Guest Columns

Hawkins to step down as DC Water CEO

Hawkins to step down as DC Water CEO

Washington Report, Water Management September 7, 2017 at 5:28 pm

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) has announced that CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins will step down from his current role as of Dec. 29. Hawkins, 57, joined DC Water in 2009. His departure from DC Water will cap aRead More

Examining Common Barriers to Smart City Implementation

Examining Common Barriers to Smart City Implementation

Commentary, Water Management August 21, 2017 at 9:37 am

By Luis Casado & Eric Rensel Leaders in the water sector are all too familiar with the numbers. The average age of our country’s dams is 56 years old. The demands on wastewater treatment plants will grow nearly 25 percent in the next 15 years.Read More

Philadelphia Launches New Water Pricing Model for Low-Income Residents

Philadelphia Launches New Water Pricing Model for Low-Income Residents

By Erin Bonney Casey The City of Philadelphia has thrust itself into the broader national discussion on the affordability of water with its newly launched and unique water pricing model. In an era of rising water rates and constrained municipal budgets, Philadelphia is adapting toRead More

Udall introduces WaterSense, energy efficiency bills

Udall introduces WaterSense, energy efficiency bills

Washington Report, Water Management August 7, 2017 at 10:26 am

A pair of bills introduced last week by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would formally authorize EPA’s WaterSense program and authorize a new Department of Energy program to support demonstration projects that deliver water and energy efficiency improvements. The Water Efficiency Improvement Act (S. 1700) wouldRead More

WateReuse members testify before Senate committee

WateReuse members testify before Senate committee

Washington Report, Water Management August 7, 2017 at 9:21 am

In testimony before the U.S. Senate on Aug. 2, four WateReuse Association members highlighted water reuse as a key strategy in developing reliable local water supplies. The Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water and Power, convened the hearing to examine increasingRead More

House panel approves 6.5 percent EPA cut

House panel approves 6.5 percent EPA cut

Washington Report, Water Finance July 24, 2017 at 9:32 am

The House Appropriations Committee has approved an FY18 spending bill that would cut EPA’s funding by 6.5 percent next year. The cut is far short of the 31 percent cut sought by President Donald Trump but still severe enough to reduce overall agency funding toRead More

Optimism, Uncertainty Persist as Clean Water Initiatives Take Shape

Optimism, Uncertainty Persist as Clean Water Initiatives Take Shape

Guest Columns, Washington Report June 20, 2017 at 10:40 am

By Kristina Surfus With the major changes that came to Washington, D.C. this year, both in the White House and Congress, the municipal clean water sector is seeing new challenges as well as opportunities to advocate for clean water as a bipartisan federal priority. The NationalRead More

Interest Rates: A Barometer of Pressure or a Thermometer of Heat?

Interest Rates: A Barometer of Pressure or a Thermometer of Heat?

Financial Report, Public Utility Finance June 20, 2017 at 9:34 am

By David Clamage Historians have suggested that the concept of charging interest today for the use of money, goods or services to be repaid in the future goes back thousands of years, when a farmer could borrow a seed to grow wheat and repay thatRead More

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Construction crew strikes water main at Geary and Montgomety streets

Poll: Americans demand federal action on infrastructure

Washington Report, Water Finance, Water Management May 16, 2017 at 12:43 pm

The Value of Water Campaign recently released the results to a new poll that reveals Americans’ level of satisfaction with infrastructure systems and emphasis being placed on prioritizing critical projects by the federal government. The poll, commissioned by the Value of Water Campaign, found that moreRead More

AWWA applauds Congress for WIFIA boost

AWWA applauds Congress for WIFIA boost

Washington Report, Water Finance May 10, 2017 at 8:23 am

The American Water Works Association applauded Congress for appropriating an additional $10 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). The additional $10 million brings WIFIA funding in 2017 to $30 million, which can leverage an estimated $1.5 billion in federal loans. Because WIFIA canRead More