FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Lori Harrison, (703) 684-2480
lharrison@wef.org
June 24, 2008
Water Environment Federation’s Vice President Testifies at House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Hearing
Alexandria, Va. - Paul Freedman, Vice President of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), testified today at a congressional hearing of the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Designed as an information gathering exercise for potential legislative activity, the topic of the hearing was “Comprehensive Watershed Planning and Management”.
The House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee has broad jurisdiction over water resources activities including the Clean Water Act (CWA) and flood control and navigation-related responsibilities of the U.S. Army Corps. Congressman James Oberstar, Chair of the full Committee, has been a long time proponent of the watershed approach for dealing with water quality issues and is one of the few members of Congress who helped craft the Clean Water Act of 1972. One of his centerpiece legislative efforts this Congress is the Clean Water Restoration Act which seeks to restore the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act after recent Supreme Court cases narrowed it. The legislation would help ensure that land use activities, such as development projects, do not contribute to water quality degradation. Chairman Oberstar believes that a watershed approach can help enhance local and regional economic viability in ways that meet local water resource development needs, are environmentally-sound, and consistent with watershed objectives.
Freedman was asked testify on behalf of WEF along with witnesses from other water-related entities including former Army Corps official and nationally recognized expert on water resources planning, General Gerry Galloway; Carol Collier, the Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission; and representatives from the Nature Conservancy and the Texas Water Board. Freedman’s testimony included an overview of the watershed approach to water resources management and current programs; meeting new challenges in water resources management; the need for intergovernmental and interagency cooperation; and the inadequacy of the CWA for holistic watershed management.
A WEF member since 1980, Freedman has made numerous contributions to WEF through committee membership and leadership. In addition to serving on the Federation’s Board of Trustees, the House of Delegates and the Board of Directors, he has also been a member or served as chair/vice-chair of several WEF committees, specialty conferences, and task forces including the Watershed Management Committee, Government Affairs Committee, Long-Range Planning Committee, Sustainability Task Force, and most recently, the National Research Council Committee on TMDLs and adaptive implementation. With more than 30 years of relevant professional experience, Freedman is co-founder and president of LimnoTech, an environmental consulting firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
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About WEF
Formed in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with more than 34,000 individual members and 81 affiliated Member Associations representing an additional 50,000 water quality professionals throughout the world. WEF and its member associations proudly work to achieve our mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment.
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