Shyam S. Mohanka, Ph. D., P.E., BCEE
Civil & Environmental Engineer
Discussion of one of the top five critical issues facing the water industry
Water Resources - One of the most critical issue facing drinking water managers involve water resources. Water is a limited resource that must be managed cooperatively, including supply, quality, and regulatory issues. We are fortunate in that New York State is considered water rich and, possibly with the exception of Rockland County, source water supply is not a critical issue.
When drinking water, we must think of its source. Up until 1986, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) focused on treating water, but it was amended in 1986 and 1996 to protect the sources of drinking water through its Wellhead Protection and Source Water Assessment and Protection programs, respectively. These programs serve to protect drinking water from source to tap by creating barriers between drinking water sources and potential contaminants.
Implementing these amendments, however, placed additional financial and human resource demands on the states. Knowing the steps to take to protect wellheads and source water is the easy part for water utilities. What is not so easy is finding the funding to finance the project. But money is out there; it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. For example, states can solicit money from local source water protection organizations and other environmental groups, use state general revenue funds, state fee programs, capital programs, planning programs, community development block grants, state revolving funds, and partner with local businesses, urban programs, wetland programs, land acquisition programs, and education programs. When putting together a funding package, the USEPA suggests asking the question, “What else is going on in my watershed or wellhead protection areas?” A broad-based approach that includes various land uses and stakeholders within a watershed can open more funding sources than can a more narrowly-based approach. Including wetlands as a part of the plan, for instance, could open up financing opportunities through the US Department of Agriculture’s Wetland Reserve Program, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
However, most people in the water industry have come to recognize that a significant increase in federal funding isn’t likely to happen soon, and utilities need to raise rates to fund their cost of service. In August 1997, EPA issued a source water assessment and protection guidance for states to use to complete source water assessments for their public water systems. States, water systems, and the public can work together using federal funding to protect the highest priority sources identified in the assessments.
WATER FACTS, NEWS, IQ & TIPS
EPA Works with Builders on Water Sense New Homes Program (www.epa.gov/watersense) - As part of its efforts to encourage water efficiency across the country, the USEPA announced on August 1, 2008 that five builders will participate in the Water-Efficient Single-Family New Homes Pilot Program. The builders will construct homes designed to meet the Water Sense program’s draft specification for new homes. “Building green means saving green and blue,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water. “Water-efficient homes are the wave of the future; they save water, energy, and money, and that’s good news for families and communities across America.
AWWA & NYSAWWA MILESTONES (1930-39)
1930 – Typhoid death rate falls to 2.5 per 100,000 population in USA. M.M. Braidech recommends the ammonia-chlorine process as a means of taste prevention and effective sterilization.
1931 – Abel Wolman and Arthur Gorman produce landmark study on waterborne disease focusing on typhoid fever during 1920-30. AWWA’s 50th Annual Conference was held in Pittsburgh, PA. U.S. Supreme Court rules that New York can obtain 440 mgd from the Delaware Watershed.
1933 – Malcolm Pirnie was elected AWWA President from New York Section. Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago; Sewer pipe in Congress Hotel leaks into filtered water supply, causing amoebic dysentery outbreak; 1,409 ill - 98 deaths.
1934 – December 31, AWWA has 2,350 members. Journal AWWA’s circulation reaches 2,400. AWWA Annual Conference was held in New York City, New York.
1935 – USFilter’s General Filter Group launches iron and manganese removal in Ames, Iowa.
1936 – AWWA establishes a General Policy Council.
1937 – Harry Jordan becomes AWWA’s first full time administrator and new Journal AWWA editor. AWWA Annual Conference was held in Buffalo, New York.
1938 – Reeves Newsom was elected President from New York Section.
1939 – December, A. Griffin reports on research on chlorine residual curves and the “breakpoint” of chlorination. CBI builds the first all-welded Watersphere tank in Longmont Colorado.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Dale G. Albeck (Broome County Health Department)
Raveendram Narayanan and Mace Rothman (City of Long Beach)
Doug Kinsley (Village of Waverly)
George Sigelakis (Sigelock Systems LLC)
Randall R. Trombly (County Living MH Court)
EVENTS CALENDAR
November 5 – AWWA WEBCAST on Environmental Values in the Water Industry
November 16-20 – AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference, Cincinnati, OH
November 19-20 – NYSAWWA Tifft Symposium, Syracuse, NY
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TOMORROW BY EVADING IT TODAY Abraham Lincoln
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