Municipal Water Leader October 2015

October 2015 Volume 1 Issue 3

Bringing Water to Life in the Nation’s Capital: An Interview With DC Water’s George Hawkins

Impressive People and Impressive Engineering

By Kris Polly DC Water’s General Manager George Hawkins has an impressive education and résumé, but it is his force of personality that is so readily apparent in conversation. Mr. Hawkins is a leader, and DC Water’s ongoing projects are a testament of his leadership. The District’s aging water infrastructure and wastewater treatment challenges are daunting; however, DC Water is replacing its aging pipe at twice the national average, and its Clean Rivers Project is an impressive feat of engineering. Massive 23-foot-diameter tunnels more than 100 feet below the surface will capture sewer overflows during storm events. Overflows that once went directly into the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers will be retained and treated before release. At a price of $2.6 billion, the project is not cheap.

Mr. Rudy Chow, director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works discusses his city’s Integrated Planning Framework for prioritizing its capital improvement program for water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure projects. Baltimore has many challenges, but Mr. Chow demonstrates that it is moving in the right direction.

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Chief Engineer Gary Gumm discusses his agency's efforts to address its 1,800 to 2,000 water main breaks a year. Serving nearly 2 million people, the WSSC has a $1.6 million capital improvement program over the next six years.

Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate

Environment and Public Works Committee with oversight jurisdiction that includes the Environmental Protection Agency, provides a guest column regarding concerns over the new definition of waters of the United States. Specifically, the Chairman discusses the importance of clarifying the regulatory status of former streams that were piped long ago by municipalities.

Mr. Mike Warren of Watertronics explains his company’s SkyHarvester technology, which captures, stores, and applies rainwater for nonpotable uses.

Mr. Randy Delenikos discusses the LAKOS Sand Separator, which provides utilities with a much-needed solution. Finally, Gregg Semler shares Lucid Energy’s LucidPipe system, which produces electricity by using a unique spherical turbine within a conventional water pipe.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Municipal Water Leader magazine and learning about the impressive people and the impressive engineering featured in our interviews and articles.

Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader and Irrigation Leader magazines. He is also president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations, marketing, and publishing company he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com.

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Municipal Water Leader is sent to approximately 12,000 organizations, including every municipal water provider and treatment facility with an annual budget or sales of $10 million or greater, all 535 members of congress, the 50 governors, all 7,382 state legislators, key federal and state agencies, 259 water-related trade associations, and a variety of top construction and engineering firms throughout the country.

For more information, please contact Kris Polly at

(703) 517-3962 or Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com 2

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C O N T E N T S

OCTOBER 2015

2 Impressive People and Impressive Engineering Volume 1 Issue 3 Municipal Water Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by Water Strategies LLC 4 E Street SE Washington, DC 20003 STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Editor Valentina Valenta, Writer Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting LLC, Copyeditor SUBMISSIONS: Municipal Water Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved.

Submissions are returned only on request.

ADVERTISING: Municipal Water Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Municipal.Water.Leader@WaterStrategies.com.

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For address corrections or additions, please contact our office at Municipal.Water.Leader@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright 2015 Water Strategies LLC. Municipal Water Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources and water industry professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Municipal Water Leader, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Municipal Water Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Municipal Water Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

COVER PHOTO: George Hawkins, CEO/General Manager of DC Water.

(Photo source David Kidd) Municipal Water Leader

By Kris Polly

4 Bringing Water to Life in the Nation’s

Capital: An Interview with DC Water’s George Hawkins

12 Digging Massive Tunnels:

DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project

Manager Profile

16 Rudy Chow, Director, Baltimore City

Department of Public Works, Transforming the City’s Waterways

DISTRICT FOCUS

22 Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Legislative Profile

24 Your Sewers and Streets Could Be

Waters of the United States

By Senator James M. Inhofe

POLICY FOCUS

26 Clarifying the Status of Water

Efficiency Rebates Under the Federal Tax Code

By Jeffrey Kightlinger

The Innovators

28 The SkyHarvester: Creating a New

Water Supply

32 LAKOS Water Filtration Systems

By Randy Delenikos

36 Lucid Energy: Monetizing Pipe

Infrastructure and the Water-Energy Nexus 3

Bringing Water to Life in the Nation’s Capital:

An Interview With DC Water’s George Hawkins

George Hawkins is the chief executive officer and general manager of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), where he oversees an operating and capital budget of $1 billion. Mr. Hawkins was appointed to the position in a unanimous vote on September 3, 2009, by the DC Water board of directors.

Mr. Hawkins has launched an ambitious agenda at DC Water to improve aging infrastructure and comply with growing regulatory requirements. He is currently leading the efforts of the Clean Rivers Project, a $2.6 billion program that seeks to eliminate sewage and storm water overflows to the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. DC Water also recently invested $950 million to achieve the next level of nutrient reductions to help restore the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, DC Water just commissioned a $470 million digester program to help manage solids that are being removed from reclaimed water.

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Prior to joining DC Water, Mr. Hawkins served as director of the DC Department of the Environment, now the Department of Energy and Environment.

Mr. Hawkins led the district’s efforts to reduce childhood exposure to lead hazards, negotiated the district’s federal permit program to reduce pollutants from storm water runoff, and managed a low-income energy assistance program. He also held senior positions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served under Vice President Gore on the National Performance Review, playing an integral role in streamlining and strengthening environmental protection programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Mr. Hawkins began his career practicing law for the Boston firm Ropes & Gray and is a member of the Bar in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1983 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1987.

Since 1999, Mr. Hawkins has taught Environmental Law and Policy for the Princeton Environment Institute at Princeton University. He lives in the District of Columbia.

Municipal Water Leader’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Mr. Hawkins about managing one of the largest and most innovative water utilities in the world, the progress of DC Water’s capital improvement program, and Mr. Hawkins’s efforts to transform the city’s drinking water and wastewater programs to meet the challenges of this century and beyond.

Kris Polly: Please tell our readers about the size of your service area and the number of people for which you provide water and wastewater treatment.

George Hawkins: DC Water is both a retail and wholesale supplier of services, providing drinking water delivery and wastewater collection and treatment for a population of more than 660,000 in Washington, DC, as well as more than 17 million people who work in or visit the city annually. On the wastewater, or “enriched water,” side, DC Water’s service area covers 725 square miles. The authority also treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Virginia, but it does not Municipal Water Leader

Shaft on Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant where Lady Bird made her entrance in 2013. Now this shaft is being converted to a 10-story pumping station to lift the combined sewage out of the tunnel at Blue Plains for treatment.

provide drinking water services for them. DC Water also operates the world’s largest advanced wastewater treatment plant (AWWTP) at the Blue Plains facility in southwest Washington, DC, with a capacity of 370 million gallons per day and a peak daily capacity of more than 1 billion gallons.

Interestingly, Presidents [Franklin] Roosevelt and Eisenhower strongly believed that the wastewater treatment plant for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area should be located south of the city. In the 1930s, the decision was made to build a giant regional plant south of the water intake. We have the only wastewater treatment facility in the United States that has a service area that crosses three state boundaries. That is one of the reasons that Blue Plains AWWTP is one of the largest treatment plants in the world.

As I was reminded during a recent visit to Chicago, many cities have larger secondary treatment plants because they have a greater population than Washington, DC; however, our city has the largest tertiary and advanced treatment system in the country because the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the District of Columbia decided to create and support the development of a regional facility. While larger plants employ primary and secondary treatment only, Blue Plains provides advanced treatment—nitrification and denitrification, multimedia Municipal Water Leader

filtration, and chlorination and dechlorination. One of the advantages of having a regional service area is that the cost associated with treating 1,000 gallons is about half the average for a typical enriched wastewater plant because we get such economies of scale with a plant this size.

Kris Polly: DC Water’s water supply is collected and treated by the Corps. Congress commissioned the Washington Aqueduct in 1852, and since the end of the Civil War, the Corps has been the wholesale water source for the district. This type of federal involvement is unique.

How does this work?

George Hawkins: Our drinking water is drawn from the Potomac River through the Washington Aqueduct.

The Washington Aqueduct is officially administered by the Corps’ Baltimore District. In the early history of Washington, DC, there were separate sewer, water, and sanitation departments. Over the years, the agency underwent several name and organizational changes while remaining committed to its core mission.

From 1935 to 1938, the agency operated as the District of Columbia Department of Sanitary Engineering. It was during this time that the first sewage treatment plant at Blue Plains was constructed. In the early 1970s, the agency was known as the District of Columbia 5

Department of Environmental Services. Later, in 1985, the district established a new Department of Public Works, of which the Water and Sewer Administration was a part until 1996. In 1996, the district initiated the creation of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA), an independent authority that provided services to the region. In 2010, DC WASA was rebranded and is now known as DC Water.

It is important to recognize that the aqueduct’s facilities are all located in Washington, DC. The only reason the aqueduct was ever a federal facility is because, for most of the period between the Civil War and today, Washington, DC, was a federal city with no existing district agency to run it. The other critical point about the aqueduct is that it receives no direct federal appropriations.

The only funding the aqueduct receives is revenue that it gains from its customer base.

