WASDA

WASDA News Briefs

"Water is the most common substance on earth, but most of the world’s water 97% to be exact, is seawater and unfit for human use. Of the 3% that is fresh water, two-thirds are tied up in glaciers or ice and snow in the polar regions. Theoretically, the remaining 1% is still a significant amount and should be enough for all."

Two big obstacles prevent equitable delivery of water around the globe. The first is that water resources are often in the wrong locations. Ireland, Canada and Austria have more water than they can ever use; while others, such as China and the Middle East, have very little. The second and more complex problem has to do with man’s wasteful water habits and our unwillingness to treat water as an economic good, subject to the laws of supply and demand.

We at WASDA understand all too well the importance of water and the infrastructure needed to deliver this precious resource. WASDA NewsBriefs are crafted to ensure that we are kept abreast of relevant issues and policy questions.

July 2009

"Add Broken Pipes to Heat Woes"
"California Gives Desalination Plants a Fresh Look"
"Digging In to Deliver Clean Water"
"Researchers to Estimate Crop Water Needs Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles"
"Sensors for Tracking Home Water Use"

"Drinking-Water Association Calls for Infrastructure Bank"
"New Power-Plant Drain on Rivers Sparks Debate"

"Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces $123 Million for Rural Water Projects in 24 States"
"Budget Rider Sparks Argument Over Fate of Chemical Security Bill"
"Report Suggests Variety of Taxes to Pay for Water Trust Fund"
"Secretary Salazar Announces $134.3 Million in Economic Recovery Investments to Improve Water Reclamation and Reuse in the West"
"Tampa Voters Will Decide on Drinking Reclaimed Toilet Water"
"Water Rate Hike Gets Go-ahead in Scathing Report"

Add Broken Pipes to Heat Woes
Houston Chronicle (06/29/09) ; Tolson, Mike

Weeks of unusually high temperatures and little rainfall in Houston has led to a large number of water-main breaks due to dry, shifting soil. The number of recorded leaks is more than 200 right as of late June, and the city's public works department has had to prioritize which ones to be fixed first. The breaks that are determined to be major are ones where water is shooting up and potentially causing structural flooding and street flooding," said Roberto Medina, a senior staff analyst at the department. The city has had to call on contractors to take on some of the unusually high repair workload. Meanwhile, according to Medina, the PVC piping used in the newer water mains and household supply lines is more resistant to breakage from the dry soil.
( Click here for website )

California Gives Desalination Plants a Fresh Look
Wall Street Journal (07/09/09) ; Shankman, Sabrina

Southern California is reconsidering desalination facilities out of a sense of desperation brought on by persistent droughts. Governments have resisted the concept because desalination plants would consume a great deal of energy, while environmentalists have balked because of the potential of damage to marine life. "Eventually, people will have to realize, it's either fish or children," says Carlsbad Mayor Claude Lewis, whose town will break ground on a $320 million desalination facility in 2010. The plant will be the largest such plant in the Western Hemisphere, and it will convert 50 million gallons of seawater into potable water every day. The facility would use water that flows via gravity from the ocean across an artificial lagoon and into the plant through 10 large pumps, and then fresh water would be filtered out, yielding enough water for 300,000 people per day. Other Southern California desalination projects are planned or underway in Orange and San Diego counties, and since January 2008 Orange County has been using a nearly $500 million groundwater-replenishment facility to recycle 70 million gallons of water daily. Fifty percent of Southern California's water comes from the Colorado River and the Sacramento River Delta, while the remaining half must be collected from groundwater, recycled or surface water, and imports from elsewhere in California. But a drought halved Colorado River exports in 2003, while Sacramento River exports have fallen by 40 percent since 2006. "We don't encourage people to put in a desalination plant unless they need one--unless they don't have any other options," notes International Desalination Association President Lisa Henthorne.
( Click here for website - May Require Paid Subscription)

Digging In to Deliver Clean Water
ENR (06/10/09) ; Buehrer, Jack

New York City is building its first-ever water filtration plant under a strict U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deadline, with the plant set to be operational in 2012. Contractors broke ground early in 2007, and the idea has been slowly getting underway since 1989, when filtration was first mandated for all surface drinking water. After decades of controversy and planning, the 100-foot-below-grade plant is being built with a construction schedule of only 51 months.
( Click here for website - May Require Paid Subscription)

Researchers to Estimate Crop Water Needs Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
RedOrbit (07/07/09)

