Clean Water Advocate | Winter 2019

ADVOCATE CLEAN WATER

Winter 2019

THE NACWA MAGAZINE

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies

2O2O PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

VISION

Engagement, Collaboration, And The Next 50 Years Of Clean Water Progress

12

34

50

Clean Water Priorities In The New Congress

50th Anniversary Of Cuyahoga River Fire

Baltimore Deploys Innovative Outreach

Poll Position

River on Fire

Pop Up… Grow!

We Clean It. For Everyone’s Sake.

For nearly five decades, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) has been the nation’s recognized leader in legislative, regulatory, legal and communications advocacy on the full spectrum of clean water issues.

NACWA represents public wastewater and stormwater agencies of all sizes nationwide, and is a top technical resource in water quality, water management

and sustainable ecosystem protection. NACWA’s unique and growing network strengthens the advocacy voice for all member utilities, and ensures they have the tools necessary to provide affordable and sustainable clean water for all communities. Our vision is to represent every utility as a NACWA member and to build a strong and sustainable clean water future...together!

Your Ultimate Clean Water Event Experience… In a City Grand Enough for a Prince NACWA’s Utility Leadership Conference & 49th Annual Meeting July 16 – 19, 2019 | Minneapolis, MN Early Bird Registration Available! www.NACWA.org/EarlyReg

CLEAN WATER

ADVOCATE FEATURE STORY

8

2O2O PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

4

VISION

Engagement, Collaboration, and the Next 50 Years of Clean Water Progress

DEPARTMENTS

ADVOCATE’S VOICE

Position 12 Poll Clean Water Priorities In The New Congress (DC)

— By Kristina Surfus and Jason Isakovic

Back 56 Take Responsibility Our Role In Solving National Crisis (DC) — By Cynthia Finley

IN FOCUS

on Fire 34 River The Cuyahoga River Fire As National Catalyst (OH) — John Gonzalez

Today’s 71 Managing Workforce

Automating Employee Discipline/Grievance (NM) — By Judy Montoya and Frank Roth

Founded in 1970, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is the nation’s recognized leader in legislative, regulatory, legal and communications advocacy on the full spectrum of clean water issues. NACWA represents public wastewater and stormwater agencies of all sizes nationwide, and is a top technical resource in water quality, water management and sustainable ecosystem protection.

Winter 2019

OUR CLEAN WATER STORY Members share challenges, innovations, opportunities the 18 Crossing Threshold

Winter Storm Grayson Wreaks Havoc (SC)

Community Outreach, Workforce

Water U 40 Clean Water Innovation Campus

Creates Big Solutions (GA) —By Melissa Meeker

Winter 2019

— By Pamela Flasch

of the Earth 28 Salt Managing The Complex Ecosystem (UT)

— By Leland Myers

Water, 24 Under Under Fire

Epic Floods Reveal Everyday Heroes (IA) — By Roy Hesemann

5

to School 46 Back Teacher Externship As

Workforce Solution (MN) — By Bobbie Chong

Up… Grow!

50 Pop Creative Outreach Impacts Community (MD)

— By Rudolph S. Chow

NACWA’s unique and growing network strengthens the advocacy voice for all member utilities, and ensures they have the tools necessary to provide affordable and sustainable clean water for all communities. Our vision is to represent every utility as a NACWA member and to build a strong and sustainable clean water future...together!

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Ecosystem, Environment

CLEAN CLEAN WATER WATER ADVOCATE ADVOCATE Winter 2019

64

WW

W.W

AT

EE ERW

K.U

S

EDITORIAL 62

Redefining Regulation Collaboration When Utilities Regulate The Regulators (CT) — By Jaimye Bartak

66

Off Limits?

Addressing Infiltration And Inflow On Private Property (OH) — By Todd Danielson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jaimye Bartak Bobbie Chong Rudolph S. Chow Todd Danielson Cynthia Finley Pamela Flasch John Gonzalez Roy Hesemann Jason Isakovic Melissa Meeker Judy Montoya Leland Myers Frank Roth Mark Sanchez Kristina Surfus MANAGING EDITOR Anthony Viardo Director Communications & Marketing tviardo@nacwa.org ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Sarah Bixby PUBLISHED BY: The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Images c iStockPhotos & Adobe Stock CONTACT NACWA 1130 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 833-2672 info@nacwa.org

BY THE NUMBERS

16

Where the Buck Stops

Sharing The Burden Of Water Quality Costs

Membership Kelly Brocato - Sr. Director, Membership Development & Retention kbrocato@nacwa.org Marissa Esguerra - Director, Member Services mesguerra@nacwa.org FOLLOW NACWA Facebook - @NACWAOfficial Twitter - @NACWA

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in contributed articles are exclusively those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily represent official positions taken by their employers or NACWA.

7 Winter 2019

COMPLIANCE, FINANCE

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Compliance, Finance

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

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2O2O

By Mark Sanchez

P

NACWA President

olitically, these are tumultuous

on becoming more involved in shaping our

and distracting times. But when

clean water future.

distractions are at their height, integrity demands that we maintain an even greater focus on our core purpose, lest it get lost in all the noise.

As clean water stewards and leaders, we are constantly striving to become better. I believe as we look to the future—collectively and individually—we should not only look to become better but also heed the call to become better

NACWA’s core purpose is to shape

together. There is something to be said about

the clean water policy landscape and

aligning our local mission—to become the

be the go-to resource for clean water executives

best clean water providers possible—with the

across the country. If you are reading this

collective mission of elevating the clean water

article—whether you are with a small, medium, or

sector nationally. What would that look like?

large utility—I personally encourage you to focus

9 Winter 2019

Engagement, Collaboration, and the Next 50 Years of Clean Water Progress

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

VISION

This issue of the Clean Water Advocate is filled

Clean Water Vision,” and as inspiring as it is, its

with real stories of member utilities that have

success depends on the following:

faced daunting challenges—some of which may be all-too-familiar to you—and, through passion,

n

and is not working for your agency under the

innovation, creativity, and sheer hard work, have

current regulatory and legislative regime

overcome those challenges and/or are presently

governing clean water policy;

transforming them into new opportunities. These inspiring examples can, and should, help uplift

n

other utility members—even if just by taking

including environmental, agricultural, citizen,

What more can we achieve if real connection and

industry, labor, public health groups as well as

collaboration can occur? This is the kind of unity

policymakers at the local, state, and national

that “lifts all boats” and is at the heart of the

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

10

Now is the time to resolutely set our eyes forward, put our best ideas on the table, and join our voices together to shape the next 50 years of achievement.

EYES FORWARD, ARMS LOCKED The year 2020 marks NACWA’s 50th anniversary.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. While we should all be proud of the enormous progress we as a sector have made over the past 50 years, now is not the time to look backward. Now is the time to resolutely set our eyes forward, put our best ideas on the table, and join our voices together to shape the next 50 years of achievement. This is NACWA’s “2020

Your help in finding ways to collaborate with key stakeholders in the water sector,

note of the outcomes of others’ experiences.

clean water sector’s collective mission.

Your direct engagement in sharing what is

levels; and n

Your time in sharing your expertise, staff, and resources to ensure an unparalleled peer-topeer network among utilities to take ideas from vision to reality.

Let the examples from small, medium and large utilites in this magazine inspire you. These utilities are just like yours, as are their missions and their stories. Furthermore, as members of the Association, they are your community and are most likely readily accessible and eager to support you—just as, hopefully, you are to them.

This is the foundation of the 2020 Clean Water Vision…eyes forward, arms locked.

POLICY OBSTACLES, ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITIES

There are undoubtedly those who will view this effort cynically. The naysayers will say nothing substantial can get done policy-wise in today’s dysfunctional Congress or at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But as President of NACWA, I am happy to provide convincing evidence to the contrary.

On the last day of Congressional action this past year, despite a looming government shutdown, Congress voted—on a bipartisan basis and almost unanimously—to amend the Clean Water Act in

the most significant way in decades: by inserting language into the Act that makes integrated planning a permanent statutory program at the EPA. The president signed the bill and now this language firmly places the force of law behind municipal clean water agencies’ ability to develop prioritized regulatory plans—ones that need to be fairly reviewed and considered by the EPA and delegated states.

This is but one recent example of the effectiveness of national advocacy and what can

TAKE HEART, TAKE HEED If NACWA and its partners can succeed in getting the Clean Water Act amended in this divided political atmosphere, then what can’t we do? If we continue to work together, the next 50 years of progress will look bright indeed.

I invite you to join me in this collaboration, so we can continue to enjoy unmatched returns on our investment in clean water—returns that will benefit generations to come.

happen when utility leaders get behind a plan of

garners bipartisan support.

Mark Sanchez is the Executive Director of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and serves as NACWA’s President.