DC Water buys 75 percent of the aqueduct’s water flow. The remaining 25 percent is purchased by two suburban customers, Arlington and Fairfax. However, in both cases, that water flow comprises only a part of their total water source. Since 75 percent of the aqueduct’s water is provided to DC Water, 75 percent of the operating and capital costs associated with running the aqueduct are borne by DC Water’s ratepayers—both residents and businesses. As I mentioned, DC Water only provides drinking water services for Washington, DC. Moreover, while the Washington Aqueduct is not a DC Water facility, we have a very good long-term partnership with the Corps, and we work hard to make good collaborative decisions.

Kris Polly: What is DC Water doing to cope with the city’s aging infrastructure?

George Hawkins: We do have very old infrastructure in Washington, DC. The median age of the water system is over 79 years, but that number will start getting much younger as we continue to perform more replacements.

I always remind audiences that when we discuss the median age of our infrastructure, it means that half the infrastructure is older and half is newer. Currently, half of our water mains are older than 79 years. We do have some water mains in the city that are still in operation that were installed prior to the Civil War, but that is unusual.

Our sewer systems are generally older than the water delivery systems and include some of the oldest surviving sewers in the country. The Corps first built them in the 1850s in response to the discovery that cholera was caused by wastewater getting mixed with drinking water, as had happened in London, England, during that time period.

The sewers began to multiply thereafter. Like many cities, Washington, DC, put in a combined sewer system to collect both rainwater and sewage.

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George Hawkins, CEO and General Manager, speaking at DC Water’s commiss facilities at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant on October

The good news is that we have a significant capital improvement program to replace our aging infrastructure, and it is achieving increasing success every year. When I arrived at DC Water in 2009, we were replacing one-third of 1 percent of the capital stock on both our water and wastewater systems each year. That rate of replacement equates to a 300‑year repair cycle. Today, we have tripled that rate of replacement, and DC Water is now replacing 1 percent of its capital stock on a 100‑year repair cycle.

That figure may still seem low, but we are replacing three times what we were replacing just six years ago, and our current rate is double the rate of the national average for replacement of water and wastewater capital assets.

We are determined to maintain our current rate of replacement and seek to increase it in the future.

On October 1, 2015, we implemented a fixed water infrastructure replacement fee that will apply to all our retail ratepayers in the city. The fee will exclusively fund $40 million annually of the capital replacement costs of drinking water infrastructure, which includes the mains, valves, pump stations, and all the other elements that deliver clean, fresh water to everyone in Washington, DC. We are also very smart about which elements and components of the infrastructure we replace. We use data analytics to determine which of the pipes are the most cost effective to replace. We use sonar, infrared, and new technology that can record vibrations to prioritize the replacement of the largest and most critical conveyance systems in the area.

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ends up at 22 feet in diameter. Some of our combined sewer systems are huge; you can drive a truck through them at their largest base. Even though the sewage runs through a channel that is in the floor, the rest of the space in the sewer is reserved for all the rain flow that pours into it during a storm. Though the channels are quite large, our sewers tend to overflow when there are big storms. This is known as the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) problem.

Kris Polly: There is no shortage of water challenges.

In addition to aging infrastructure, what are the other top challenges for DC Water?

sioning ceremony for the new thermal hydrolysis/anaerobic digestion r 7, 2015.

Kris Polly: What kind of material was used to build the original water and wastewater infrastructure in Washington, DC? George Hawkins: The older pipes were made of cast iron, which had challenges with corrosion on the internal surface, but we are replacing them all with ductile iron pipes, which have tremendous longevity. Brick was used to build the sewers. They were beautifully built and have curved arched ceilings with a dip in the center where most of the sewage flows. The remainder of the brick structure absorbs rainwater during a storm, and the sewage is channeled in the center of the floor.

Kris Polly: Do you coat the internal surface of the new ductile iron pipes?

George Hawkins: I don’t believe the pipes are coated other than by the treatment process itself. We put very small concentrations of chemicals into the treated drinking water to help create a film between the edge of the ductile iron and the water. We don’t line the pipes unless there is a specific reason.

Kris Polly: How big are the sewer channels?

George Hawkins: The sewer channels range in size, but one of the largest, the Northeast Boundary Tunnel, crosses the entire city and starts at 6 feet in diameter and Municipal Water Leader

George Hawkins: The first of three clear challenges for DC Water, and I would suspect for many other water authorities, is obtaining full compliance with stringent regulatory requirements that have been mandated under the Clean Water Act and other statutes. DC Water is totally committed to clean water and environmental protection, and we consider that our core value, yet it is important for people to understand that meeting all these regulations is extremely expensive to satisfy at the margin.

We have already undertaken all the simple and low-cost techniques to remove pollutants from the water and the environment, so each time we receive a new mandate, the next steps that can be taken, including the ones we have already adopted, are very expensive.

For example, we are currently performing a massive overhaul of the city’s combined sewer system to comply with a federal consent decree that was issued to DC Water to control CSOs. The Clean Rivers Project is the largest water infrastructure project DC Water will ever build. In fact, it is the largest public works project being undertaken in Washington, DC. It will cost $2.6 billion.

I believe that the second challenge is establishing and maintaining a two-way relationship with our customers.

I think we do that very well now, but we can always get better. In large measure, for most of our organization’s history, we were out of sight and out of mind. Our customers did not know who we were, and they were not aware of the scale and complexity of our efforts to provide them with a reliable source of clean drinking water.

If a customer doesn’t know what you do, what your service costs, or the true value of the product delivery because they simply expect it, it is both an indication that you did your job well and that you will also face an uphill battle when you request new revenue to perform new work.

I have found that if customers are not aware of what we do, they are unlikely to support changes. I always find that people will only support those expenditures that they value.

Our big challenge is making sure that our customers realize who we are and what we do. Unlike roads, bridges, and electric lines, our infrastructure is largely underground and out of sight. It is our mission to help them “see” the value 7

James Wonneburg, Resident Engineer; George Hawkins, CEO and General Manager; Carlton Ray, Director, Clean Rivers Project, all aboard Lady Bird, the Tunnel Boring Machine mining the Blue Plains Tunnel.

of replacing our water and wastewater treatment systems.

The third challenge, which is also a great opportunity, will be incorporating all the new technologies that are being developed for us to do our work more efficiently and effectively. This is a challenge because, although we can identify which technologies will be helpful, whether it be new sensors, computer analytics, or communication methods, it will be a struggle to finance those projects.

We must first fund all regulatory mandates and capital upgrades to aging infrastructure. Those project expenditures leave little funding for some of the more innovative projects that often produce a great payoff in the long term. Although that is the great challenge of the industry, we are determined to move forward on all fronts.

Kris Polly: Please provide our readers with a description of the city’s combined sewer system and DC Water’s innovative project to address the system’s problems?

George Hawkins: The older part of the Washington, DC, sewer system was designed and built in the mid- to late 1800s. This was in the downtown area and covers about one‑third of the district. The system was considered state of the art at the time and continues to have some benefits today.

As I mentioned, Washington, DC, installed a combined sewer system, which means that the sewers under the street collect both storm water and sewage. The sewers are perfectly sized to handle the sewage itself at all times, but in a major storm, all the rain water pours into a storm drain right off the street and empties into a sewer, often filling the pipe beyond its capacity. Once the pipe is filled 8

with rain water, it is necessary to use an overflow valve to release the pressure, otherwise the pressurized pipe would behave just like a pressurized water main—pushing sewage and rain water back up the sewer lines into people’s homes the same way a pressurized water main pushes water into people’s homes. The combined sewer systems allow the pressure to be released so that overflow is discharged into all three rivers of the city. That outcome is better than the alternative, but it has always been problematic, because it means a mixture of sewage and rainwater is going directly into our river bodies.

Our answer to the CSO problem is to construct gigantic underground tunnels—the Clean Rivers Project—to capture the overflows. This is the biggest project in Washington, DC, since Metro [the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority train system] was built. These tunnels are bigger and deeper than Metro’s tunnels. The first phase is well underway, and we already completed the first segment of the tunnels that extend from our Blue Plains facility to Nationals Park. The second phase will begin at RFK Stadium and extend south to Nationals Park, and the third phase will stretch from RFK Stadium into the center of the city. The tunnels are more than 100 feet underground and measure 23 feet in drill diameter. During a rainstorm, typical overflows will no longer be released into the rivers, but instead will drop down a 10-story shaft into these huge tunnels, where they will be captured and conveyed all the way down to the Blue Plains AWWTP. From there, a huge pump station will pump the overflows to the surface to be treated before being returned to the Potomac.

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The Clean Rivers Project will improve water quality more than any other single project that has been undertaken, other than the development of the Blue Plains AWWTP itself. We are also going to be developing new green infrastructure to capture storm water on the surface before it falls into the combined sewers, but the major part of the remedy for CSOs is the development of these huge tunnels.

Kris Polly: You were a leader in the environmental restoration of the Anacostia Watershed during your time at DC Department of the Environment. What is your assessment of the current status of the Anacostia and the prospects for the future?

George Hawkins: I think the current status of the Anacostia is incredibly bright. Two of our big pump stations are located right along the Anacostia, and a lot of our facilities, including our sewer operations, are located next to the river. It is somewhat difficult to describe the scale of change that we have seen along the southeast and southwest portions of the Anacostia over the last decade.

