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Senate confirms Wheeler as EPA chief

Washington Report, Water Finance March 4, 2019 at 10:45 am

The Senate voted 52-47 last week to confirm Andrew Wheeler as the next administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Wheeler was expected to be sworn in after holding the position of acting administrator since Scott Pruitt resigned from the post last July. FollowingRead More

Atlanta DWM completes first publicly-issued Environmental Impact Bond 

Atlanta DWM completes first publicly-issued Environmental Impact Bond 

Water Finance, Water Management March 4, 2019 at 10:11 am

Quantified Ventures, an impact investment firm, and Neighborly, a mission-oriented broker dealer, recently announced the issuance of the first impact bond to be offered on the public markets. The $14 million Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) gives the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM),Read More

WateReuse applauds Bureau of Reclamation for funding

WateReuse applauds Bureau of Reclamation for funding

Water Management March 4, 2019 at 9:30 am

The WateReuse Association is commending the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman’s announcement that Reclamation is awarding $35.3 million to six authorized Title XVI water reclamation and reuse projects in California. Five of the six utilities receiving funding are WateReuse members that will use theRead More

Legal Corner: The Rules of the Game

Legal Corner: The Rules of the Game

Legal Corner, Water Finance February 28, 2019 at 9:02 am

By Ryan Callender & J. Wes Kerns On Dec. 22, 2017, H.R. 1 (the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”) was signed into law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, among other things, reduced corporate tax rates, modified individual tax rates, eliminated many deductions, repealed theRead More

Orange County gets ‘Wastewater Treatment Project of the Year’ award from ASCE

Orange County gets ‘Wastewater Treatment Project of the Year’ award from ASCE

Water Management February 26, 2019 at 9:44 am

The Orange County Sanitation District’s (OCSD) Newhope-Placentia Trunk Sewer Replacement Project was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as the Wastewater Treatment Project of the Year. The award was presented at the 2019 ASCE OC Branch Awards Dinner held on Thursday, FebruaryRead More

Figure 1: Risk can be reduced for water/wastewater projects by using the design-build project execution methodology. Copyright 2019 Tesco Controls, Inc.

Reducing Risk with Design-Build

Water Management February 25, 2019 at 9:53 am

A design-build contractor is often in the best position to manage a project, so it should be assigned as much of the associated risk as possible. By Brian Adams Cost, schedule and performance risks need to be managed on all capital projects. The best wayRead More

EPA announces first-ever comprehensive PFAS action plan

EPA announces first-ever comprehensive PFAS action plan

Water Management February 25, 2019 at 9:20 am

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler recently announced EPA’s first-ever comprehensive Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan. This historic PFAS Action Plan responds to extensive public interest and input the agency has received over the past year and represents the firstRead More

The Value of Industry-University Collaborative Research

The Value of Industry-University Collaborative Research

Commentary, Guest Columns February 25, 2019 at 9:00 am

By John Matthews Traditionally, research conducted at many universities falls under the category of fundamental research, which is primarily conducted to enhance our basic knowledge in a certain area. In the trenchless technology industry, and regarding the university researchers active in the field, the focusRead More

Pricing California’s Water During the Drought: Can Rate Structures Provide an Incentive for Conservation?

Pricing California’s Water During the Drought: Can Rate Structures Provide an Incentive for Conservation?

By Jeff Hughes, Shadi Eskaf & Liz Harvell The relationship between water pricing and water use is more nuanced than basic economic theory on supply and demand suggests. That’s what the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (EFC) found inRead More

Enhancing Your Utility’s Long-Term Financial Sustainability & Resilience through Cash Reserves

Enhancing Your Utility’s Long-Term Financial Sustainability & Resilience through Cash Reserves

By Andy McCartney Personal financial advisors often recommend that families should have enough money in an emergency fund to cover at least three to six months of living expenses. Corporations such as Microsoft, General Electric and Home Depot maintain excess operating funds for their ownRead More