11 Winter 2019

clamor and noise—continues to be an issue that

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

action. It also emphasizes that water—amid all the

POLL POSITION HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Water Sector Priorities Elevated in Congress Due to Strong, Sustained Advocacy HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

By Kristina Surfus & Jason Isakovic

T

hroughout all the partisan fighting and policy divisions between Congress and the White House over the past two years, water has proven to be an issue of common ground and one of the few legislative bright spots where the US House of Representatives, the US Senate, and the Trump Administration have been able to coalesce around bipartisan bills.

Significant water legislation, including the America’s Water Infrastructure Act and the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, was

In a political era that provides little room for bipartisanship...the water sector has the potential to buck the trends.

Winter 2019

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CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

advanced in 2018 after broad bipartisan support was secured following many months of Congressional attention and negotiation.

These bills may be seen as just the first stages of a long campaign to address the full range of water infrastructure needs and to modernize the Clean Water Act (CWA), but they set crucial precedents upon which to build and are a considerable achievement after years of hard work elevating clean water as a national priority.

They also show the strong bipartisan voice that water as an issue inspires and the positive impact that the advocacy efforts of NACWA, the communities it represents, and the water sector as a whole are having on Congress and the Administration.

OPENING WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY As work gets underway in the 116th Congress, we find ourselves operating in a new political environment. November’s midterm elections ushered in a takeover of the House by Democrats, counterweighted by the strengthening of Republican control in the Senate.

This dynamic could heighten the partisan obstacles to achieving legislative consensus, especially with the 2020 presidential election season already looming. Partisan policy fights ranging from immigration to the federal deficit may grow more acute, and significant House attention could become tied up in oversight and investigative hearings of the Trump Administration.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

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Perhaps surprisingly to many, however, is that this unique dynamic could also help to advance the next phase of clean water priorities. The groundwork has already been laid both in terms of demonstrating bipartisan opportunities surrounding water issues and through preliminary and ongoing discussions around top water sector priorities. Assuming Congress looks for one or two areas in which to make meaningful progress, the ever-popular issue of modernizing America’s infrastructure will remain a top prospect.

Additionally, the incoming Democratic House has raised the profile of other issues impacting the sector, including disaster resiliency, climate

change mitigation, and tax reforms. As far as any of these issues are considered, NACWA will look to play an active role in protecting the interests of the sector and addressing common concerns.

POSITIONED FOR SUCCESS These unique circumstances put the water sector in a relatively strong position to advocate for its most pressing priorities, which include reauthorizing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, securing strong funding for federal programs that impact the sector, and modernizing the CWA to better reflect the modern challenges and innovation opportunities that utilities are facing.

NACWA will be busy over the next year advocating for continued increases in federal dollars for water infrastructure, meaningful action on affordability issues, innovation and the utility of the future concept, and a net environmental benefit approach. Our utility members will be critical in helping advance this agenda.

Since his 2016 election campaign, President Trump has spoken about the need to improve America’s infrastructure through comprehensive legislation. In his remarks, water has remained a key component. Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle have maintained attention to the issue. Furthermore, the new House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has also outlined goals for

Whether through a comprehensive infrastructure package or via stand-alone legislation, NACWA will be diligently proposing and analyzing policies and supporting those that promote and strengthen the clean water sector.

STRIKING WHILE THE IRON IS HOT A unified advocacy push by the clean water community will be imperative to building and nurturing the political willpower needed to carry sound clean water policy across the finish line. Water Week—the water sector’s annual public policy showcase event in Washington, DC—is scheduled to take place from March 31 to April 6, 2019. Water Week, along with its signature event, the National Water Policy Fly-In,

The opportunity to raise a strong, unified voice

as a water sector is here. We must capitalize on the progress we have made with Congress and policymakers and ensure that our message is louder than ever.

In a political era that provides little room for bipartisanship and major legislative achievements, the water sector has the potential to buck the trends and lead from the front as this Congress goes through its legislative agenda.

Let’s seize the moment and make it count!

Kristina Surfus and Jason Isakovic are Directors of Legislative Affairs at NACWA.

“Whether through a comprehensive infrastructure package or via stand-alone legislation, NACWA will be diligently proposing and analyzing policies and supporting those that promote and strengthen the clean water sector.”

15 Winter 2019

Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have already met with President Trump regarding bipartisan collaboration on infrastructure. While challenges remain—including how to pay for infrastructure investments and just how comprehensive any legislative package should be—both Republican and Democrat Congressional Leadership clearly understand that infrastructure is one of the few areas where new bipartisan policy can be achieved during what may be two of the most politically contentious years in recent memory.

provides an important platform for hundreds of water professionals and leaders from across the country to speak directly to members of Congress about the impact of existing federal policy on water sector stakeholders and their hundreds of millions of constituents, as well as the opportunities that exist to enact sound, sustainable policies moving forward. Senators and representatives need to hear directly from those they represent in their home states and communities about what they can do policy-wise to help promote the long-term viability of the public water utilities in their critical services.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

infrastructure—including water infrastructure—as a priority for House Democrats this Congress.

S H A R I N G T H E B U R D E N O F WAT E R Q UA L I T Y CO S T S

WHERE THE BUCK STOPS When President Truman

Ensuring water quality, as part of providing clean

coined the phrase

water to all, is not just a job, it’s a calling. Perhaps the greatest of public responsibilities. But is the

“The buck stops here,” TRUMAN

buck stopping where it should? Clean Water

he proffered a rare

utilities and their communities have chosen to own

treasure indeed: a lasting

this responsibility, daily bearing the cost of protecting the public and keeping the clean water

idiom that means “to own responsibility” –

flowing—while meeting stringent water quality

originating from Washington DC no less – in the

standards. But they should (rightfully) expect the

strongest possible terms; at a time when its

authorities who (rightfully) regulate water quality

opposite, “passing the buck,” was the norm.

1 THE BUCK GROWS COSTS OF CLEAN WATER ARE HIGH & PROJECTED TO INCREASE

to equitably share the responsibility as well.

$271 BILLION Investment Needed for Municipal Clean Water Utilities to Meet Mandated Water Quality Goals1

$113 BILLION

Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment in 20172

$4.5 BILLION 50%

96%

FEDERAL INVESTMENTS AS % OF TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING PER SECTOR 2

Contributed

by Local Public Funding2

44%

40% 30%

22%

2

28%

20%

4%

10% 2014 FIGURES

MASS TRANSIT

HIGHWAYS

AVIATION PROJECTS

Money Spent for

WATER UTILITIES

Amount Contributed by the Federal Government2

4%

Contributed

by Federal Government2

THE BUCK PASSES FEDERAL INVESTMENT BY SECTOR SHOWS PRIORITY… OR LACK THEREOF

THE BUCK LANDS

3

AS CLEAN WATER COSTS GROW AT A RATE FASTER THAN INFLATION, THE COST BURDEN FOR RATEPAYERS AND CLEAN WATER UTILITIES GROWS AT AN UNSUSTAINABLE RATE

COSTS TO AVERAGE SINGLE FAMILY HOME3

$501

Average annual cost for wastewater collection and treatment

3.6%

Annual rate increase of wastewater collection/treatment since 2016

2.1%

Annual cost of living increase due to INFLATION

16 5

COSTS TO PUBLIC CLEAN WATER UTILITIES4 Case Study: NACWA surveyed 115 public clean water utilities throughout the country regarding their costs and spending.

Years in a row that public wastewater costs/rates have increased faster than INFLATION Years in a row (2019-2024) that clean water rates are expected to increase faster than INFLATION

Public Clean Water Utilities: With local funding, foot some 96% of the cost.

HERE $

Residential Ratepayers: Monthly bill payments cover the cost of clean water.

HERE $

Corporate Ratepayers: More and more are working with utilities every year.

HERE ?

Federal Government: Funding at ONLY 4%

With clean water costs projected to increase dramatically, we call on the Federal Government, as partners, to step up and do their part.

Total Amount Spent in 2017

$5.4 BILLION

Annual Capital Expenditures (Avg)

$2.8 BILLION

Annual Expenditures for Regulatory Compliance (Avg)

50%+

LOCAL SOURCES WILL CONTINUE TO FOOT THIS BILL HERE $

$19.1 BILLION

Percentage of Utility Expenditures Used for Regulatory Compliance

If more than half of public clean water utilities’ annual spending is regulatory compliance, shouldn’t they receive more investment and assistance (more than 4% of needs) from government?

4

WHERE THE BUCK STOPS (AND WHERE IT SHOULD)

Provide investment and assistance on par with, if not higher than, other infrastructure sectors because water is our most valuable resource!