In addition to the development of buildings, offices, and homes, there has also been a flowering of green infrastructure, storm water protection, and a measurable cleaning of the river that have occurred in parallel. The biggest single improvement to the Anacostia will occur when DC Water’s tunnel system, which is designed to begin operating in 2018 in that section of the city, reduces 98 percent of the overflows that are currently released into the river during a rainstorm. Instead, the CSOs will be captured and taken directly to the Blue Plains AWWTP. That is an extraordinary improvement.

Additionally, the Department of Energy and Environment is also working on the other challenge caused by runoff that is not captured in our sewer system. The district, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County all have aggressive programs to reduce nonpoint source pollution that flows into DC. Every jurisdiction is working hard to make improvements; although we won’t likely see anyone fishing or swimming in the river until the late 2020s or 2030s, I think people in Washington, DC, and the neighboring communities will see visible improvements in the next several years, and those changes will continue to usher in a renaissance on this side of the city.

Kris Polly: What is the most significant accomplishment in your tenure as general manager of DC Water?

George Hawkins: I think the most significant achievement of DC Water is more about DC Water itself.

The organization is a remarkable enterprise. Most of the people here today were already here when I came on board. The team is as energized, vibrant, and enthusiastic as any I have ever seen. We also continue to bring incredibly talented people in the door to help us in the effort to clean the waters of our nation’s capital. I know that pride goes before the fall, but the pride and spirit that I see in this enterprise and everyone in it is extraordinary.

We have employees at every level of the organization that are stepping up not only to do their job well, which they have been doing for a long time, but to bring new and innovative ideas to the table. I consider the great sense of the enterprise itself to be my favorite accomplishment.

I also like all of the projects that we do, many of which are technically amazing. None of them would happen without the support of the people we serve. DC Water’s customers truly understand our value and purpose, and we try to communicate our work to them as often as possible.

Our ability to gain the public’s support and trust is what allows us to gain the support and revenue we need to turn the most innovative ideas into the infrastructure, such as the Clean Rivers Project, that you see being built today.

Kris Polly: What should every person in your service area know about DC Water?

George Hawkins: I think what they should know is that we consider service to our customers, and their environmental health and protection, to be our highest calling. We also emphasize efficiency and effectiveness in everything we do to deliver water to every living organism.

We are interested in hearing new ideas, whether they originate from our own staff or anyone else, about how we can improve. We are constantly learning and evolving.

We are very excited about what we do, and we are always happy to talk about the work we do, too. We hold public service in high order and strive each and every day to do it well. The most exciting part of the story is that we will never stop working to get even better.

Clean Rivers Project – Blue Plains Tunnel.

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Digging Massive Tunnels:

DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project In some schools, children learn about water by singing a song, “I turn on the tap and the water flows; don’t know where it comes from, don’t know where it goes.” Water can travel a long way before it flows out of the tap, and wastewater may do the same thing before it is disposed. DC Water is in the process of revamping the journey of the city’s wastewater, and an exciting part of that story is that the project will also create jobs for Washington, DC, residents.

The District’s Combined Sewer System

Like many cities throughout the United States, in the 19th century, Washington, DC, constructed a combined sewer system to transport and release both sewage and storm water. During dry weather conditions, sewage is collected in the pipes of the combined sewer system and treated to remove pollutants at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP) before it is released into the Potomac River. During particularly wet weather conditions, the capacity of the pipes in a combined sewer system is often exceeded. When the sewers begin to overfill with a mixture of storm water and sewage, special regulators in the system release the untreated overflow directly into the city’s three major rivers and tributary waters to prevent raw sewage and contaminated storm water from flowing back into the pipes and entering homes and businesses.

This mixture of untreated water is referred to as combined sewer overflow (CSO). CSOs, along with other pollution sources, adversely affect receiving water quality and habitat for wildlife. There are more than 700 combined sewer systems across the country today. They are no longer built because of the many problems associated with CSOs.

DC Water’s Answer to Combined Sewer Overflows: The Clean Rivers Project

In 1994, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a policy that required all municipalities to control CSO-related pollution, and in 2000, Congress amended the Clean Water Act (CWA) to require municipalities to follow EPA’s CSO guidance via the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program.

Anytime a municipality discharges a substance into a water body, it must have an authorizing permit.

In accordance with this requirement, in 1998

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DC Water began developing a plan to control CSOs called the Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). In 1999, while preparation of the LTCP was underway, several environmental groups filed a lawsuit alleging that CSOs contributed to exceedances of water quality standards. EPA joined the suit. DC Water completed its final LTCP in 2002, and in 2005, after extensive negotiation, DC Water, the district, EPA, and the U.S. Department of Justice signed a consent decree that provided for implementing controls for CSOs in the district. The consent decree includes the projects that must be implemented to bring CSOs into compliance with water quality standards and specifies the schedule for implementation. DC Water has adopted the name DC Clean Rivers Project for the LTCP to better indicate to ratepayers the purpose of the project.

The Clean Rivers Project is the largest infrastructure project in DC Water’s capital improvement program. It will cost $2.6 billion and is expected to be complete by 2030.

The majority of the Clean Rivers Project is composed of a sophisticated system of diversion sewers, drop shafts, and giant underground storage tunnels designed to collect and contain CSOs until the Blue Plains AWWTP is ready to treat and return the water to the rivers. Currently, there are 30 to 75 overflows annually in each of Washington, DC’s, waterways—the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. DC Water estimates that the project will reduce CSO overflow volume in an average year of rainfall by 96 percent throughout the entire system and by 98 percent for the Anacostia River alone.

DC Water is also using green infrastructure initiatives to complement the project’s grey infrastructure component to meet its obligations under the consent decree because it has determined that the combination of the two produces a more beneficial result than using one method alone. Green infrastructure projects will be added along Rock Creek and the Potomac River to control storm water runoff.

Once CSOs are captured in the tunnel system, they must be treated at the Blue Plains AWWTP prior to discharge to the Potomac River. To accommodate the captured CSO from the tunnels, the wet weather treatment system at Blue Plains is being modified to include an enhanced clarification system. The system uses a physical-chemical process to improve the settling and disinfection. In addition to these Municipal Water Leader

improvements, Blue Plains has also undergone a number of upgrades and additions, including a new thermal hydrolysis system that will turn waste into energy and additional reactors to reduce nutrient discharges.

How the Clean Rivers Project Works

The first tunnel system being built will serve the Anacostia River and run along the Potomac and under the Anacostia. The Anacostia Tunnel’s segments (located south of RFK Stadium), diversion facilities, and pump station will begin operating in 2018.

All the major storage tunnels, including Anacostia, Blue Plains, First Street, and Northeast, and the other key infrastructure needed for the entire project to function as designed, are shown in figure 1. Water is diverted from existing storm water sewers into new diversion sewers and released into drop shafts to be stored in the new tunnels as depicted in figure 2. The system is an engineering marvel, and its construction is just as fascinating.

of her environmental advocacy during her husband’s presidency. The Lady Bird TBM is 442.9 feet long, weighs 1,323 tons, and cost $30 million to build. The cutter head diameter is 26 feet. The machine is so large, it had to be lowered into the ground in pieces and assembled in a precut tunnel.

At full capacity, the Lady Bird TBM bored up to

The Construction of the Tunnels

Giant tunnel boring machines (TBMs), as depicted in figure 3, are digging the tunnel system more than 100 feet below ground while simultaneously lining the tunnel with concrete.

The first machine used in the project is called the Lady Bird TBM, named after the former first lady, Claudia Alta Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson, in honor

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Image c/o Herrenknecht

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TUNNEL BORING MACHINE = 1.5 FOOTBALL FIELDS LONG

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Figure 3

100 feet per day. It moved approximately 13 million cubic feet of soil for this project. The Lady Bird TBM, which began its 24,000‑foot journey at the Blue Plains AWWTP in 2013, has already finished digging the first 4.5‑mile segment of the Blue Plains Tunnel, connecting it to the Main Pumping Station across from Nationals Park near the Anacostia River.

A second TBM, named Nannie after Nannie Helen Burroughs, with dimensions similar to those of the Lady Bird TBM, will dig the Anacostia River Tunnel. Ms Burroughs was a Washington, DC, African-American educator and civil rights activist The tunnel will span approximately 2 miles from RFK Stadium to Poplar Point. And finally, a third TBM, named Lucy after Lucy Diggs Slowe, Howard University’s first women’s dean, will dig a 2,700‑foot tunnel near First Street in DC’s northwest quadrant to mitigate flooding in the neighborhoods. A TBM has not yet been selected to dig the fourth tunnel system, the Northeast Boundary Tunnel, which begins at RFK Stadium and connects to the First Street tunnel.

When the Clean Rivers Project is complete, a massive system of Blue Plains diversion sewers, special drop shafts, interconnected storage tunnels, and green infrastructure will reduce CSO overflows by 96 percent.

Machine To learn more about DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project, please visit https://www.dcwater.com/cleanrivers.

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Tunnel Boring underground tunnels will help “Lady Bird” prevent combined Miles of huge

sewer overflows (CSOs).

*Source of figures/diagrams: DC Water.

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MANAGER PROFILE

Rudy Chow, Director, Baltimore

City Department of Public Works, Transforming the City’s Waterways Rudolph S. Chow, PE, was appointed the director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) by the Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, effective February 1, 2014. Mr. Chow brings more than 30 years of executive and managerial experience from both the water industry and public works. He most recently served as deputy director of DPW and was its bureau head for water and wastewater for three years prior to becoming the deputy. DPW serves more than 1.8 million residents of the city and the five surrounding counties. Mr. Chow’s swift rise to DPW director is a direct reflection of his agenda and leadership, which is designed to restore the city’s prominence in the water industry and the public works arena and make DPW a best‑in‑class organization.