Researchers at Spain's Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and the University of Cordoba are working with the University of California on a project to estimate crop water needs using a system of unmanned aircraft outfitted with thermal and multispectral cameras. The vehicles will be flown over experimental plots with various crops in California, and the technique has been used in more than 600 flights made between 2007 and 2009 in wheat, corn, peach, olive, orange and vineyard fields in Spain. The system uses unmanned planes that can fly between 50 minutes and two hours and survey up to 1,000 hectares at an altitude of 300 meters. "The planes are equipped with a GPS system that continuously informs of its location to a base station from which the platform is operated and its mapping is observed," says Spanish Council for Scientific Research researcher Pablo J. Zarco-Tejada. Fellow researcher J.A. Berni adds that real-time flight plan updates can be facilitated. The aircraft's thermal camera reads the temperature of the surface vegetation and detects water stress vegetation following a series of calculations based on crop transpiration models. "There are unmanned aerial vehicles in some countries, mainly in the military sector," notes Zarco-Tejada. "In civil applications we can say that our unmanned platform, together with the multispectral and thermal cameras for remote detection, is the advanced one in the market now, fully equipped and fully operative."
( Click here for website )

Sensors for Tracking Home Water Use
Technology Review (06/30/09) ; Greene, Kate

University of Washington professor Shwetak Patel has developed sensors that can be used to track the use of household utilities such as energy and water. The sensors plug directly into existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for an elaborate set of networked sensors throughout a structure. For example, an electrical sensor can be plugged into a single outlet and monitor the electrical noise created by different devices throughout the house. A gas sensor attaches to a gas line and monitors pressure changes that can be connected to using a stove, furnace, or water heater. Patel also has developed Hydrosense, a pressure sensor that fits around a water pipe. It can detect leaks and trace them back to their source and can recognize pressure changes that occur when a specific fixture or appliance is in use. Patel wants to incorporate these sensors into a unified technology that utility companies can start deploying within about a year. He says the goal is to enable the deployment of smart homes. "I looked at the existing infrastructures, and saw that they could be retrofitted," he says. In addition to monitoring utility usage, Patel says the sensors can track human activity within the home, which could be used for elder care and to reduce energy waste. Patel also has developed a sensor for heating and cooling systems that monitors pressure changes that occur when people open and close doors when entering or exiting a room.
( Click here for website )

Drinking-Water Association Calls for Infrastructure Bank
Engineering News-Record (06/29/09) Vol. 262, No. 20, P. 11 ; Hunter, Pam

American Water Works Association (AWWA) officials announced at the organization's annual conference that they would collaborate with D.C. lawmakers to promote legislation that would establish a bank to support water infrastructure projects. AWWA President Michael Leonard said that the credit pinch has made it difficult "for communities to access capital for critical infrastructure projects" in spite of funds provided by the federal stimulus package, and noted that an infrastructure bank would be "a smart, common-sense solution [that strikes] just the right balance between federal assistance and local responsibility." The bank would supply direct financing via loans or loan guarantees for larger initiatives at interest rates at or under the U.S. Treasury bond rate, and also could buy or guarantee state revolving fund bonds that would reduce their interest rates and increase loans and subsidies to communities. U.S. House Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill this year that could set up an infrastructure bank for water as well as roads, bridges, and electrical grid projects, which has obtained the support of industry groups that include the American Society of Civil Engineers. In the Senate, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a proposal for a national infrastructure bank, while funds for such a bank also have been requested by President Obama in his fiscal 2010 budget. AWWA's Tommy Holmes says his group is working with Dodd and his staff to promote a bill that would include more water infrastructure provisions.
( Click here for website - Link to Publication Homepage)

New Power-Plant Drain on Rivers Sparks Debate
San Antonio Express-News (TX) (06/21/09) P. 1A

New power plants planned along the lower Colorado River in Texas could use the same water supply that was denied the San Antonio Water System to pipe water for the city. Forecasted power shortages are forcing utilities to quickly build new plants. However, observers and environmental groups are questioning whether there is enough water available to serve the plants. CPS Energy already has secured rights to pull billions of gallons of water a year from the river to cool two new nuclear reactors it wants to build in Bay City. University of Texas researcher Carey King says such competition for resources only will intensify as water becomes scarcer in Texas. King is among the group calling for more scrutiny of the water demands of proposed power plants. Reservoirs and power plants account for nearly half the water withdrawn in Texas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The plants return most of the water to the rivers and reservoirs after they use it for cooling, but they still require a guaranteed flow of literally billions of gallons a year to maintain smooth operations. Texas doesn't require power companies to prove there will be enough water to meet their needs, or analyze the impact on others who might depend on the water. Officials with NRG Energy, which is partnering with CPS Energy to build the reactors, says the companies have been careful to avoid any potential problems that might occur from lack of water. In 2006, they went to great pains with the LCRA to restate water rights they originally had negotiated in the 1970s.
( Click here for website )

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces $123 Million for Rural Water Projects in 24 States
U.S. Department of Agriculture (06/17/09)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the selection of more than $123 million in water and environmental projects to be funded immediately through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The projects will help provide potable water and improved wastewater treatment systems for rural towns and communities in 24 states. "The water and wastewater projects announced today support the Obama administration's goal of rebuilding and revitalizing our country's rural infrastructure and putting people to work by doing the work that Americans want done," says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "These Recovery Act investments will provide reliable drinking water and sanitary waste disposal while creating and saving jobs in rural America."
( Click here for website )