KEY

(1) EPA Clean Water Needs Survey, January 2016 (2) CBO report, Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure (3) NACWA 2017 Cost of Clean Water Index (4) NACWA 2017 Financial Survey

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

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Crossing the

THRESHOLD

By Pamela Flasch

Freezing Winter Storm Grayson Takes South Carolina’s Infrastructure And Response Effort To The Bursting Point

T

he Sea Islands near Beaufort, South Carolina, are known for year-round golf, beaches, and temperate winters that attract snowbirds. Most Januaries boast an average temperature that lies in the fifties. January 2018 was not like most.

Winter Storm Grayson dumped about four inches of snow on the area, the highest amount in nearly seven years. Temperatures hovered at or below freezing for a week, causing closures and damaged infrastructure—especially burst pipes— throughout the area. From the top to the bottom, team members at the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority (BJWSA) knew they had to be vigilant and prepared. Beaufort County is 38% water. Moreover, the Authority has waterlines that run alongside or under more than twenty bridges or causeways in the county.

A BREAK UNLIKE ANY OTHER

As Throne’s team turned the water off to repair an air release valve on the bridge’s attached twelve-inch

Winter 2019

Thirty-year company veteran, Mark Throne, a utility compliance supervisor, who was six months from retirement, and his crew, typically experienced winter as a welcome break from long 90 plus-degree days with high humidity.

But on that particular morning, bitter winds battered them atop the 90 plus-foot-high McTeer Bridge, and if not for the sturdy chin straps, would literally have blown the hard hats from the crew members’ heads.

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CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Winter Storm Grayson generated 189 work orders, of which close to 100 involved minor leaks. But one particular service call at the McTeer Bridge would be unlike any other on that day, previous days or subsequent days.

waterline, they noticed that a huge volume of water was continuing to gush from the line near the spot where the line was buried in the river. Unfortunately, the location of this newly discovered leak presented challenges that were unlike anything the crew had ever encountered, guaranteeing the need for unique repair solutions and methods.

Andy Mattie, current field operations manager for BJWSA, was part of that team. “The tide was up,” he remembers, “and we could see that the water was stirring not far away from the valve we were repairing, making it difficult to determine the source of the motion in the water.”

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The waterline was critical to water operations for 9,400 customers...Without it, the service area would not be able to meet minimum service standards.

It was not until low tide that Mattie and Throne saw the origin of the running water: a major 200 gallon-per-minute (GPM) leak on the twenty-inch waterline that coursed through the saltwater marsh adjacent to the bridge approach from Lady’s Island.

Installed in 1992, this critical supply line involved twin twelve-inch lines attached to the bridge that connected to a twenty-inch mainline buried in the marshes. The waterline was critical to water operations for 9,400 customers on the Lady’s, St. Helena, Dataw, Fripp, and Cat Islands.

Without it, the service area would not be able to meet minimum service standards. Crews

determined that the leak was controllable and established protocols for its periodical inspection while a repair plan was developed.

The line’s leaky fitting was very near piles that had been constructed during an expansion of the McTeer Bridge. The area around these piles had a tidal fluctuation of more than eight feet two times per day. Investigation suggested that the change in the river flow that the new piles had caused, had most likely eroded the cover over the pipe.

PHASED REPAIR, COLLABORATIVE EFFORT Because of this criticality, the resulting project will be completed in two phases. The first phase covered the engineering and permitting efforts associated with the repair design. The second phase will cover the actual repair effort.

The immediate need—to find and stop the source of the leak—led BJWSA to partner with BRW Construction Group, LLC, from nearby Savannah,

strong chance that, if one of the components has failed due to corrosion, that others would as well.”

CONTINUOUS ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT Black & Veatch (B&V) was hired to assess the condition of the pipe, estimate the remaining useful life (RUL) of the McTeer pipeline, and identify future assessment, repair, or replacement alternatives.

The firm conducted the condition assessment concurrently with the repair that BJWSA and BRW completed. To facilitate the gathering of additional data, the work plan for the condition

assessment included additional inspections of the pipe in the area where it transitioned from being exposed to being buried near the bridge and at an adjacent section of pipe. BRW’s barge provided workplace support of excavation during the inspection.

The waterline was buried deep in saltmarsh.

Over the years, as the marsh mud had shifted, this section of the line had become exposed to the environment. As a result, the bolts holding the restrained joints together had rusted and failed.

“BRW certainly performed their due diligence,” says Justin Thomas, director of field operations for BJWSA. “The section of waterline from the point it leaves the bridge up to the sandy part of the marsh was installed with the same restrained joint material. So one would assume there is a

and analyses. GWT is an ultrasonic method that directs sound along the length of the pipe using G-scan equipment. The GWT system is a lowfrequency ultrasonic guided wave technique that detects internal and external corrosion.

Ultrasonic methods provide data regarding the interior and exterior corrosion of a pipe as well as actual condition data.

Winter 2019

The group made emergency repairs to reduce the leak from 200 gallons-perminute to 20...

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Georgia. The group made emergency repairs to reduce the leak from 200 GPM to less than 20 GPM by replacing the failed bolts. To stop the leak completely, a special repair sleeve was designed and installed sixty days after the emergency repair. The total cost of the repair effort was over $90,000—with 90% of the amount covering such unusual expenses as barges and divers.

B&V subcontracted with Structural Integrity Associates (SIA) to perform guided wave testing (GWT) and B-scan ultrasonic surveys

parameters for iron pipe and field-identified values for soil resistivity, pH, and aeration.

The second approach, which was the observed approach, accounted for the maximum pit depths observed in addition to the soil parameters measured during the inspection.

Based on the expected values, the pipe was predicted to have exceeded its useful life already because the soil was aggressive and the pipe was not protected.

However, the observed maximum pit depths showed substantially less corrosion than predicted, indicating that there was potential for remaining life. Given that the observed pit

depths were based on limited data and varied significantly from the expected values, a more conservative model was used. It averaged the expected and observed RUL estimates to account for uncertainty in the unobserved sections of pipe.

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MULTIPLE APPROACHES B&V used a combination of approaches to assess the pipe in three inspection locations during the repair, including wall assessment that employed ultrasonic technologies, metallurgical testing, and soil testing.

The RUL analysis of the bolts from inspection of Location 3 showed that they had a RUL of at least five years assuming they remained in contact with backfill and were not exposed directly to seawater. From a conservative standpoint, it would be unwise to assume that all of the tide-influenced bolts were performing similarly well.

The RUL of the pipe was estimated using two approaches grounded in expected and observed pipe and soil properties. Both approaches involved comparing the estimated pit depth to the allowable pit depth based on external and internal load calculations. In the expected approach, the expected depth of current corrosion was estimated using typical

SEEING LIGHT AT THE END OF THE PIPELINE The resulting RUL was approximately five years.

BJWSA has already initiated plans to replace the portion of exposed pipe that extends between the McTeer Bridge and the saltwater marsh. Due to the significant level of corrosion at this location, B&V recommended using shop-applied Ceramawrap epoxy coating by Induron for this installation. The final phase of construction/repair begins in early 2019—weather permitting.

Pamela Flasch is the Communications Manager for the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority, and is a member of the NACWA Communications & Public Affairs Committee.

She also serves as the Vice-President of Communications for the South Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

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Come and experience the most engaging get together for Pretreatment professionals that you will have all year.

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Winter 2019

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CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Between inspections & site visits; NPDES enforcement & contracts; compliance orders & discharge sampling, you understand: You have to be at the top of your game. Come to Tacoma, WA, and get the Training, Expertise and Engagement you need to be your BEST in 2019 and beyond. This NACWA Workshop is the premier pretreatment event every year with the highest value in:

WATER FIRE

Under

Under CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

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“Epic” Floods In Eastern Iowa Test And Define A Clean Water Community

By Roy Hesemann

The skies opened, and some seven to eleven inches of rain fell in the basin immediately upstream of Cedar Rapids on June 12. The previous flood record for the

31.12’ 2008

20’ 1851 & 1929 25

6’4” Average Height

Winter 2019

A wet fall of 2007, along with record snowfall and constant rain during the spring of 2008, led to high river levels and saturated soils.

The Cedar River, which runs through the cities of Cedar Falls, Waterloo, and Cedar Rapids, was swollen out of its banks most of that spring. June provided no relief. Heavy thunderstorms began to roll into the 7,600-square-mile basin, causing floods first in Mason City and then down the river to Cedar Falls and Waterloo before barreling toward Cedar Rapids.

CEDAR RIVER WATER LEVELS

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F

or most of the country, mid-June 2008 was like any other summer. In Iowa, and especially in the Cedar River Basin of eastern Iowa, however, June 2008 was anything but normal.

Cedar River was 20 feet—reached in 1851 and 1929. Most new river records are measured in inches, but on June 13—yes, Friday the 13th—the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids hit an unimaginable new record of 31.12 feet. An “EPIC SURGE,” as headlined by the Cedar Rapids Gazette, sent a three-story-high wall of water over homes, businesses, roads, vehicles, critical infrastructure, and utilities throughout the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor.