Prior to his arrival in Baltimore, Mr. Chow spent 27 years with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) in Laurel, Maryland. He planned and designed major construction projects; oversaw the operation and maintenance of critical treatment facilities and processes; and directed water, wastewater, and storm water maintenance activities. Ultimately, he became WSSC’s deputy general manager, where he oversaw utility operations comparable to those of DPW. Both entities have combined operating and capital budgets in excess of $1 billion annually.

Municipal Water Leader’s writer, Valentina Valenta, spoke with Rudy Chow about managing one of the largest and most highly visible water agencies in the country, replacing the city’s aging water and wastewater infrastructure to enhance services for generations to come, and transforming the way DPW communicates and connects with public.

Valentina Valenta: Please tell our readers how water resources and water quality form key components of the mayor’s vision for Baltimore.

Rudy Chow: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is currently the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a co-chair of the Mayor’s Water Council.

One of the mayor’s major goals is to ensure that the city continues to provide a high-quality, sufficient water supply for all of its residents for years to come.

She has been very vocal about reducing sewer and storm water discharge. She understands the notion that the health of our waterways is directly tied to the

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health of our city’s economy.

We own two of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the state of Maryland, and we are aware that the city’s discharge directly impacts the Chesapeake Bay. Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s goal is to make our harbors swimmable and fishable by 2020. She is also committed to reducing the nutrient load in our waterways to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, and she reiterated her unwavering pledge to continue improving the city’s water programs during the centennial anniversary of our Montebello 1 Water Filtration Plant on September 19, 2015.

Valentina Valenta: What is your role at DPW? Rudy Chow: I am the director of the Baltimore City DPW. The agency is divided into three primary services. The first division is the water utility, which is responsible for drinking water, wastewater, and storm water services. The second division handles solid waste, which includes recycling, landfill, the collection of trash and refuse, and street sweeping. The third Municipal Water Leader

division manages the city’s energy programs, including renewables and the use of green infrastructure such as solar panels. It’s a big job and an important one, but I have a great team to help me carry out our responsibilities to the people of Baltimore.

Valentina Valenta: Please give our readers a description of Baltimore’s water and wastewater systems, the facilities, and the customers you serve.

Rudy Chow: DPW supplies high-quality drinking water to 1.8 million people in the Baltimore metro area, including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard Counties. Baltimore uses surface water from rainfall and snowmelt as the source of its drinking water.

The city draws water from three reservoirs connected to the Gunpowder Falls, North Branch Patapsco, and Susquehanna watersheds. We own three water filtration plants—Montebello I, Montebello II, and Ashburton— that filter and distribute an average of 225 million gallons of drinking water per day. We operate 20 water pumping stations and 1 raw-water pumping station. We operate 18 drinking water towers, 6 tanks, and 3 reservoirs— Loch Raven, Liberty, and Prettyboy. We also operate 2 major chlorinators and 16 remote chlorinators and maintain 3,800 miles of water mains and an additional 700 miles of public water connections.

We own two wastewater treatment plants, Back River and Patapsco, that collect and clean up to 250 million gallons of wastewater per day. There are 3,100 miles of sanitary mains in the whole system. We own and maintain the 1,400 miles in the city, which collects and treats an average flow of 210 million gallons of wastewater per day.

We also operate 8 major wastewater pumping stations and 10 minor installations.

Valentina Valenta: We’re aware that like many other cities, Baltimore is facing and responding to the challenges of water quality, combined sewer overflows and consent decrees, and aging infrastructure. Baltimore has moved to renew its water systems and has taken the steps to increase water and wastewater rates to achieve needed improvements. Please tell our readers about the City’s improvement plans, how it is paying for them, and its efforts to help low-income families with water rates.

Rudy Chow: On September 30, 2002, the City entered into a consent decree with the federal and state government to eliminate combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The consent decree obligated the City to fund a comprehensive wastewater collection system evaluation and rehabilitation program. Although we are currently negotiating with federal regulators to extend Municipal Water Leader

Baltimore City Department of Public Works community outreach liaisons at the African American Heritage Festival, Baltimore, MD.

the approaching deadline for meeting the terms of the agreement, we are committed to doing everything possible to upgrade the city’s sewer system as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As I mentioned, we own 4,000 water lines; many of them are now more than 80 years old, and some of them are more than 100 years old. We are currently putting together an infrastructure replacement strategy. The goal is to replace 40 miles per year, which will put us at a 100year replacement cycle. The City will spend billions of dollars for this capital improvement program. We will not receive federal assistance, so like many cities, we must rely on revenues from the ratepayers that we serve.

Our strategy focuses on paying for the most critical rehabilitation projects first, so we create the biggest bang for the buck. Baltimore is not a wealthy city.

About 25 percent of the city’s population lives below the poverty line. To carry out our infrastructure rehabilitation program, we must rely on all our residents to help us achieve the upgrades. We do recognize the burden that will be placed on the most vulnerable residents of the city, however, and we have a very robust program to assist 17

elderly and low-income groups with their monthly utility bills.

That said, there are many ways to increase revenues without placing additional hardships on the most vulnerable. For example, we are now moving forward to modernize our aging water metering system for more than 400,000 accounts in Baltimore City and County. The new Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Automated Meter Reading system will make meter reading more reliable, accurate, and timely. This new system will provide significant improvements Baltimore City Department of Public Works performs sewer repair. in efficiency and customer service for the city water utility, including greater meter reading and costs associated with any broken water and sewer lines billing accuracy, reduced water loss, and enhanced operational connected to their homes. To date, 25,000 homeowners efficiency. Replacing the aging metering system is perhaps have signed up for the program. Those who have the single greatest way to enhance the value and revenue utilized the program, while skeptical at first, have been associated with our water resources. very pleased with the service. We believe that as a city government, we need to provide this kind of care and Valentina Valenta: Baltimore’s optional plan for support to our residents. homeowners to buy coverage for their private water mains is intriguing. Can you describe this plan and tell us how it’s Valentina Valenta: The Integrated Planning working for the residents?

Framework (IPF) will certainly help cities work

with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Rudy Chow: As I mentioned, our water and sewer systems affordably achieve clean water compliance. What is are around a century old. Our water mains break on a nearthe integrated planning idea and how it can maximize daily basis. Sewer mains are beginning to crack. We will be water quality dollars and, at the same time, ease the investing billions of dollars to upgrade the public side of our burden on struggling families? aging infrastructure, but there is also a private component

that needs to be addressed. Many homeowners do not realize Rudy Chow: We were among one of the first cities that they are financially responsible for the maintenance in the country to embrace the concept and complete an of the drinking water lines that connect from their meter IPF document that prioritizes our capital improvement to their home and the sewer lines that connect from their program for water, wastewater, and storm water home to our main sewer line. When these systems break, the infrastructure projects. As I mentioned, the City is homeowner can be faced with paying thousands of dollars to increasingly concerned that rates remain affordable for have repairs performed. the majority of ratepayers, so in September 2011, we Underground infrastructure is out of sight and out of began to develop an IPF that considers environmental mind for most people until something goes wrong. This is benefits, social impacts, financial capabilities, and a problem across the country for many metropolitan areas. project delivery challenges. This approach provides a Private companies have seized on the opportunity to solicit balanced and more affordable plan that allows us to homeowners to pay for services that are often both expensive undertake projects that are determined to have greater and inadequate. The most vulnerable members of our benefits in the near term. Our capital improvement population are often the ones targeted by these schemes. program will cost roughly $5 billion, but we only Recognizing the need to provide our ratepayers with a have a portion of that now. The IPF is a tool to rank sound and low-cost way to address this issue, we implemented projects based on a cost-benefit analysis and to plan a voluntary program that would help them pay for the repair a multiyear approach. We never lose sight of the big of their home’s water and wastewater lines. After a robust picture, but the IPF helps us to focus. evaluation process, we selected a company that can deliver its services expertly, efficiently, and at an affordable rate.

Valentina Valenta: What will be the biggest water Homeowners can choose to pay $10 a month to cover the problem cities face in the next decade and what role 18

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program that includes using Facebook and Twitter to leverage our message.

But the best part of our public outreach platform is our community liaison program. The job of our community liaisons is to interface directly with the public at community and neighborhood events and other forums. Our liaisons communicate DPW’s initiatives and issues to the community every single day, but more importantly, they communicate back to us the ideas and concerns of the public. No other method of public outreach builds trust and respect between local government and the people it serves better than a face-toface discussion.

Upgrade improvements to the Enhanced Nutrient Removal Process at the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant, Baltimore, MD.

should the federal, state, and local levels have in meeting these challenges?

Rudy Chow: If you were to speak with my colleagues across the country, many of them would say that aging infrastructure is certainly the biggest problem for the cities they manage. The secondary challenge is collecting the revenue to finance the capital replacement program.

We don’t want to bankrupt our cities to pay for the improvements. It does little good to install a state-of-theart system in the city if no one can afford to live there.

Utility owners need to be very mindful of this problem.

