Water Management

Culverts and storm sewers have been a part of our infrastructure even before the advent of the federal highway system in the 1940s and 1950s, when the demand and the necessity for drainage pipes sprang from the growth in the number of automobiles traveling the roadways.

Tucson Water has been the City of Tucson?s municipal water utility for more than 100 years. As a public water provider, Tucson Water serves approximately 710,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers within a 350-sq-mile service area.

In July, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), along with U.S. Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced ?W21: Water in the 21st Century,? legislation that would help communities nationwide better prepare for the future by providing new incentives and investments to help residents, businesses and local water agencies to conserve, recycle and manage limited water supplies.

In late July, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2015 Chairman?s recommendation and explanatory statement for the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

Thomas W. Smith III, M.ASCE, CAE, was selected as the next executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), effective Jan. 1, 2015. The decision was made at an Aug. 24 meeting of the ASCE Board of Direction in Denver.

In July, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $2 million in conservation funds will be sent to Ohio to help implement conservation techniques that will help improve water quality. The Secretary said USDA is also partnering with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to expand ?boots-on-the-ground? capacity in the area and will be contributing an additional $1 million in technical assistance which will in turn be leveraged by the NFWF along with other public and private entities.

Lessons on asset and maintenance management from the past decade are being passed on through knowledge sharing efforts, allowing utilities in the United States and Canada to continue in their development of increasingly sophisticated asset management programs.

This might sound like a clich? but it happens to be very true: no one notices water infrastructure when it?s working. Buried neatly beneath the ground, these networks of pipes supply our homes and businesses with the vital clean water that life requires.

Climate change is not only already visible in iconic South Beach, but so is climate change adaptation, in the form of new storm water pumps meant to keep rising sea levels from swamping low-lying streets, city officials said last week.

Dutch consulting giant ARCADIS NV has prevailed in its two-month quest to acquire U.K.-based Hyder Consulting PLC. The announcement follows ARCADIS’ move earlier this month to increase its offer by about $12 per share, to $476 million