ANSWERING THE CALL The Cedar Rapids Metro area—home to some 180,000 people—was devastated. Nine square miles of the city were impacted, affecting over 18,000 people and 7749 parcels. Fortunately, there was no loss of life related to this catastrophe. More than 300 city facilities were damaged, including City Hall, the Central Fire Station, the Police Station, Public Works facility, the City Bus Terminal, and all but one of the wells that supply water to the two water treatment facilities.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

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City staff made a gallant attempt to save the well, but as darkness approached, they realized they woefully lacked the resources needed. Utilities Operations Manager Greg Eyerly made a call to KCRG News, asking them to air a request for volunteers to help sandbag the well. Within half an hour, more than a thousand people answered the call—standing shoulder-to-shoulder, many waist-deep in flood waters—to do a bucket brigade with sandbags. In a little over an hour, some ten thousand sandbags had been placed, and the last well was able to provide critical drinking water for the community.

The single public facility that sustained the most damage was the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), a potentially catastrophic loss for the community. The clean water facility was designed and sized to handle high-strength raw industrial waste from multiple grain wet-milling operations and a cardboard recycling facility. The average flow to the plant is 52 million gallons per day (MGD), but organic loading is the population equivalent of 1.8 million people. Not only does WPCF treat the waste stream from Cedar Rapids and the industry located there, but it also serves the Cities of

Marion, Hiawatha, Robins, Palo, and a portion of Linn County. Its going offline—for any amount of time—impacts the citizens of the community and the major industries located there.

It was ominous news, then, when representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources toured WCPF—shortly after the flood waters subsided—and stated that it would take a year for the plant to be back online. But the officials underestimated the determination and tenacity of the staff, consultants, contractors, vendors, and others associated with the facility.

People like Pat Jones, a 28-year WPCF plant operator, who worked long hours day after day at the plant to help get it back online before returning to his own house—which was steeped in several feet of water—to assess and repair the damage before going to bed, or Jeff Visek, who paddled through the plant in a kayak to examine the extent of the destruction, or the contracted dive team that worked tirelessly to repair the 96-inch interceptor gate stem that corkscrewed, the gate having been damaged by flood debris, as other staff fought to close it and isolate the plant from the collection system flow.

NPDES permit, with the exception of disinfection, which came shortly thereafter.

While the facility was operational and able to meet permit requirements, much work remained.

The multiple hearth incinerator was offline for nine months. Other parts of the solids de-watering and disposal system took a full year to come back online. Equipment would start and unexpectedly stop due to corrosion in the control wiring. Additionally, FEMA project worksheet after project worksheet documented the extent of damage that occurred over the dreadful

For the next six years, WPCF underwent permanent repairs. Through the process, several major projects that were federally obligated for funding were de-obligated, even though several of the projects were already under construction.

The city was able to successfully appeal many of these de-obligations, but a replacement incinerator that had been initially approved was not in the cards.

In order to prevent another disaster like the 2008 flood, the city was successful in obtaining approximately $18 million in FEMA and Iowa Department of Homeland Security funding, along with nearly $4 million in local match-funding for two mitigation projects. The larger of the two is a concrete flood wall/earthen berm/multipurpose pumping station that protects the facility from a flood crest of three feet above the 2008 level while maintaining the ability to treat customers’ waste stream. The second is an internal pump station that prevents the plant from flooding its own system, should the plant return stream become inundated.

On a chilly October day in 2014, with the tranquil Cedar River in the background, federal, state, and city officials, along with many plant staff members, cut the ribbon on the new WPCF Flood Protection System. Our customers, our community, and the global market to which its customers provide food and fuel, depend on the Cedar Rapids WPCF to be online and ready for business, day in and day out. As plant manager, I am proud to work alongside these individuals who I know will uphold that promise and guarantee.

As devastating as the 2008 flood was for our community, we are all stronger and more resilient than ever before due to the collective hearts and hands of those who live and work here.

Roy A. Hesemann is the Plant Manager for the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa Water Pollution Control Facility.

27 Winter 2019

In just 12 days after the crest, WCPF’s main lift pump station was dried out and cleaned up, with the motors rewound and baked out.

In a much-welcomed minor miracle, the four 500-horsepower pumps were back online, allowing some 700 miles of collection system to be pumped down. For the first time since the event, basements were drained, and people were able to see the true extent of the damage to their homes and businesses. A far cry from the estimated one year: In a mere 42 days after the crest, the plant was operational and meeting its

three-day period. All told, the initial federal funds apportioned to repair or replace the damage totaled approximately $82 million.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

MINOR MIRACLES, LESSONS LEARNED

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

Salt

28

OFTHEEARTH

By Leland Myers

Water is water is water, right? That could be the case, unless the water is in the Great Salt Lake (GSL). In a hypersaline lake such as the GSL, the water ecosystem may be more complex because of the impact of high salt content and the unique ecology that exists in such places. But understanding is key to protecting, and this is a responsibility we give ourselves when we take on the mantle of “Clean Water Professional.”

many of us as utility leaders and

the Lake and its wetlands support between

workers is not only to go out of

three and six million birds annually and provides

our way to operate within our

about 40% of the world’s supply of brine shrimp

ecosystems sustainably, but to give

cysts, a valuable food source for aquiculture.

each ecosystem the respect that it

In addition to supporting this diverse ecology,

deserves—both in understanding and

the Lake also provides a significant source of

protecting it—to ensure that it will

mineral extraction and economic benefit. Case

be around, and healthy, for future

in point: the entire United States production of

generations to enjoy. And to this end, the Great

magnesium comes from the GSL. And further, the

Salt Lake (GSL) has given us quite the challenge!

Lake is also the largest solar producer of sulfate

The GSL ecosystem has a salinity range from brackish to 28% salt and a total salt content of about 4.7 billion tons. It is divided into four separate, distinct bays, each functioning very differently from the next and serving unique ecological functions.

Over the past three decades, the Lake’s elevation has varied about 20 feet.

The GSL has an average of 15.4 million acre-feet of water and an average depth

of potash in the world. Overall, the economic benefit of the GSL to Utah is $1.3 billion annually.

GIVING DUE DILIGENCE These facts may give you the impression that the GSL ecosystem’s functions are well-known, but you would be wrong. More than ten years ago, after recognizing the complexity of the Lake and noting the lack of significant water quality studies on it, Central Davis Sewer District (CDSD)—in cooperation with other water reclamation facilities— formed a research

29 Winter 2019

of only 13 feet. As a part of a hemispheric flyway,

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

T

he way I see it, the challenge for

water reclamation facilities are reduced to help Farmington Bay be less productive and possibly

Ultimately, we live in this ecosystem, and it is our duty to understand and protect it.

reduce the production of cyanobacteria and its toxin, Gilbert Bay could be harmed and its ecosystem function seriously reduced.

PROTECTING THROUGH STANDARDS The beneficial and proper use of Farmington Bay is defined by the Utah Administrative Code as “protected for infrequent primary and secondary contact recreation, waterfowl, shore birds and other water-oriented wildlife

organization called the Wasatch Front Water Quality Council. Its ongoing objective is to provide critical research that will inform decisions relating to nutrients as well as other potential pollutants to the GSL ecosystem.

Knowing that CDSD is a relatively small water 30

reclamation facility with a population base of

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

60,000 citizens, the District’s leaders surmised that it would be prohibitively difficult to generate the millions of dollars needed to understand the GSL’s complexities. So they formed an interlocal agency with like-minded leaders from several other water treatment facilities to work on this research.

The Farmington Bay area of the GSL is an example of the complexity of the research needed. Farmington Bay is a hypereutrophic, extremely shallow area with plentiful wetlands serving as a food source for birds, but it also produces high concentrations of cyanobacteria and toxins. This system flows into the GSL’s Gilbert Bay, which supports the plentiful brine shrimp population.

Gilbert Bay is considered nutrient poor and could produce more brine shrimp with more nutrients, which would be an economic benefit for the state and an additional food source for birds. Gilbert Bay needs the nutrients, including those fixed by cyanobacteria from the air, flowing from Farmington Bay. If nutrients from

including their necessary food chain” (R317-2).

Subsequently, the GSL does not support fish populations and is not used for irrigation or drinking water supply. The invertebrate population that it hosts is relatively tolerant to many elements or compounds that would otherwise be considered a concern in a freshwater lake.

Hence, to date the Lake has only one numeric criterion that has been established—for selenium—to protect its terrestrial life uses.

