NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 11, 2014

CONTACT:

Brenna Mannion
Manager of Regulatory Affairs
202.533.1839
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Advancing Water Sector Resilience through Collaboration: NACWA and AMWA Release Summit Report

NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has released the Water Resilience Summit Summary and Next Steps  white paper. NACWA and AMWA co-hosted the Water Resilience Summit on April 9-10 as part of Water Week 2014, bringing more than 50 wastewater utility, drinking water utility, private sector, and federal officials together for a day-and-a-half facilitated dialogue on climate and resilience issues.

Although there are no simple solutions to climate change resilience, NACWA and AMWA, have identified several collaborative actions in the report to advance water sector resilience. These actions will need further cooperation with and among key federal agencies to succeed, but recent developments offer some evidence that despite the enormity of the challenge, progress is already being made. In the few months since the Summit, the federal government has taken several positive actions on resilience that could benefit municipalities and are mentioned in the white paper, including the Flood Resilience Checklist, released this week by EPA.

Resilience is one of the most significant challenges facing clean water utilities today. It is a key consideration in the sector’s rapid transformation to the Utility of the Future (UOTF)  as utilities build for the future while pioneering innovative technologies, and cutting-edge practices with a focus on resource recovery.

NACWA is committed to providing opportunities for dialogue and collaboration to ensure that the array of UOTF issues – whether related to resilience, energy production, water reuse, green infrastructure or watershed-based approaches - are priorities with Congress, the Administration and other key stakeholders going forward.

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NACWA represents the interests of more than 300 public agencies and organizations that have made the pursuit of scientifically based, technically sound and cost effective laws and regulations their objective. NACWA members serve the majority of the sewered population in the United States and collectively treat and reclaim more than 18 billion gallons of wastewater daily.