Budget Rider Sparks Argument Over Fate of Chemical Security Bill
Water Policy Report (06/22/09) Vol. 18, No. 13,

While the Obama administration has joined with Republicans to urge lawmakers to approve a one-year extension of interim chemical-security rules while Congress seeks a compromise on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) standards bill expiring in October, activists and House Democrats are continuing a push to adopt the HR 2868 bill to replace the interim standards. According to one environmental activist, backers of HR 2868 will continue to push for the bill to move forward and supersede the FY2010 budget rider that would extend the existing interim rules. However, with a tight deadline for passing the legislation, things could be derailed by ongoing disputes over provisions such as whether to include citizen suit authority and whether to mandate use of inherently safer technology (IST). Things have been complicated even more by Texas Democrat Eddie Bernie Johnson's House bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to put wastewater facilities under an Environmental Protection Agency security program instead of the DHS program. "Working out these issues will take additional time," said one water industry official, who indicated support for both the Johnson plan and the one-year extension budget rider. "There's this argument over precise jurisdiction, and the question remains as to what the Senate will do." Meanwhile, sources in the Senate said previously that the Senate does not plan to act on security legislation until it sees what bill passes the House.
( Click here for website - Link to Publication Homepage)

Report Suggests Variety of Taxes to Pay for Water Trust Fund
Water Policy Report (07/06/09) Vol. 18, No. 14,

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) calls for a variety of taxes to help pay for the planned clean water trust fund, which would help fund wastewater infrastructure. The report is looking at various industries to raise tax revenue, including beverages, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and fertilizers, flushable products such as soaps and cooking oils, and water appliances and plumbing fixtures. The report was requested by House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee leaders and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), the congressman expected to introduce the clean water trust fund bill this month. The recent infrastructure-funding boost in the stimulus package and other key legislation, however, may have dimmed the prospects for the trust fund to be created, particularly during this congressional session. "While my organization would love to see the enactment of a trust fund, when I put on my realism hat, I really have to wonder, with a trillion dollar deficit and climbing, whether we're going to get there," said Ken Kirk, director of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. With individual taxes on the different sectors, says the report, beverages would need to be taxed at 10.5 percent, fertilizers at 38.3 percent, flushable products at 15.8 percent, pharmaceuticals at 6.4 percent, and water appliances at 39.2 percent in order to raise the planned $10 billion.
( Click here for website - Link to Publication Homepage)

Secretary Salazar Announces $134.3 Million in Economic Recovery Investments to Improve Water Reclamation and Reuse in the West
U.S. Department of the Interior (07/01/09)

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation has identified 27 water reclamation and reuse projects that will share in a total of $134.3 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The projects–known as “Title XVI” projects for the title of Public Law 102-575 that established the program–facilitate the reclamation and reuse of wastewater and naturally impaired ground and surface waters. The funding is part of President Barack Obama's $1 billion investment of ARRA funding provided by the Department of the Interior for water projects across the West.
( Click here for website )

Tampa Voters Will Decide on Drinking Reclaimed Toilet Water
Tampa Tribune (06/24/09) ; Wade, Christian M.

The Tampa, Fla., City Council has chosen to allow voters to decide on whether to build a treatment plant that would purify wastewater to drinkable quality, after which it would be injected to the ground for natural filtration than enter the city's main drinking-water source, the Hillsborough River. This idea would cost tens of millions of dollars and require permits at the state and federal level, but supporters say that utilities in other states return treated wastewater to their supplies of drinking water that are well above the water-quality standards at the state and federal level. Drought over the past few years have caused the Hillsborough's water level to fluctuate, reaching record low levels at times, forcing the city to impose strict rules on irrigation and buy bulk water for many millions of dollars. The city has also been spending years working hard to expand its distribution system to offset potable water from reclaimed lawn water.
( Click here for website )

Water Rate Hike Gets Go-ahead in Scathing Report
Indianapolis Star (06/01/09) ; McFeely, Dan

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has reluctantly passed a water rate increase of 12.27 percent for about a million customers, along with numerous conditions set forth in a report filled with scathing criticism of Indianapolis Water's management team. Regulators said that officials at the water utility had not justified the higher 17.6 percent increase they had respected, and that the management team and management practices need to be thoroughly reviewed. "We are going to be working with the utility from here on out, monitoring financial records, working with them to make sure conditions are met as outlined in the order," said regulatory commission spokeswoman Danielle Dravet. The increase for the average home using 7,000 gallons of water a month will amount to about $3 a month, and the average residential bill will be around $28 a month. Officials at the utility were planning to request another rate increase later this year for extending water service, increasing the water supply, and performing major upgrades at treatment plants.
( Click here for website )

Notice about Links:
Some publication websites may require user registration before access is granted to articles related to hyperlinks on this page. If an article is unavailable online, a link is provided to that publication's homepage.