Much of the research being conducted will aid in the formation of other standards that could be established. In collaboration with university researchers and commercial consultants, the Council has conducted dozens of research projects and maintains public access to the resulting project reports via the web (http:// wfwqc.org/research/). True to the Council’s goal, considerable knowledge has been added to the

Lake’s database and has been used to inform water quality decisions. As administrators of publicly owned water reclamation systems discharging within or near the Lake, we at the CDSD are proud that this helps protect the ecosystem at appropriate levels based on the beneficial uses.

DISCOVERING REAL VALUE The greatest challenge the GSL faces today is a stable water supply. This is of great concern because the Lake was more than 20 feet lower in 2018 than it was in 1986.

In some areas of the

Several bird species-including songbirds, ducks, Tundra Swans (shown here), and Bald Eaglesspend the winter at Great Salt Lake.

21,500-square-mile

with little or no runoff. Along the eastern side of the Lake, the Wasatch mountain range provides water to the populated Ogden–Salt Lake– Provo area, and much of the runoff is consumed and lost to beneficial use in the Lake.

Today, approximately 10 percent of the flows, or 276,000 acre-feet annually delivered to the Lake, comes from reclaimed water that was discharged by water reclamation

KNOWLEDGE THAT NURTURES

Based on what we know today, reclaimed water discharged from publicly owned treatment facilities serves as a valuable benefit to the GSL ecosystem. And with knowledge gained from research, we are able to educate Utah’s legislature about the Lake, which will in turn lead to policies that protect the GSL, and the cycle continues.

We know more today than we did yesterday based on research conducted by the Wasatch Front Water Quality Council. And as we continue respecting and understanding our GSL ecosystem, we will know more tomorrow.

Ultimately, we live in this ecosystem, and it is our duty to understand and protect it.

facilities. This baseline flow water is critical to Lake health and associated beneficial uses. While there are locations in the United States where water reuse is being done to meet secondary and primary water needs,the most valuable use for discharges at or near the lake continues to be the GSL.

Leland Myers is the Executive Director of the Wasatch Front Water Quality Council, an organization performing water quality research in the Utah Lake, Jordan River and Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Leland is also the former General Manager of the Central Davis Sewer District.

31 Winter 2019

ecosystem is a desert

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

GSL watershed, the

CLEAN WATER CHAMPIONS

CLEAN WATER STEWARDS

THANK YOU TO NACWA’S 2019 ALL-CONFERENCE SPONSORS

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

32

FOR THEIR MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CLEAN WATER COMMUNITY

INTERESTED IN BECOMING AN ALL-CONFERENCE SPONSOR? Contact Paula Dannenfeldt at pdannenfeldt@nacwa.org

CLEAN WATER PROTECTORS

CLEAN WATER ALLIES CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Winter 2019

33

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

BY JOHN GONZALEZ

34

n Cleveland, the phrase “burning river” has many emotional ties.

It’s a local brew. A national punchline.

A badge of honor.

A painful reminder.

It has inspired music and missions, policy and pride, and advocacy and awareness. It is a symbol some wish would be extinguished like the very plumes of 1960s pollution and a vision others see as a future we must fight to avoid.

Today, a half century since the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire—the last of more than a dozen such

river fires in Cleveland—memories of the actual June 22 event may be fading as a new generation is growing up only knowing a reborn and revitalized river.

Should we allow the memory to fade? What significance does June 22, 1969, hold today? We say the burning river of 1969 is dead— “dead” in that we can’t allow such a reality to rise again.

Yet at the same time, the fact that it happened is exactly why we choose to commemorate it and, more specifically, our river’s progress with each passing year.

Progress is not measured without points of

Winter 2019

I

THE RIVER THAT BURNED IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE RIVER THAT BURNED.

35

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Fifty years ago, the Cuyahoga River fire sparked a movement that led to the Clean Water Act. We can’t go back, which is why we should not forget.

reference. The fire was an all-in-one ending, pivot, and beginning. We see a burning river as both a Never Forget and a Never Again moment.

Not without its challenges, the Cuyahoga River since the 1970s has been a national environmental success story. Fish health and diversity of species, riverfront activity, and river-based entertainment and recreation have all made remarkable progress, and the improvements continue trending upward.

Pollution is way down, and current threats are being further reduced with long-term investments and programming like those made by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (the District).

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36

While threats remain from environmental to regulatory to relational, our ability to defend the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie from conditions like 1969’s requires an ongoing commitment to keeping our Great Lake great.

June 22 will forever be an anniversary: one we celebrate not to relive, but to remember.

A RIVER’S REBOUND Several District projects have reduced pollution.

The overall health of the fish and bug communities in the Cuyahoga River has improved substantially since 1969, when debris in the Cuyahoga last burned. Fish collected in recent years demonstrate that water quality in the Cuyahoga is improving and its capacity to support a more diverse aquatic community is increasing. (Between 2006 and 2018, eighteen fish species that had never been collected before by the District in the Cuyahoga were found). Several Sewer District projects and programs have helped reduce the amount of pollution in the river.

INDUSTRIAL PRETREATMENT Since 1984, the District has had an EPAapproved Industrial Pretreatment Program, which has reduced the amount of metals flowing to our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant.

District crews inspect hundreds of local companies each year. Some companies are subject to annual inspections based on the type of manufacturing processes in their facilities.

Some of these processes create wastewater that is potentially more toxic than others, and companies may be required to have a pretreatment system to remove pollutants from their wastewater before it enters the sewer system.

When a company is found to be violating pollutant discharge limits, the District works with the business in its effort to return to compliance. In some cases, enforcement action is necessary: fines may be levied or sewer service revoked. The District may also refer cases to the US EPA for potential criminal prosecution.

discharging into the upper section of the Cuyahoga River, particularly in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, prompted the Sewer District to design and construct the Cuyahoga Valley Interceptor, a separate sanitary interceptor serving communities in Cuyahoga and Summit Counties.

Construction of the Heights-Hilltop and Southwest Interceptors in the 1980s would prevent suburban sanitary sewage from entering Cleveland’s combined system and instead express it directly to the Southerly plant.

These two interceptors provide capacity

37 Winter 2019

In the 1970s, protecting Lake Erie bathing beaches, particularly at Edgewater Park, became a priority. At the same time, the opportunity to decommission numerous small, inefficient wastewater treatment plants

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

INTERCEPTOR SEWERS

to alleviate sewer flooding and overflow issues in local sewer systems. The removal of separate sanitary sewage from the combined system reduced annual combined sewer overflow (CSO) as well. The District also has worked with its member communities to help them upgrade their local sewer systems, further reducing sanitary overflows into the Cuyahoga.

Cuyahoga River Ammonia Concentrations Downstream of Southerly - WWTC Nitrification started at Southerly WWTC

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

Average Ammonia Concentration (mg/L)

0.5

0.0 1984

1987

1990

1992

1997

1999

2001

2004

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

38 UPGRADES AT SOUTHERLY A massive upgrade at Southerly was completed between 1975 and 1987. The plant treatment works were totally redesigned with new processes for the removal of ammonia and residual chlorine, both of which are harmful to the aquatic community.

Ammonia reduction occurs during an aeration process called nitrification, during which the ammonia is oxidized in a two-step biological reaction, first to nitrite (NO2) and then to nitrate (NO3). Success of the nitrification process depends on proper pH, temperature, retention time, and aeration. (The gaseous byproducts of biological respiration, mainly carbon dioxide, are passed into the atmosphere).

In 1991, Southerly personnel successfully tested sodium hypochlorite for disinfecting plant effluent, and a new disinfection facility allowed them to discontinue the use of liquid chlorine—a change made with plant and community safety

The capture and treatment of illicit discharges... has been crucial to reducing pollution in the Cuyahoga. in mind. (Sodium hypochlorite is significantly less dangerous than liquid chlorine).

FEWER DRY-WEATHER DISCHARGES The capture and treatment of illicit discharges, or improperly connected sanitary pipes that were sources of dry-weather sewage discharges into area waterways, has been crucial to reducing pollution in the Cuyahoga.

Illicit discharges flow through stormwater pipes and out into creeks, rivers, and other

water bodies, often right by people’s homes.

The District’s Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) program is aimed at detecting, tracing, and eliminating these discharges.

Once a problem has been traced, the District’s watershed team leaders will talk to a community representative about possible solutions and what the District can do to help remediate the problem.

notably the EPA, with its ability to enforce the mandates of the Clean Water Act, the Cleveland Metroparks, West Creek Conservancy, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and many regional watershed organizations for their land conservation and restoration efforts.

In 2017, the District’s Water Quality and Industrial Surveillance Department reduced sewage discharges to area streams by approximately 693,440 gallons per day.

CSO-CONTROL PROJECTS

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT Implementation of a regional stormwater management program to address erosion, flooding, and pollution problems is the most recent step forward in the District’s work to protect the Cuyahoga and other waterways.