We also need to stay one step ahead of climate change so we don’t end up reacting to it. The East has not traditionally been concerned about drought like the West and Southeast, but we are learning fast that we also need to be thinking about maintaining a sustainable supply. We can have the best clean water programs in the country, but they will have little value if there is no supply.

Third, we need to be mindful of the kind of system that we are passing on to the next generation. No one can afford to kick the can down the road. If we don’t pay now, we will certainly pay later and the costs will be much higher.

Valentina Valenta: How do you communicate with your ratepayers?

Rudy Chow: We utilize multiple channels, beginning with traditional media formats such as press releases, radio spots, and interviews. We also have a robust social media Municipal Water Leader

Valentina Valenta: What are DPW’s greatest achievements over the last several years?

Rudy Chow: DPW has so many great achievements to share, but there are a few I would like to highlight.

I have been with the City for five years, and one of my goals has been to put Baltimore back on the map. One way to enhance the value of a city is to update its surface transportation and water resources infrastructure.

When I came onboard, we had tremendous problems with our water meter reading and billing system. As I mentioned, we recently initiated a massive overhaul of the city’s water meter system. This project is called BaltiMeter.

When complete, the entire meter and billing system will be electronic. When you speak with my colleagues in other cities, you would find that it is very rare for a public utility to upgrade both its meter and billing systems simultaneously. There is a lot of risk involved in undertaking both upgrades at once, but the reward is huge. Our younger ratepayer base has demanded the use of electronic technologies and will continue to do so in the future. We are meeting their calls for change while meeting the needs of the capital finance program.

Our recently drafted strategic vision and asset management plan for the future is another major achievement that will finally allow us to be proactive and responsive toward the management of our assets.

Emergencies cost much more to repair than planned replacements that utilize the traditional bidding process.

Our strategic and asset management plans will not only drive all our projects in the near term, but will also do so for years to come. We hope to be a model for other cities as they confront the water resources challenges before them.

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Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

DISTRICT FOCUS

T

he Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) was formed on May 1, 1918, as a bicounty water and sewer agency following suggestions from Washington, DC, that the neighboring counties should work to reduce the level of pollution that they were discharging into the waterways flowing into the capital’s rivers to prevent waterborne illnesses.

WSSC’s chief engineer is Gary Gumm.

Mr. Gumm currently serves as interim chief operations officer, after having joined WSSC from the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, where he was sewers chief engineer. According to Mr. Gumm, “WSSC was essentially created to tackle health problems.

Communicable diseases were major causes of death at the beginning of the 20th century. There were many public health challenges associated with underdeveloped water delivery and wastewater disposal methods at that time. WSSC’s original mission was to prevent the spread of typhoid and other waterborne diseases, and it successfully met that charge. Today, the utility continues to focus on delivering clean water and wastewater services to all its ratepayers as affordably and efficiently as possible.”

WSSC is one of the largest water and wastewater utilities in the nation, serving an estimated 1.8 million people in two Maryland counties, Montgomery and Prince George’s, bordering the northern portion of Washington, DC. WSSC has an annual budget

of $1.3 billion and is responsible for operating and maintaining two water filtration plants, six wastewater treatment plants, 5,600 miles of water mains, 5,400 miles of sewer mains, two reservoirs, and 5,600 acres of watershed. WSSC also uses a portion of the capacity of the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant to treat its wastewater and assumes a portion of the plant’s capital operating costs.

Aging Infrastructure

Like many century-old water utilities across the nation, WSSC is currently confronting the myriad issues related to aging and failing infrastructure. “There is no question that our water delivery systems are old. Recently, while replacing a corroded cast iron pipe, we discovered a large wooden pipe that was likely installed around 1915. It was no longer in use, as it had already been replaced many years before by the pipeline we were now replacing, but that gives you an idea how old the system is,” Mr. Gumm said.

He continued, “Unfortunately, we average as many as 1,800 to 2,000 water main breaks a year. Too much treated drinking water is not being used as intended.

A recent water audit found that 17 percent of drinking water produced was lost, much of it due to the increasing number of water main breaks we are experiencing.”

WSSC maintains 5,647 total miles of water mains.

Thirty-seven percent of those water mains are more than 50 years old, 39 percent are between 25 to 50 years old, and 23 percent are less than 25 years old. The oldest pipes, installed from 1931 to 1975, are primarily cast iron and have reached the end of their service life. The aging process is driven by the corrosion of unlined metallic pipes.

WSSC replaces its aging pipelines with ductile iron or steel pipe.

WSSC’s water distribution system includes 339 miles of prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP). WSSC currently replaces about four miles of large diameter pipe each year and is planning to increase to six miles.

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Mr. Gumm explained, “Several years ago, we initiated a plan to address this issue by increasing the replacement rate of our aging pipelines. We also have an asset management program to help us identify which ones to replace first. Over time, the cost of replacing the entire system will run into the billions. The total cost of our capital improvement program over the next 6 years is $1.6 billion, and we are leveraging the cost of the program through 30-year bonds.”

“We are making a lot of progress,” he continued. “Last year, fiscal year 2015, we replaced 65.15 miles of pipe. In fiscal year 2014, we replaced 61.67 miles of pipe, and in fiscal years 2013 and 2012, we replaced 52.34 and 59.59 miles of pipe. When I joined WSSC in fiscal year 2008, we were replacing less than 25 miles annually. Our current goal is to replace 55 miles of smaller pipe and 4 miles of larger pipe every year, but we plan to increase the rate of replacement of large pipes in the near future.”

Other Challenges

In addition to aging infrastructure, water utilities must also contend with highly variable weather events, competing regulatory demands, and increasing and unfunded mandates, such as consent decrees. Like many water utilities, WSSC is currently under a consent decree to repair and improve its wastewater collection system. The purpose of the consent decree is to reduce the number of sanitary sewer overflows into the area’s waterways.

Mr. Gumm stated, “There are so many challenges for water utilities today. We are trying to meet an increasing number of conflicting regulatory demands from multiple agencies. For example, though we are succeeding in reducing our nutrient load as mandated under our consent decree, our dollars are stretched thin because we have to pay for so many other regulatory requirements imposed by regulatory agencies. It is hard to break the conundrum created by an agency of the federal government dictating maintenance and repair actions to protect the environment while other parts of that agency, as well as other agencies, deny access to do so, ostensibly to protect the environment.”

“Government agencies at the federal and state level tend to address problems in a piecemeal fashion,” he continued. “Our customers and the environment would be better served if the agencies replaced independent silo-type approaches to water resources with a holistic decisionmaking model. We want to be the best stewards of public health and the environment that we can be, and looking at this framework through a cohesive lens would help us better achieve those goals.”

energy intensive and expensive. Since 2002, WSSC has used energy-efficient mechanics, including aeration blowers, finebubble diffusers, peak-shaving engine generators, and variable frequency drives, to reduce energy use and costs.

In 2013, WSSC installed nearly 17,000 solar panels at two wastewater treatment plants. The panels provide approximately 17 percent of the power needed to operate the plants.

Several years ago, WSSC began planning for a new anaerobic digester system that will convert biosolids into electricity.

Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that converts a portion of the waste sludge to methane gas. This methane can then be used to power engine-driven turbines that produce heat needed for the digestion process and electricity. The project is expected to provide a source of renewable energy and reduce the current production of biosolids. The upgrades are intended to reduce the electricity purchased and the truckloads of biosolids leaving each plant while eliminating current lime purchases.

In 2008, WSSC began using electricity generated by a wind farm in southwestern Pennsylvania for approximately 60,000 megawatt-hours of power a year. “These improvements reduce our carbon footprint, demonstrate our commitment to protecting the environment, and reduce our bottom-line costs.”

Charting a Course for the Future

Mr. Gumm believes that “the successful utilities of the future will be those that provide good leadership, conduct extensive planning, educate their ratepayers and government decisionmakers, and manage their asset programs through innovation and new technology.”

“There are those that suggest [water infrastructure financing] is a local problem and that the federal government should just stay out of it. I don’t subscribe to that position. Our hospitals and schools need clean water to function. Our industries need water to operate properly. If water was not available, we would just be a third-world country,” he continued.

Mr. Gumm concluded, “One of the functions of government is to invest in society and the economy to help make them work. WSSC and our ratepayers are doing their part. It is in the national interest for the federal government to help us all succeed by investing in water resources infrastructure.”

To learn more about the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, you can reach Gary Gumm at gary.gumm@wsscwater.com

Innovation

To help manage its aging infrastructure program while meeting the obligations under its consent decree, WSSC is also using alternative energies, such as solar power, wind power, hydropower, and energy-efficient equipment. These technologies are intended to reduce costs to the ratepayer and better protect the environment.

The water delivery and wastewater treatment processes are Municipal Water Leader

WSSC inspects and maintains more than 41,000 fire hydrants in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

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LEGISLATIVE PROFILE

Your Sewers and Streets Could Be Waters of the United States

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By Senator James M. Inhofe Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a new definition of waters of the United States that determines the extent of federal control over land and water (the WOTUS rule). I have been clear that I believe that this rule unlawfully encroaches on the rights of states, municipalities, farmers, and other private citizens.

This concern is shared by 31 states, which have sued EPA to overturn the rule, and by Judge Erickson of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, who stayed the rule in 13 states because he found that the rule is causing irreparable harm and that the state plaintiffs are likely to win their lawsuit.

