewater sector be fully engaged and its expertise be called upon as the Administration implements its Climate Action Plan and related efforts to address the challenge.

“Climate change is all about water, and wastewater managers are becoming key first responders in climate-related events,” said NACWA Executive Director, Ken Kirk. “We need to bolster the resiliency of wastewater utilities to ensure they can continue to provide uninterrupted service to communities around the country. This of course does not come without a large price tag -- NACWA's 2009 report pdf button with the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) estimated that the costs for building resiliency at water and wastewater utilities could reach to almost a trillion dollars by mid-century. The federal government must be a reliable partner in helping meet the nation’s resiliency needs as it relates to managing our water and wastewater infrastructure."

NACWA is pleased the Subcommittee is focusing on this important issue and looks forward to working with Congress and the Administration to ensure that federal policy developed to address the impacts of climate change accounts for the impacts on our water and wastewater infrastructure.

###