Stormwater is a major contributor of pollutants to receiving waters, and the District’s waterquality objectives cannot be met without an integrated approach for sanitary wastewater and storm drainage.

PARTNERS IN THE RIVER’S RECOVERY District efforts to improve conditions in the river have been complemented by the work of dedicated agencies and organizations,

In addition, the contributions of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Department of Public Works, and Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District in assisting communities with eliminating illicit discharges and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District for providing household hazardous waste collections (as an alternative to dumping paint and motor oil into storm drains) cannot be overstated.

Reprinted from Clean Water Works, Volume 5, NEORSD John Gonzalez is the Communications Manager for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District in Cleveland, OH. He manages internal communication and the District’s social media platforms to share updates, answer questions, and promote the often-overlooked aspects of clean water work.

39 Winter 2019

Additional tunnels constructed through the District’s Project Clean Lake program will significantly reduce overflows into our waterways.

The Cuyahoga River Area of Concern (formerly Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan) has raised community awareness of issues along the river and continues to work on sound management actions toward removal of beneficial-use impairments.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Increased collection of combined sewer overflow (CSO) for treatment at Southerly, through projects like the Mill Creek Tunnel, which eliminated numerous CSO locations, has resulted in reduced pollution in the Cuyahoga.

CLEAN CLEANWATER WATERADVOCATE ADVOCATE Summer Winter 2019 2018

40 22

estled between the Atlanta metro

act boldly to ensure that the water needs of our

area and the Appalachian Mountains,

community and the surrounding area will be

Gwinnett County Georgia is the

sustainable long into the future.

N

second most populous county in the

state and home to a uniquely diverse population with international flare. We’re known as a community with a

To promote this water resiliency, Gwinnett approved a Water Innovation Campus (WIC) to meet the needs of this vibrant region through innovation and outreach.

“small-town heart

Approved in 2018, the year

and a big-city soul,”

we celebrated Gwinnett’s

and that description

bicentennial, this

extends to our clean

$60-million facility will be

water needs in many

a globally known research

ways. At nearly one

and development center

million residents,

in the world of water

our sheer size and

resources, but it’s also so

projected growth

much more.

estimates prompted The 60,000-square foot WIC will be built on a 700 acre site that currently includes an environmental center.

41

Faced with Multiple “Big” Challenges, Gwinnett County’s New Water Innovation Campus Responds with Boldness and Foresight

By Melissa Meeker

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

Winter 2019

our leadership to

Gwinnett County has been a leader in the water resources industry for years thanks to the community’s focus on technology, and today, we recognize the need for a comprehensive water resources strategy: one that integrates applied research, emerging technologies, collaboration with academia and industry, job training, and outreach to ensure that stakeholders are educated. This specialized outreach begins in primary school and continues into adulthood, incorporating a wide variety of public and private groups.

lifeblood of what has become the tenth-largest

If this sounds unlike any other mission within the

surrounding natural resources as well as to

water resources industry, that’s because it is.

SPACE THAT DEMANDS COLLABORATION Since the construction of the Buford dam and the filling of Lake Lanier in 1956, for the Atlanta

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

42

metropolitan area, this reservoir has been the economy in the US. It also provides water for Florida and Alabama as part of an interstate water pact.

To serve future water supply needs, Gwinnett’s advanced purified wastewater is returned to Lake Lanier, in many ways cleaner than

background lake water. Stormwater is managed

Water Innovation Center, a 63,000-sq. ft. LEED-

via a watershed approach, as are other potential

certified building that contains a three-story

impacts to water quality. Treatment processes—

demonstration bay and direct connections

including our patented process for a membrane

to multiple water quality flows from the F.

filter cleaning—are continually scrutinized

Wayne Hill Water Resources Center (WRC) and

to ensure maximum efficacy and efficiency

adjacent source waters; wet and dry lab space;

by professionals with numerous awards, but

a microbiology lab; classrooms and boardroom

our needs are growing. The need for greater

space; an atrium with public exhibits; and a 250-

efficiency and less environmental impact, for

seat auditorium.

example, or the need to meet growing demand amid the uncertainty wrought by climate change are increasing. There are needs that, frankly, all of us in the water industry share. The conclusion upon assessment: The need for collaboration is perhaps the biggest need of all.

Our response to these challenges is the Global

To make this visionary facility happen, we are developing partnerships with many groups, including research and trade organizations, universities, equipment manufacturers, and service providers for design and programming needs. Our staff and distinguished partners will perform targeted research, develop and test new

Water Innovation Campus at Gwinnett (GWIC),

IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO USE THE SAME OLD SCRIPT TO TEACH WATER AWARENESS & CONSERVATION. technologies, train new workforces, and educate thousands through public outreach. Additionally, we will fully integrate these services so that they build upon and enhance one another.

UNIQUE SPACE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH AND TECH DEVELOPMENT

More than likely, we have all participated in an applied research project, partnering with a university or participating in a Water Research Foundation project. You may have even been lucky enough to test a new sensor or pump somewhere in your system. It can be challenging, however, to participate in these initiatives while completing our core responsibilities of protecting the public and environment.

43 Winter 2019

to open in 2021. The campus will include the

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

which broke ground in 2018 and is scheduled

Our goal is to conduct more applied research and

and professional career paths. This program will be

develop and test new technologies but to do so

executed in collaboration with our partners—other

in a controlled way through dedicated facilities

utilities, equipment manufacturers, and service

where we can isolate these activities while still

providers—to enhance placement opportunities

using and controlling our commodity flows.

and provide a direct pathway to careers.

Universities and equipment manufacturers rarely have access to real flows, and frankly, utilities have their own ideas about what is needed to further our shared industry. The campus allows us to focus on critical areas: treatment, monitoring, and operations across the spectrum of water, wastewater, reuse, and stormwater. Simply put, GWIC will give us the space to partner and succeed together.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

44

Additionally, we formed an early partnership with the Georgia Association of Water Professionals for technical and career training in our specialized classroom and field-training center. Most of our certification and training programs are conducted in a classroom, and getting staff out into the field to apply classroom studies will help generate a more sophisticated and confident staff.

our goal is to use a multi-faceted approach to workforce development that will help us reduce turnover and find dedicated workers.

INNOVATIVE SPACE TO ATTRACT AND TRAIN WORKFORCE

Everyone in the water industry understands the daunting challenges we face in finding and retaining staff. Our goal is to use a multi-faceted approach to workforce development that will help us reduce turnover and find dedicated workers.

In both of the last two years, we have seen 20% turnover in our operators—a scary trend.

Historically, training for these positions was entirely “on the job” or certification-based, neither of which effectively prepared staff to handle our advanced systems, which require extensive training and expertise to operate.

To address this issue, GWIC will have a formal internship program, strengthened by partnerships with local trade and professional schools from high school through college, that will prepare students for a variety of industry-focused jobs both in trade

The field-training center will include a mock neighborhood with associated piping and meters, a CDL training course, and a stormwater construction demonstration section so that contractors can better learn construction methodologies. We are also planning to include a two-mile pipe farm to be used for testing and training purposes.

An important part of the GWIC’s training components will be blending our applied research and technology development components, which will be achieved by cross-training personnel and giving them access to research projects, especially advanced technologies, so that they can operate this equipment if adopted. Imagine a 700-acre campus where researchers and water industry staff have the ability to jointly test construction techniques, sensors, valves, coatings, acoustics for leak detection, and much more!

Finally, our targeted outreach programs will be

Gwinnett County was named in honor of a

topical and interactive. We know that it is not

signatory of the Declaration of Independence, a

enough to use the same old script and methods

document that officially launched a bold vision in

to teach water awareness and conservation, so

the presence of many witnesses. Our vision for

we will enlist the help of education experts to

advancing water resources has begun similarly:

create entirely new formulas that embrace our

We broke ground at this amazing facility in

audio-visual technologies.

October 2018 and were joined at the event by

Trails and walking paths throughout the campus will display valuable information and provide real examples of water treatment and conservation methods for visitors, and the adjacent Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center will also provide examples of how water conservation and

over a hundred partners—all just as excited as we were to get started. We hope you will join us in this vision and this journey not just to build the GWIC but also to push our industry to be better and smarter in how we manage our water resources for future generations.

technologies are helping us protect the natural environment.

Right from the beginning, students and citizens will help shape our outreach messaging and will be invited to attend a variety of exhibits, workshops, and symposia that illustrate the value of water, our water supply challenges, what is being done to address them, and how we can collectively secure water resiliency to preserve a higher quality of life.

Melissa Meeker is the Director of Development for the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources Water Innovation Center. Melissa was previously the Co-CEO of The Water Research Foundation.