On October 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit joined this chorus of disapproval by issuing an order that stays the rule in all 50 states, finding that the plaintiffs had demonstrated a “substantial possibility of success on the merits” of their claim that the rule is unlawful.

This concern also is shared by many local governments. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and the National Association of Regional Councils all have told me that they have significant concerns about the rule and believe that it will increase the types of public infrastructure considered jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act. The concerns of state and local governments are well founded. A primary example is the treatment of ditches and other water management systems in the final rule. EPA claims that it has exempted ditches, storm water control features, and wastewater recycling structures from regulation; however, the agency fails to mention that the exemptions do not apply if a ditch or other water management system was a former stream or if the system was not built on “dry land.” With this interpretation, EPA and the Corps are claiming the authority to regulate not only current streams and wetlands but also locations where streams and wetlands may have existed in the past.

Many of our communities were developed long ago, and in earlier times, it was common practice to construct city sewer and storm water systems and even streets in former streams and marshes. As a result, communities must now worry about the status of their

municipal infrastructure.

Washington, DC, provides many examples.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, a stream named Tiber Creek emptied into a marsh located in what is now the National Mall. Tiber Creek originated in northeast Washington. It was navigable for small boats up to what is now Florida Avenue. By 1880, Tiber Creek was paved over and turned into an underground sewer that is now known as the Flagler Place Trunk Sewer, a combined sewer that discharges into the Anacostia River.

In 1815, part of Tiber Creek became the Washington Canal. The canal connected the Potomac River to the Anacostia River. Eventually, the Washington Canal was filled in to become Constitution Avenue.

Washington, DC, was full of other waterways as well. There was a lake or marsh at 11th and Harvard Streets. Union Station was built on top of a stream, and another stream that formerly ran through Judiciary Square and Indiana Avenue was piped in 1821 and then used to build a reservoir in 1828.

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According to the preamble to the WOTUS rule, the agencies will rely on historic records to regulate the “unpermitted alteration of streams” because the physical characteristics of a stream may no longer exist. A summer intern for my committee easily found such historic records for DC, and similar records are likely available for many communities. However, what the final rule fails to admit is that these so-called “unpermitted alterations” occurred long before any permits were required.

What should communities do? Must they stop using their sewers and storm water systems? Do they need a permit to maintain them? Apparently, not even the Corps has the answers. Among the “USACE Implementation Challenges” identified in an April 24 memorandum prepared by the Chief of the Corps’ Regulatory Program is how to determine whether a ditch is a “relocated tributary.” Among the questions asked are, “How far back in history does a regulator need to go? If it can’t be determined definitively, who bears the burden of proof?”

In August, I sent a letter to Jo Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army, and Ken Kopocis, deputy assistant administrator in the EPA’s Office of Water, asking them about the status of former waters. I have not received a response.

If the stay of the rule is lifted, communities around the country will face enormous legal uncertainty. Under the WOTUS rule, a regulated tributary includes water that flows through pipes and waste treatment systems. If pipes were built in the location of a former stream, then these sewers may be regulated waters of the United States and cannot be used to protect public health and welfare.

Even if EPA decides not to sue, communities remain vulnerable to citizen suits. Under the final rule, a litigant could try to force a city to spend its limited resources to

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build an entirely new sewer system by asking a court to declare that the city’s sewers are waters of the United States.

We all want to protect human health and the environment. Proper management of wastewater and storm water is part of that protection. Wasting scarce municipal resources for no environmental benefit is not.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I have been shining a light on the flaws of this ill-conceived rule through oversight, and I have been working to advance legislation to give our communities the protection and certainty they need.

References: 80 Federal Register 37054, 37077 ( June 29, 2015). http://parkviewdc.com/2011/09/08/hidden-washingtontiber-creek/.

Wennersten, The Historic Waterfront of Washington DC (The History Press, 2014).

Peck, The Potomac River: A History and Guide, (The History Press, 2012).

Duhamel, Tiber Creek, Records of the Columbia Historical Society, vol. 28 (Washington, D.C., 1926).

Mayor’s Task Force Report On The Prevention Of Flooding In Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park (Dec. 2012).

Senator James M. Inhofe (R-OK) is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works with oversight jurisdiction of the EPA. He has represented the state of Oklahoma for 21 years and Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District for 8 years. He also served in Oklahoma’s state house and senate from 1967 to 1977. Prior to his public service, Senator Inhofe was a businessman for 30 years. He is also a proud Army veteran.

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Clarifying the Status of Water Efficiency Rebates Under the Federal Tax Code

POLICY FOCUS

By Jeffrey Kightlinger

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Faced with a record drought, Southern California has made huge strides in making water conservation a permanent way of life. With few exceptions, the region has met or exceeded California Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a 25 percent mandatory reduction in urban water use.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has played a key role in these water-saving efforts by launching the nation’s largest turf removal and water conservation program, totaling $450 million over two years. The public’s response to rebates for turning lawns into drought-friendly landscaping and for buying water-efficient appliances and devices is unprecedented.

The program is helping the region’s homeowners, businesses and water agencies replace 170 million square feet of turf – more than triple Gov. Brown’s goal for the entire state. The combined estimated annual water savings from the full conservation program is 80,000 acre-feet or more than 70 million gallons of water a day, enough to supply about 160,000 households a year.

The average turf removal rebate per household is approximately 1,500 square feet or $3,000, and this amount usually covers about one-half the cost incurred by the residential customer. Nearly 23,000 households in Southern California have benefitted from this program.

Similar programs across the country are producing comparable results for many municipalities.

Conservation is always good policy. We ought to be committed to these wise practices as a means of sustaining our water supplies and preserving their quality.

We need to be mindful that the rebate generally covers only part of the customer’s costs for water efficiency and conservation. If the subsidy amount is reduced, the number of participants in those programs may also be reduced. With fewer participants in these programs, municipalities across the country will save less water.

To advance and underwrite the continued success of these widespread and sound conservation practices, we need to remove a cloud of uncertainty related to

the taxability of these rebates that is currently hanging over those who may decide to participate in conversation programs. Congress and the Administration should work to clarify that water efficiency rebates are not taxable, consistent with other programs that promote conservation and efficiency. Unfortunately, that clarity is currently lacking. This is an issue for any municipality across the country that provides rebates or incentives for water conservation and efficiency programs in excess of $600.

We have ample precedent for excluding these conservation rebates and payments from taxable income. Congress recognized the benefits of encouraging people to replace water heaters and undertake other measures to conserve energy by providing a specific taxable income exemption for energy conservation subsidies in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. In its FY2016 Revenue Proposals, the Administration agreed that subsidies for the installation of water conservation and storm water management measures should be excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes. Congress should act now to pass legislation that provides an exemption in the tax code for rebates and subsidies related to water conservation as they did in the case of energy conservation.

By codifying into law the exemption of water efficiency and conservation subsidies from taxable income, our nation will get a greater return from public utility payments for these wise investments. We can all make a lasting and sustained contribution to meeting our future water needs by supporting the exemption of water efficiency rebates from taxation.

Jeffrey Kightlinger is the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan), a wholesale water provider serving 14 cities, 11 municipal water districts, and 1 county water authority across a 5,200-square-mile-area in southern California. In turn, those entities provide water to more than 19 million people. That makes Metropolitan the largest distributor of treated drinking water in the United States. Over the years, Mr. Kightlinger has successfully guided the agency toward a diversified water portfolio and is skillfully navigating it through an unprecedented drought.

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THE INNOVATORS

The SkyHarvester: Creating a New Water Supply Watertronics’ SkyHarvester system works to augment water supply by capturing rainwater and storing it for reuse. SkyHarvester systems have been installed in 35 states as well as in Canada, the Caribbean islands, and the United Arab Emirates.

The mid-Atlantic region, Texas, and California have the greatest number of rainwater harvesting systems in the United States. According to Mike Warren of Watertronics, “The two most popular uses for the water harvested from rainwater systems in the United States are irrigation and toilet flushing. Cooling tower use and washing applications are a close third and fourth. In the overall pursuit of sustainability, capturing rainwater is a very easy step compared to some of the other technologies available.”

The SkyHaverster system is designed to gather water from one or more building locations, such as rooftops, parking lots, and air conditioning units, and use that water for a nonpotable application such as irrigation or toilet flushing. The goal is to use a nonpotable water source for a nonpotable application

instead of a potable water source for a nonpotable application. The system’s major components include a tank prefilter to clean the water prior to entering the storage tank; a custom-size storage tank to hold the water; and a pump, control, and filtration station to distribute the water to a nonpotable application. The storage tanks can be installed above or below ground, or even integrated into a building’s foundation.

Water treatment depends on water use. Mr. Warren explained, “Storage location and size are critical to managing water for reuse and to helping reduce peak discharges from the property. The various filtration and treatment components are selected based upon the given application. For example, using nonpotable water inside a building will require a higher level of treatment and disinfection compared to an irrigation system. Automatic screen filtration, UV [ultraviolet], and chlorine injection are some of most common treatment practices used in rainwater harvesting systems.”

The tank inlet and overflow pipe can be seen here as this tank is readied for installation for a landscape irrigation application.

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The major steps in the SkyHarvester system are shown in figure 1.

Figure 1

The process proceeds step by step: • Catchment. The catchment area can be any surface, such as roofs, green roofs, parking lots, synthetic turf, or air conditioning units.

