With pivotal water infrastructure legislation in the balance, more than 130 water utility leaders from 46 states traveled to Capitol Hill on April 1 to advocate for the creation of a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority during the AWWA?s Water Matters! Fly-In.

A new report, ?Water Meters: Global Market and Forecast 2013 ? 2018? from energy and utility industry specialists, StatPlan Energy, highlights strong prospects for smart water meters. The report forecasts a five year, 48 percent increase in annual demand for smart water meters by value by 2018.

In Springfield, Ohio, the total price tag for a federally mandated project to cut down on raw sewage flowing into local waterways could more than double earlier estimates and might now cost as high as $243 million.

A new Fitch Ratings report expects California water and public power utilities to maintain strong operational and financial performance over the next year, despite the effects of the statewide drought.

A broad array of water sector groups from across the country will join forces this spring in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural Water Week 2014, scheduled for April 7-11, 2014.

The International Private Water Association (IPWA) will hold a Financial Tools Taskforce meeting via conference call on Thursday, March 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. (EST). The focus of the meeting will be a presentation by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The South Florida Water Management District recently awarded CH2M HILL a contract to provide professional engineering services as part of an $880 million plan to restore the Everglades. Under this contract, CH2M HILL will work in tandem with SFWMD to help enhance the natural region of tropical wetlands in Florida.

For nearly three years, numerous U.S. water companies, organizations and advocates have lobbied Congress to reintroduce a significant piece of legislation to assist in the financing of water and sewer projects in the United States.

Conestoga-Rovers & Associates (CRA) and GHD announced March 12 that the two firms will merge ? an agreement that is expected to be finalized by July 2014.Employee shareholders in CRA will become shareholders of GHD. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to close in July.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would see its budget for State Revolving Funds decrease and spending on categorical grants to states and tribes increase under President Obama’s 2015 budget plan.