45 Winter 2019

DECLARATIVE SPACE FOR VISIONARIES

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

INTERACTIVE SPACE FOR PUBLIC OUTREACH

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

46

Part Public Service, Part Recruitment Strategy, a Minnesota Clean Water Utility Goes All-in On “Teacher Externships” to Help Tackle Workforce Challenges

ike most utilities across the country, the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) is facing a potentially significant labor shortage. And up until recently, its employee recruitment method had simply been word of mouth. This left a blank slate for the MCES Outreach team of Jennifer Zuchowski, Andrea Mac Arthur, and Suidi Hashi.

“We really had to think about our changing workforce demographics,” said team lead Jennifer Zuhowski about the team’s experience when beginning to address the problem. “And what the agency’s needs will be soon.”

The core team got creative and resourceful: They recruited almost 25 outreach champions—internal

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47

volunteers who donate time and talent. The champions advocate the importance of waterrelated careers at job fairs like the University of Minnesota’s Environmental Career Fair.

Champions also give public education presentations about MCES’s work and job opportunities.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

L

By Bobbie Chong

The Outreach Team also considered opportunities outside of the norm. One of those was a partnership with the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce, an organization whose mission is “to champion growth and prosperity through catalytic leadership and dynamic partnerships.”

When TwinWest contacted Andrea Mac Arthur this year and pitched its idea, the Outreach Team jumped at the chance.

The MCES–TwinWest partnership, or “Teacher Externship,” was developed by TwinWest as part of a larger K-12–focused effort to combine or pool resources for the Twin Cities community, which includes employers focused on science, technology, engineering, and/or math (STEM).

The externship paired MCES with educators to encourage relationship-building and collaboration on curriculum that supports skills needed by the near-future labor force.

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE Winter 2019

48

STOKING INTEREST, FANNING FLAMES The purpose of teaming up on student courses was to inspire an early interest in the exploration of and education in STEM. The externship/ partnership also introduces the idea of pursuing a STEM job to students who might not have considered such jobs previously. These students often hail from underrepresented communities that have historically faced limited job options and opportunities. “Developing an early interest in STEM is critical in meeting

our future workforce demands,” commented Andrea Mac Arthur.

After many joint planning sessions, MCES hosted its first Teacher Externship this past August at the Metropolitan Plant in Saint Paul. The seven externship attendees were selected by TwinWest through a competitive application process that included candidates selecting one of four career tracks: Agribusiness, IT, Healthcare, or Engineering/Manufacturing. MCES falls into the fourth category.

Teachers attended two half-day sessions, at which staff introduced them to the wastewater treatment process, which included engineers and scientists. Staff spoke about what their real-world work is like and some of the soft skills needed.

For some, it was the first time they had engaged in public speaking.

The group later received presentations from MCES subject-matter experts. They also toured the

treatment plant (on foot) to see the process and progression up close and to ask questions. The following day, participants met on location at an MCES sewer improvement project to see how urban landscape features shape construction projects.

telling their stories. “Our industry often prefers not to be in the spotlight,” she continued.

“However, to build relationships, provide educational content, and create interest in wastewater careers, we really do have to toot our own horn.”

When TwinWest solicited feedback from the externship attendees, MCES received the highest reviews across all four career tracks.

Several teachers have requested to work with MCES again and have personally invited MCES staff into the classroom to give career-related presentations. It was a positive experience for MCES staff, too.

Mac Arthur agreed: “Wastewater treatment is an incredible industry, and those of us who work in it often forget how fascinating it really is.”

TOOTING THE HORN, RINGING THE BELL Support for the externship was critical to its success, both externally and internally. TwinWest was a neutral and knowledgeable navigator, connector, and translator in the partnership.

Internal backing came from across MCES, not just from the employees directly involved. It was also important to approach the partnership humbly and respectfully, seeking to learn from and share instead of “taking over and directing or using our power to meet our own ends,” said Mac Arthur.

Reflecting on the experience, Zuchowski pointed out that staying flexible and open is important and that MCES staff should not shy away from

that are accruing on all sides.

“[Our longterm plan is to maintain] an ongoing partnership,” says Mac Arthur of the externship.

“The teachers [who participate] will be hungry for more. [We plan to] be prepared for requests for facility tours, speaker requests, and more; designate a point person or team to field all requests; assign a priority system for those requests; and bring subject matter experts into the planning process as soon as possible.”

This, she says, will allow them more time to understand the program and its goals as well as to develop content and case studies.

MCES will participate in the teacher externship again in August 2019 and plans to make it an annual event thereafter.

Bobbie Chong is the Information Specialist for the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services.

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“Wastewater treatment is an incredible industry, and those of us who work in it often forget how fascinating it really is.”

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“The event was simply amazing,” said Mac Arthur. “As an employer, we were able to communicate directly with educators what our needs are for future employees. At the same time, educators told us about their students’ realities.

This allowed us all to explore their respective roles in economic development.”

Outreach Team members are as reflective about the teacher externship outreach as they are proud of having gotten involved and exultant about the many layers of benefits

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Rudolph S. Chow

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To Help Meet Clean Water Goals, Baltimore’s Innovative Community Events Build Goodwill As Much As They Promote Green Infrastructure

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ou may have heard of the “pop-up retailing” concept, where businesses of all kinds set up temporary locations— such as booths, stands, or display rooms—in (often surprising) locations like parks, train stations, and even street corners, to share their product’s unique experience with passersby. But have you heard of pop-up greening centers? We call them GROW Centers, and they’re the newest pop-up trend that has taken hold in our city.

(DPW) is sponsoring the Greening Resources and Outreach for Watersheds (GROW) program, with the strategy to reach people where they are and make environmental education interesting to residents, whether or not they’re expecting to learn about taking care of their neighborhoods on that particular day.

Baltimore is one of less than a handful of cities that have taken greening to pop-ups. The Baltimore City Department of Public Works

Chief, jokingly commented that, nowadays, finding a GROW Center is almost like playing whack-a-mole.

These one-day environmental resource events are held on Saturdays, in neighborhoods and at retail locations that people visit to shop, to attend meetings, or, in some cases, just to pick up items for their own backyard projects. GROW Center pop-ups bring resources to where people are. They are a big hit, and they are multiplying.

Mark Cameron, DPW’s Watershed Section

Grow Center Timeline Pop-ups Spring - Fall 2019

Report Evaluation June 2018

Business Plan Spring Fall 2019 Consultant Spring 2019

Spring Pop-ups April 2018 Research & Partnerships Aug 2017 ongoing USFS Grant + Peaceworker Hire July 2017

Planning & RFP: Business Plan Dec 2017

Pilot GROW Center April 2016

RANDOM FOR A REASON The agency promotes the centers in advance through news releases, social media, and direct community outreach. Locations vary such that a new audience is brought into the fold at each event. Residents find something new and different at a site they routinely visit for other reasons, perhaps to exercise, socialize, or play. Those caught unaware find out it is their lucky day as they watch, learn, and get to take home free greening items to create and add beauty to their own outdoor projects. These collaborative events pull together city agency and nonprofit resources to create an affordable and easily accessible event for residents throughout Baltimore.

The centers help the City achieve several environmental goals, including resident education,

polluted runoff from private property. Improving neighborhoods, the environment, and the Chesapeake Bay are among the greatest benefits of GROW Centers.

The GROW Center concept follows a successful pilot greening program held for residents in 2016. Using a $100,000 US Department of Agriculture/Forest Service Grant it received

specialists. They can sit in on demonstrations on topics that include community organizing, making pollinator gardens, tree and orchard planting, farm-to-table cooking, and building of rain barrels. Free and low-cost green products are also made available.

UNITING THE CITY Baltimore officials see an interconnectedness between four citywide initiatives. One is promoting a reuse economy to mitigate wood, food, and construction waste streams. Another is increasing the urban tree canopy from 27.4 percent to 40 percent, which is also in line with an initiative promoting the greening and revitalization of Baltimore’s many vacant lots. GROW Centers also help the City achieve its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) stormwater permit goals for reducing

in 2017, Baltimore DPW matched the funding and took up the greening project. This funding partly provided for the GROW Center pop-ups, as well as the creation of a feasibility study and business plan. Additionally, in the same year the grant was received, DPW was selected to receive a University of Maryland, Baltimore County Peaceworker Fellow. This fellow would be the

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GROW Centers also help the City achieve its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) stormwater permit goals... Improving neighborhoods, the environment, and the Chesapeake Bay are among the greatest benefits...

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as citizens learn and are inspired to accomplish greening projects that stabilize and beautify their own neighborhoods. These projects can include vacant lot revitalizations, tree plantings, and rain garden installation. Residents can get such items as seedlings, plants, and mulch; attend workshops; and talk directly with greening experts who are master gardeners or watershed

plants were sold. Nine workshops on community greening and stormwater management were held where attendees were able to network with greening experts and meet their neighbors and other like-minded residents.