• Prefiltration. A prefilter is used to remove dirt, debris, and organic matter from the harvested water.

• Storage and overflow. The size of the storage tank is determined using a formula that factors in the average rainfall, collection area, and other available water sources, as well as consumption requirements.

• Pumping. The pump station distributes the water in the storage tank to a given application.

• Controls. The control unit manages the pump station and all supporting components and mechanisms.

• Replenishment water. The system is designed to accommodate the use of an alternate water source to protect the user against water shortages.

• Postfiltration and water treatment. Postfiltration and water treatment can be specifically designed to meet each project’s final water use requirements.

As Mr. Warren explained, “The SkyHarvester connects all these components together in pursuit of the smart use of water. The system’s control unit ties all the components together, and turns the user into a true manager of his or her own nonpotable water source.”

Figure 2 represents a potential SkyHarvester application in which a water harvesting system gathers water from one or more building locations, including the Municipal Water Leader

rooftop, parking lot, and cooling tower. The system then filters the water, stores the water supply, and pumps that supply for reuse.

Figure 2. From source to usage, water is collected from the roof top, and used for irrigation.

The SkyHarvester rainwater system has been installed on commercial buildings such as university campuses, office buildings, and corporate headquarters. Mr. Warren provided an example: “Universities collect water off of dormitory roofs and use that water for irrigation of a nearby grassy area, plaza, or ornamental landscape.

SkyHarvesters have also been installed on mid- to highrise office buildings that collect rainwater from the rooftop and use it inside the office building for toilet flushing or a cooling tower. Both scenarios provide owners with a way to reduce their potable water requirement, as well as a stormwater management benefit by retaining

A landscape irrigation pump station set next to two irrigation controllers.

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more water on their property and sending less water downstream that will need to be treated by the local treatment plant.”

“Many of the details of the configuration will depend on climate.

For example, if the application of the stored water is flushing toilets in a school in Wisconsin, the storage tank would be installed below ground or in a mechanical room to prevent the water from freezing. If the water will be used for irrigation, the components could be placed outside and, if needed, winterized to prevent freeze damage.”

Municipalities also use SkyHarvester systems to reduce storm water loads. Rainwater harvesting Tank pre-filter, tank, and pump station in a distribution warehouse. Water is used for truck systems can keep the rainwater on washing and toilet flushing. a property, reducing the potential for combined sewer overflows in cities with older infrastructure. Mr. Warren sees valuable potential in this type of use. “Think of the opportunities. What if a third of the buildings in a city had water storage tanks on them? How much water would we keep out of the storm sewer, and how much potable water could we save?”

For Mr. Warren, the SkyHarvester is an important tool in the water management toolbox.

“Today’s modern rainwater harvesting systems, like SkyHarvester, can support the goals of strategic municipal water management. Encouraging these systems in cities can reduce the load on stormwater systems and treatment facilities. By substituting rainwater in suitable applications like toilet flushing, washing and watering, and municipal water systems, we can conserve expense and capital investment in treating water to potable quality. These can be significant benefits for municipalities and water resources managers.”

For more information about the SkyHarvester, contact Mike Warren, SkyHarvester product manager, at mike.warren@watertronics.com.

Outdoor installation of an Ultra Filtration pump skid at Reed Street Yards in Milwaukee, WI.

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Municipal Water Leader

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LAKOS Water Filtration Systems

By Randy Delenikos

The INNOVATORS

To Filter or Not to Filter

Very often, the first thing people think about when they have something in their water is, “I need a filter.”

The next thing people think about is the downside of using a filter. Filters get dirty, create pressure loss, and often need to be taken apart and cleaned. As quickly as someone thinks they need a filter, they just as quickly talk themselves out of it.

It is important to understand that the LAKOS Sand Separator is and is not a filter. The LAKOS separator is a particle separator and, by definition, not a filter. There is a need for all types of products in filtration, from particle removal to water treatment.

The LAKOS separator is most typically a prefilter, installed after a pump and before finer filters or water treatment. The LAKOS system removes larger particles so that finer filtration systems can take over after the removal of those heavier sediments or solids—the ones that would settle out in three to four

minutes in still water or fluid. With larger particles removed, finer filters and water treatment can do their job better with less maintenance and servicing and fewer replacements.

A separator’s role as a first-stage filter is critical. For example, a number of traditional filtration devices are meant to change the taste, color, and odor of water or fluid by using extremely fine membranes, screens, and treatment media; the problem is that they are very vulnerable to the bulk of the sand, sediment, grit, and precipitated minerals—all the different types of harmful particles that can clog and abrade the various components of the system. Fine filtration systems are typically not designed to filter larger particles.

The problem can be resolved by recognizing that it is more efficient to use two or more filters when faced with two or more types of contaminants in the water. After the LAKOS separator does its job, the finer traditional filters can efficiently remove the finer particles. Users often do not realize that common 2- to 5-micron filters will need to be cleaned

LAKOS PWC Separator Series 1080-L-Gem State Processing, Burley, ID.

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Municipal Water Leader

or replaced far more often if relied on to remove heavier, larger particles. Debris will accumulate quickly and shut a fine filter system down.

The LAKOS system addresses all these concerns.

It does not create the same loss in pressure and does not need to be cleaned as a standard filter. The product purges just the dirt and very little water and, therefore, wastes little water. Many other types of filters use a large amount of water to backwash or flush the debris from filter screens. Using the LAKOS separator as a prefilter allows the finer filtration systems to run longer and more efficiently.

LAKOS helps to eliminate the larger particle problem instead of just moving it around.

Separators

LAKOS Sand Separators remove sand and other solids from pumped water and other fluids. There are no screens, cartridges, or filter elements. The key to removing solids is centrifugal action.

As water enters the sand separator, it immediately transfers from the outer chamber to the inner chamber through tangential slots. Those slots maintain the centrifugal action in the same direction and accelerate the water into a smaller diameter chamber. That allows centrifugal action LAKOS PWC Separator Diagram. to do what gravity would do over time. So, the performance of a separator is predicated on the weight of a particle, and not on its size. wear would be innovative. The first device to use such A rule of thumb is that if the particle matter or technology was the downhole sand separator, which sediment would settle within three to four minutes in protected turbine pumps in the big agricultural regions still water, then those particles are separable in a LAKOS of central California. Irrigators were skeptical at first. separator. Once those particles get pushed to the outside, Laval responded by inventing an above-ground version they will gradually fall down the perimeter, past the of the downhole separator to prove the theory. Suddenly, deflector plate, and into the collection chamber. While applications emerged across a wide range of activities and the centrifugal action creates an outward pressure, there is markets all over the world. also a low pressure at the center. Water follows the lowest pressure, the vortex of that tornado, and migrates upward LAKOS Systems Have Many Applications to the center of the separator to a smaller diameter pipe— Since the sand separator’s introduction in central the vortex outlet. So all the water goes in, dirt is spun to California, LAKOS has moved the separator beyond the bottom, clean water spirals up the operative separator, agriculture and irrigation into processing applications. and the particles fall to the collection chamber, where Today, separators are used in municipal water systems, they are either periodically or continually purged from the power plants, steel mills, oil and gas operations, HVAC, separator to evacuate the unit. cooling tower filtration, and mining.

LAKOS systems bring filtration improvements to many History of the Separator activities for many entities, including individuals who use Claude Laval Jr. invented the original technology, a residential water well systems; landscaping businesses that device called a borehole camera, which would go down need to protect sprinklers from the abrasion of sand and into water wells and inspect for damage in order for grit; municipal water providers that recycle water; and wells to be repaired and rehabilitated. Laval’s borehole factories that aim to keep water losses to a minimum. camera showed the industry that there was a lot of sand The drought in the West has increased demand for the infiltration in water wells and that a product design that sand separator. As irrigators adopt more efficient irrigation removed sand to protect the pumps from premature systems, the nozzles and orifices used to broadcast the Municipal Water Leader

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LAKOS PWC-1060-V, well water system, Selma, CA.

water are becoming finer and requiring filtration sufficient to keep the flow from clogging.

Cities often come to LAKOS seeking to change their filtration systems because the current ones are so maintenance intensive. They are astonished at the improvement our systems can make. Cities can be very cautious and very conservative, but our approach to reliability can give them confidence. For example, the City of Phoenix, Arizona, equipped most of its water wells with sand separators, extending the life of water meters and reducing operating costs associated with meter repair and replacement.

Life Cycle Costs Are Competitive With Other Technologies

In comparison to LAKOS, traditional filters will be less expensive on the front end. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the cost of a separator is not just in the purchase of the unit, but in the manpower and replacements that accompany the system. The long-term costs of a LAKOS system are comparable to a traditional filtration system.

The price of the product drops with every consideration of a traditional filter. You do not have to pay to have someone clean the system or to replace the parts, and

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there is no worry about water loss.

Most filters have ongoing replacement cycles that shut down overall services and use a large volume of water to flush the filter components, leading to water loss, increased wastewater fees, and increased energy costs.

In terms of service life, separators have roughly the same life cycle as the pipes used in a water transmission system. The sand separator does not succumb to abrasive wear as it does to corrosive wear. It is the nature of the fluid that dictates the life of the product, not the particles. There are LAKOS units that were installed 50Â years ago that are still in service today. In one case, a steel mill took a 25-year-old separator system offline because it thought the service life had ended. When the system was opened up, we discovered it was in great working order and looked like a new unit.

