A Panel and Audience Dialogue
Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference
San Diego Convention Center
October 15, 2007
On October 15, the Government Affairs Committee hosted “The Next 35 Years of the Clean Water Act”, a session at WEFTEC.07 in which panelists discussed new actions that must be taken to preserve and extend the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for the next three and a half decades.
Opening Remarks
The opening remarks were delivered by Sandra Ralston, WEF Government Affairs Committee Chair, and the introduction of the keynote speaker was given by LaJuana Wilcher, the former Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. EPA.
During her introduction, Wilcher stressed the importance of public education and undertaking a national dialogue regarding the future of the nation’s water. . She also stated that the current methods for measuring progress towards meeting CWA goals are fundamentally flawed and do not rely heavily enough on science. Wilcher emphasized the need for a coordinated effort at all levels of government to implement the watershed approach and added that the CWA needs to allow for more creativity. Wilcher said that despite the Act’s great success in cleaning up the nation’s waters over the past 35 years, the percentage of waters not meeting their designated uses has been relatively static for the past 20 years and it is now time to make necessary changes to the CWA to complete its goal of restoring the biological, physical and chemical integrity to our nation’s waters.
Keynote Address
Keynote speaker Benjamin Grumbles, the Assistant Administrator for Water for U.S. EPA, reflected on the first 35 years of the CWA, addressed current concerns, posed questions for the next 35 years, and emphasized the importance of the CWA. “Water is the oil of the 21st century. The sooner we recognize this, the better,” said Grumbles.
Grumbles acknowledged the accomplishments of the CWA and how far the nation has come since it had been enacted. “As we look back thirty-five years, about two-thirds of the surface waters assessed by states were not attaining basic water quality goals and were considered polluted….Since its passage, the CWA has dramatically improved our Nation’s water quality through scientific standards, discharge permits, pre-treatment requirements, state and local funding, and watershed planning.”
He praised the successes of the CWA and noted that since 1972 the number of polluted waters has been greatly reduced, “Advances in wastewater treatment constitute one of the major achievements in modern American public health.”
Despite these successes, Grumbles noted that new challenges will emerge in the next 35 years and “we need to continue to evolve and adapt our approaches.” New challenges include: “unprecedented population growth, aging water infrastructures, emerging contaminants, water supply shortages, and possible impacts from climate change.”
According to Grumbles, the greatest challenge in the next 35 years is the growing funding need “to simply sustain our water quality.” To address the financing gap EPA is promoting its “Four Pillars of Sustainability.” They are: “better management, full-cost pricing, efficient water use, and watershed approaches to protection.”
Grumbles closed by stating that “The Clean Water Act is a great American success story, a shining example for other countries throughout the world. But we have miles to go and measures to meet before we can even come close to resting.”
Intergenerational Panel
Grumbles’s speech was followed by an intergenerational panel of young professionals and seasoned experts. The panel was composed of Nichole Baker, Project Manager for RMC Water and Environment (CA); Todd Danielson, Community Systems Manager for Loudon County (VA) Sanitation Authority; Matt Boone, Project Engineer for Malcolm Pirnie (OH); Alan Vicory, Jr., Executive Director and Chief Engineer for the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (OH); and Geoff Grubbs, former Director of the Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. EPA (DC). Marci DuPraw of RESOLVE facilitated the panel and presented the results of the WEF Clean Water Act Reauthorization Survey which was conducted immediately prior to WEFTEC. (To view the survey results click here.)
Each panelist identified new actions that must be taken to preserve and extend the purpose of the CWA for the next 35 years. Baker discussed the importance of cross media approaches and stressed that the current approach of using separate legislation for multiple pollution issues can cause the CWA to conflict with other legislation, such as the Clean Air Act. Danielson believes that the key to sustainability is water restoration and reuse and stressed the importance of changing public perceptions about water reuse. Boone argued that financial assistance programs need to be reevaluated to better assist smaller communities.
From the perspective of a seasoned expert, Vicory focused on resource limitations and discussed the problem of unfunded mandates for state and local governments. According to Vicory, there will never be enough money allocated to meet the current CWA requirements, and the focus should be on the requirements that produce the most returns relative to their expense in an effort to improve efficiency. Grubb’s expressed concern over the exploding population and cited statistics that predicted the growth of over a million people in the U.S. over the next 35 years, increasing the population to over 400 million people. To meet the challenge, he believes there needs to be investments in a new generation of more efficient and cheaper technology-based controls and best management practices, including those for agriculture. Grubbs also stated that the water quality standards and TMDL programs need a statutory change so that they can be adjusted for attainability with reductions going to the right place, especially in the face of increasing loads. In closing, he emphasized the importance of a secure funding base for cities and for continued research.
Small Group Discussions
Following the panel the audience was invited to break into small groups to discuss a pre-identified issue of their choice. The issues were drawn from the priority list developed by the CWA Reauthorization Survey respondents. Each group was tasked with answering three questions: (1) Within this issue area, what are the water quality challenges that the current CWA is not effectively addressing; (2) What changes in the CWA would help address these challenges; (3) What can WEF do over the next year to help bring about these changes? The group topics were water scarcity, water quality standards, diffuse sources of pollution, climate change implications, funding and priority setting, incentives for new technology research and design, and ensuring adequate supply of trained professionals. To read more about the group discussion results, click on a group topic.
Closing
Wilcher closed the meeting by giving her final thoughts on the small group discussion feedback. She summarized some of the small group’s statements and also restated the need for flexibility and adaptable permitting within the Act. Current methods and practices for setting standards, for example, may not apply as new contaminants emerge or the effects of climate change are realized. She emphasized the need for more research to build a stronger foundation for setting water quality standards. She closed on the necessity of creating a national dialogue through public education and “connecting the passions” that exists for clean water by building bridges with sister agencies, educators, industry, and environmentalists. To develop the best plan for the future, everyone must work together.
The session is part of an ongoing effort by the WEF Government Affairs Committee to develop a position on the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act. It was preceded by a September Congressional Briefing panel; and will be followed by a National Wet Weather Summit planned for January 2008 that will convene a diverse group of utility leaders, industry experts, environmental advocates and academicians to discuss new approach to wet weather management strategies. The Government Affairs Committee will also work with WEF Member Associations to promote discussions on future changes to the Clean Water Act as part of their 2008 annual meetings.