A Clear Commitment to America’s Waters
3
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ACWA, the Water Environment Research Foundation
(
WERF) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF)
are hard at work drafting the
Water Resources Utility of
the Future (UOTF) Blueprint for Action
.
The published
Blueprint
will define relevant issues, research and analyze key data,
and offer recommendations for critical actions for the future. It
also will educate and inform – as well as provide a path forward for
research-based advocacy to remove barriers and provide incentives.
The development of the
Blueprint
is being shepherded by a Task Force
comprised of approximately 40 member representatives of each of
the three collaborating organizations. The Task Force includes
representatives from public utilities, consulting/engineering firms,
academia, and technology developers and manufacturers, and is
chaired by Tom Sigmund, NACWA Utility Management Committee
Chair, and Executive Director of the Green Bay Metropolitan
Sewerage District, Wis.
Representatives from the collaborating organizations have reached a
general consensus that the array of issues the Blueprint will explore
–
whether energy conservation or production, water reuse, green
infrastructure, or resource recovery – must focus on the benefits
these activities would provide to the utility, their communities and
ratepayers, and to the environment and public health. The need to
underscore the importance of transformational leadership and sus-
tainable utility management – as well as the new social media and
outreach trends that can help bolster community support for inno-
vation and some additional risk-taking – has also emerged as a over-
arching theme in the Task Force’s deliberations.
The
Blueprint
is anticipated to be finalized by January 2013 – and to
be available to NACWA, WEF, and WERF as an informative post-
election outreach vehicle to the Obama Administration, members of
113
th Congress, states, and other key stakeholders.
NACWA, WEF, WERF Collaborate to Define the
“
Water Resources Utility of the Future”
2
W
hile the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
(
EPA) integrated planning framework promises ad-
ditional flexibility for municipalities and clean water
agencies, ensuring that the framework is put to use
will be a key challenge. The framework, released June 12, 2012 by
the Agency, is intended to provide a foundation for new and contin-
ued discussions between clean water utilities and the government
–
whether state or federal – on how best to sequence their clean water
investments. Questions remain, however, about how the framework
can be used, the appropriate scope of integrated plans, the roles and
responsibilities of EPA, state regulators and utility managers, and
many other issues. NACWA, together with the Association of Clean
Water Administrators (ACWA) convened the first of what will be a
series of regional workshops October 24 in Washington, DC to dis-
cuss key integrated planning implementation issues and barriers, as
well as lessons learned from communities already developing inte-
grated plans.
The facilitated discussion during the workshop provided the clean
water agencies in attendance an opportunity to direct questions to
state water regulators, as well as EPA Headquarters and Region 3
staff, and helped to identify potential bottlenecks within the Agency
and state regulatory agencies that will need to be addressed to bet-
ter facilitate the development and approval of integrated plans.
Stakeholder involvement – who to involve and when – was one of the
major discussion topics. Utilities also highlighted the challenges of
integrating stormwater and wastewater issues when different mu-
nicipal authorities have responsibility for these function, or where
different state agencies are responsible for the permitting of these
two programs.
EPA and ACWA have expressed their interest in, and commitment
to, additional workshops in other regions around the country and
NACWA is working to identify potential dates and locations. The
Association will provide the complete schedule and additional de-
tails, as soon it they becomes available.
Clean Water Agencies, State and Federal Regulators
Discuss Integrated Planning
Mark Pollins (left) and Deborah Nagle of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Office of Water present how the Ingegrated Planning
Framework will provide additional flexibility for clean water municipalities.