A LAKOS separator, acting as a prefilter, can significantly change and enhance the entire filtration process for municipal water suppliers and irrigators. Our company’s approach is not just about removing particles from the water, but also removing them from the product and from the facility. I have been representing LAKOS products for 38 years. Every year, I meet people who have never heard of the sand separator.

It is exciting to introduce this product to people for the first time because they are often surprised that filtration technology has become so advanced. The LAKOS system will allow many entities to adapt to a wide range of water-related challenges in the 21st century. Our goal is to continue advancing the technology to help them more effectively and efficiently meet those challenges every step of the way.

Randy Delenikos is vice president of waterworks at LAKOS Separators and Filtration Systems. You can reach him at randy.delenikos@lakos.com.

Municipal Water Leader

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Lucid Energy: Monetizing Pipe

The INNOVATORS

Infrastructure and the Water-Energy Nexus Since 2009, Lucid Energy has developed and refined a clean power-generation solution for water providers by utilizing the kinetic energy of water flows through pressurized pipelines. The company’s LucidPipe power system uses a lift-based turbine that integrates into large-diameter water pipes to generate power by tapping into the energy embedded in the flow of water.

An Auspicious Start: Partnering With Riverside Public Utilities For more than 100 years, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) has served a mix of residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers in southern California. Its service area encompasses 84 square miles and 300,000 residents. Given the size and scope of its operations, energy and infrastructure costs are at the forefront of RPU’s concerns.

Back in 2009, RPU’s Deputy General Manager Kevin Milligan was attending an Association of California Water Agencies program with his board chair. Lucid Energy was exhibiting its power system with its corporate partner, the Northwest Pipe Company. Riverside was looking for ways to expand its renewable portfolio, so the presentation piqued Mr. Milligan’s curiosity.

“We started a conversation with Greg Smith of Northwest Pipe about Riverside’s attributes as a water and electrical utility. Greg said that they were looking for sites to do a test. After multiple conversations, we became the first utility in the nation to field an

installation of the LucidPipe.”

Lucid donated the LucidPipe, with the help of a U.S. Department of Energy grant, and RPU provided the installation services for a single, 42‑inch turbine along its gauge canal system, whose lower reaches serve the University of California, Riverside’s, Citrus Research Center and 3,000 acres of other citrus agriculture. As part of the agreement, Lucid monitors the performance of the turbine and provides maintenance as needed.

RPU was a good fit for the LucidPipe. It has a large transmission main that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long. RPU transmits groundwater through that main, so it could avoid going through the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee licensing process. In addition, RPU’s pipeline possessed ideal pressure requirements.

As Mr. Milligan described it, “We pump water from a nearby city, and water has to travel over the top of a hill. Under our operating permit with the State of California, we have to maintain 5 psi [pounds per square inch] in the pipeline. By the time the water comes back down the hill, we have more pressure than we need. Before the LucidPipe went in, we were burning additional head off by partially closing a valve.

It was an ideal substitution to install a device that would use up a bit of that head and generate electricity in the process.”

For RPU’s water operations, the LucidPipe functions like a pressure valve. On the energy side, the LucidPipe has been producing about 7 kilowatts of electricity LucidPipe installation. Photo credit Jamie Newton.

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Municipal Water Leader

around the clock for use in a nearby pump station or for return back into the grid.

Lucid has upgraded the turbine in RPU’s LucidPipe over the years. The newest generation turbine, installed this past February, is generating 8 kilowatts of electricity—it can run at high flow rates and still tolerate head loss.

Mr. Milligan has been happy with the results. “RPU’s experience has been solid, and Lucid has been very respectful of our operators’ time and our need to focus on being a water utility and not being in the power generation business.”

Harnessing Water’s Energy in Portland Based on its success in Riverside, in 2013 Lucid negotiated an agreement with Portland Water Bureau and the City of Portland to deploy a 200‑kilowatt capacity LucidPipe—four 50‑kilowatt, 42‑inch turbine generators in an ongoing pipeline installation. Those turbines are of the same class as the latest generation turbine in Riverside and will provide enough electricity to power 150 homes. The system went online this past January.

According to Lucid Energy’s president, Gregg Semler, “We went to the City and offered it our energy recapture technology without cost to it. We structured our deal with the City much like renewable energy is financed today— you don’t have to come up with any capital, the risk is squarely on the company.” Based on the City’s commitment, Lucid then went to the local power utility and signed a 20‑year power purchase agreement.

Lucid then developed the project to integrate into what Portland wanted to do. The system connects to the grid like any renewable energy source. In the case of Portland, it connects through a 480‑volt, three-phase Siemens inverter that meets all the standard requirements of an electric utility.

Mr. Semler noted, “Our customers are experiencing increasing regulations and are seeking innovative ways to manage operations and water quality. The LucidPipe system is a smart way for water agencies to manage pressure more precisely—because they have four nodes of information to electronically control pressure and monitor water quality.”

When the system began generating electricity for Portland General Electric in January of this year, it became the first in the United States to have a power purchase agreement for in-pipe hydropower in a municipal water pipeline. The investor who funded the system now shares the revenue with the City, and after 20 years, the city has the option to purchase the system and own or sell all the energy it produces.

Power in the Desert Lucid’s latest venture is in partnership with Cadiz Inc., a California land and water resource development company.

Cadiz is building a new 43‑mile pipeline underneath the Municipal Water Leader

LucidPipe installation. Photo credit Sherri Kaven.

Mojave Desert as part of a water conservation and storage project. The project requires an easement from the Arizona & California Railroad Company, which needs access to power for loading operations. Cadiz selected Lucid’s technology to generate that power because it met the company’s reliability and environmental goals.

Integrating Energy and Water Transmission Needs It takes an enormous amount of water to deliver energy, and it takes an enormous amount of energy to deliver water.

For Mr. Semler, “Water infrastructure is where energy infrastructure was 25 years ago—at a point in which the infrastructure is breaking down and in need of a smart rebuild to better manage the resource.” He sees the waterenergy nexus as a lynchpin to Lucid’s future. “LucidPipe provides water utilities with a way to monetize their singlelargest asset, which is their pipe infrastructure. The success of the Riverside and Portland systems has attracted the attention of water agencies across North America that are seeking ways to help offset the rising cost of energy; to finance pipeline construction and repair; and to help reduce the cost of delivering clean, safe drinking water.”

For more information about the Riverside Public Utilities’ water operations, contact Kevin Milligan at kmilligan@riversideca.gov. To learn more about the Power Pipe, contact Gregg Semler at gregg.semler@lucidenergy.com.

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The Fair Water Users Coalition represents entities that rely on water supply contained in federally owned lakes and reservoirs operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The primary mission of the coalition is to ensure that water supply costs from federal facilities are fair, affordable, and predictable.

The coalition was able to include language in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (section 1046(b)) that requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide operation and maintenance projects plans and cost estimates to contracting entities for a five-year period. This new law will greatly enhance the ability of water supply users to budget for this expense.

Current Priorities • WRRDA implementation • U.S. Government Accountability Office study on water supply and congressional outreach • Uniformity of projects considered as “joint use” • Credit for beneficial projects/practices • Calculating water supply costs It is our goal to continue to grow and have members in all 25 states that have U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes and reservoirs with water supply storage.

Please feel free to contact Paul Kalchbrenner, the executive director of The Fair Water Users Coalition, to discuss your specific issues and answer any questions you have about the coalition.

Mr. Kalchbrenner can be reached at (202) 6641102 or pkalchbrenner@engage-dc.com.

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Sustain able water resources in the 21st century

Engineering Architecture Environmental Science Planning Program Management Energy Construction Services For water insights and industry news, visit: www.freese.com/fni-water

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2015–2016 CALENDAR

October 27 October 28–30 November 4–6 November 6–9 November 10–12 November 15–19 November 16–19 December 1–2 December 1–4 December 16–18 December 15–17 January 20–22, 2016 February 4–5, 2016 February 20–24, 2016 February 21–24, 2016 February 23–25, 2016 February 24–27, 2016 March 7–9, 2016

Utah Water Users Association, Utah Water Summit Conference, Provo, UT WESTCAS, Fall Conference, Tucson, AZ National Water Resources Association, Annual Conference, Denver, CO American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, Annual Meeting and Expo, Chicago, IL National Association of Water Companies, California Water Conference, Monterey, CA American Water Works Association, Water Quality Technology Conference, Salt Lake City, UT American Water Resources Association, Annual Conference, Denver, CO Soil and Water Conservation Society, Nutrient Management, Memphis, TN Association of California Water Agencies, Fall Conference & Exhibition, Indian Wells, CA Colorado River Water Users Association, Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV National Ground Water Association, Groundwater Expo, Las Vegas, NV U.S. Conference of Mayors, 84th Winter Meeting, Washington, DC Water Education Foundation, Water 101 Workshop, Sacramento, CA National Association of Counties, Legislative Conference, Washington, DC National Association of Clean Water Agencies, Winter Conference, San Diego, CA Association of California Water Agencies, Legislative Conference, Washington, DC Water Environment Federation, Utility Management Conference, San Diego, CA National Waterways Conference, Legislative Summit, Washington DC

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