A typical GROW Center visit includes children playing or engaging in athletic activities. DPW staffs a kids’ table with coloring books and a cornhole game the city devised. While the kids are busy, the adults are able to network and take full advantage of Baltimore’s green scene. The city’s TreeBaltimore program provides free trees, and the Department of Recreation and Parks provides mulch from its Camp Small location in

northwest Baltimore. Residents can take as much mulch as they need. At one event, a resident brought their municipal trash can, filled it will mulch, and used it to fill in the tree pits along the community’s sidewalks.

GALVANIZING COMMUNITIES

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54 GROW Center Coordinator, tasked to further refine and test the GROW Center concept and organize “pop-ups.” These are inexpensive, temporary events that bring together partners and resources from city, federal, nonprofit, and community partners and allow the coordinator to test different delivery models and programs.

DPW hosted a total of eight GROW Center “pop-up” events in 2018. The spring events were held on four Saturdays from April 14 through May 5; the fall pop-ups were held on Saturdays from September 15 through October 13 and scheduled to run as part of existing community events. Program success was shown early on with the large number of participants at the Spring GROW Center events. The four spring 2018 GROW Center pop-ups were visited by 206 participants, representing 86 neighborhoods throughout four areas of Baltimore City. During the spring popups, 110 trees and 10 cubic yards of mulch were distributed. In addition, over $700 worth of native

Participating environmental groups include Blue Water Baltimore and a cost-efficient green alternative to demolition called Details Deconstruction. GROW Center attendees in the community known as CARE (Caring Active Restoring Efforts) received special assistance with materials collection from “Mayor Trey,” a teenager whose nickname comes from his volunteer attitude and active neighborhood presence. The Baltimore Community Toolbank, a partner organization, provided tools and equipment for all the pop-up events.

BMORE Beautiful, a mayoral initiative that works on beautification efforts in communities by partnering with residents, was another partner. Attendees were able to sign up with BMORE Beautiful, making a pledge to keep their communities cleaner and greener. BMORE Beautiful works closely with neighborhoods to provide education, outreach, and other resources. Baltimore City DPW provided recycling information and offered its popular yellow recycling bins at discounted prices.

GROW-ING THE FUTURE Developing a GROW Center network based on this outreach is potentially invaluable, considering the abundance of “new greeners” the pop-ups attracted. Dispersing the GROW Center pop-up locations across Baltimore City afforded access to a large number of people and neighborhoods. Event promotion for the pop-ups was done throughout the city, with a particular focus on the neighborhoods around the pop-ups. DPW used press releases, social media, newsletters, flyers, lawn signs, community meetings, and cold calls to community leaders to promote the events.

Early results indicate that GROW Centers are a successful community outreach venture that benefits the city, the environment, and the residents. DPW is now gearing up to hold pop-ups in spring 2019.

For detailed information on Baltimore’s GROW Center, visit Baltimore City’s website (https:// publicworks.baltimorecity.gov/)

Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., is Director of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works and a NACWA Board Member. His agency provides clean drinking water to 1.8 million people and treats an average flow of 200 million gallons of wastewater daily.

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Much useful data and insight will help design what a permanent Baltimore GROW program might resemble. Lageman’s report concludes that programming could be targeted toward new community groups who have recently adopted vacant lots or are applying for grant funding. This would help ensure that GROW Center resources are used in community greening projects, like vacant lot revitalization, rather than in private homes, a concern gleaned from early experience and comments. Another lesson learned is that GROW Center users were more likely to attend the pop-up location closest to them. Targeted areas included those with less tree canopy, higher vacant lot percentages, and a higher number of community-managed open spaces.

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Travis Lageman, Baltimore’s GROW Center Coordinator, notes that many participants have said they were “new greeners” who heard about this event and wanted to learn more. He’s excited about the great impact of these promotional efforts. In his final Spring GROW Center report, Lageman writes that part of the program’s success is likely due to the effectiveness of partner and DPW citywide promotions. Some events had a line of eager greeners waiting, even before DPW staff could get the GROW Center popped up.

TAKE BACK RESPONSIBILITY

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The Clean Water Agency’s Unique Role in Solving a Deadly National Crisis

By Cynthia Finley

US Drug Abuse Deaths in 2017*

related deaths in the US are striking and sobering. Entire football stadiums of people are being lost on an annual basis.

Of the two deadliest substances being abused—synthetic opioids and heroin—the so-called

72,000+ 30,000+ 16,000+ Total Deaths

by Drug Abuse

Synthetic Opioid Caused

Heroin Caused

“gateway” can be directly traced

* National Institute on Drug Abuse

to legally prescribed medications. Of the people who began abusing opioids in the 2000s, 75% reported that their first opioid use was prescription drugs, while a study of young, urban heroin users in 2008 and 2009 found that 86% had used opioid pain medications prior to their heroin use. The opioid source for these users?

Family, friends, and medical professionals by way of personal prescriptions.

While the law enforcement and judicial systems are tasked with protecting the public from illegal drug use, these deadly problems align in

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he sheer numbers of drug abuse-

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a significant way with

drug abuse problems. This

the mission of the

is the case with “pharm

clean water agency. As

parties” or “Skittles

arbiters of the public trust,

parties,” a troubling trend

clean water agencies have

among teens whereby they

the unique responsibility

gather prescription and over-

of protecting the public—

the-counter medications into a

and the entire ecosystem—

communal bowl, and then invite

from improper drug disposal,

fellow party-goers to grab handfuls

including dumping drugs down

to consume—often washing them

the toilet or sink. In reality,

down with alcohol. The result can

the safe, proper management

be strokes, heart attacks, brain

of pharmaceuticals—from

damage, or even death.

acquisition to disposal—is everyone’s responsibility.

SAFE DISPOSAL OF DRUGS WITH

TAKE-BACK PROGRAMS

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Small seemingly innocuous [actions], when multiplied, can lead to overwhelming drug abuse problems.

IT’S ALL ABOUT (UNAUTHORIZED) ACCESS Preventing improper access to prescription drugs is the key to a larger solution. When painkillers and other drugs are prescribed, patients often have medication left over—either the prescribed amount was more than needed, a side effect prevented the patient from taking it all, or the drugs expired before they were used. Too often, people let unused medication sit in their medicine cabinets at home, or they place them in the trash, unwittingly creating the risk of misuse by curious children, confused elderly, individuals suffering from addiction, or even pets.

Small, seemingly innocuous instances such as these, when multiplied, can lead to overwhelming

Keeping pharmaceuticals out of the hands of those who might abuse or accidentally misuse them is easier when people know how to safely dispose of their unwanted and expired prescriptions and can do so quickly and easily. Organizations such as NACWA have long advocated for easily accessible drug take-back programs—the disposal method that best protects public health and

Fortunately, many changes have occurred over the last five years to make drug take-back programs more viable.

some treatment or removal may occur in POTWs, drugs that are flushed can still pass through the POTW and be discharged into receiving waters.

Drugs that are landfilled end up in leachate, which either leaks into groundwater or is transported to wastewater treatment plants.

There were many hurdles to establishing takeback programs in the past, including regulation that did not allow pharmacies—the most logical place to drop off unused drugs—to set up collection receptacles. Mixed public messages also did not help. Some federal agencies, water

(ideally) permanent kiosk. Take-back programs collect drugs in a secure manner and then use incineration, the best available technology, to render them unrecoverable.

Take-back programs are a low-cost, easy-toimplement way to decrease the amount of illegal diversion, accidental poisoning, and damage to aquatic environments. Wastewater treatment plants, also known as publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), were not designed to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Although

to drop off their unused drugs at twice-a-year Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) takeback events, while others recommended mixing unused drugs with kitty litter or coffee grounds and putting them in the trash. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) even called for flushing the most dangerous drugs down the toilet.

Fortunately, many changes have occurred over the last five years to make drug takeback programs more viable. Federal rules and regulations have eliminated flushing and landfilling as recommended disposal options in most cases. The DEA made changes to its rules that enable pharmacies to voluntarily set up collection receptacles. Pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS have responded by adding collection receptacles in many of their stores, with Walgreens alone collecting over 270 tons of medication since 2016. However, there is still a question about who should be responsible for managing and funding these programs, a role that has traditionally fallen to government and taxpayers.

NEW EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY LAWS ADDRESS DISPOSAL The current drug addiction crisis has provided a compelling reason for lawmakers to consider legislation that establishes sustainable funding for the safe disposal of unused pharmaceuticals.

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a one-day event, mail-back envelopes, or a

organizations, and other groups urged people

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the environment. These can take the form of

Extended producer responsibility (EPR)—the idea that manufacturers of products are responsible for the lifecycle costs of their products by funding and running safe disposal programs— has caught on at the state level. Groups such as the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) and the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) have successfully advocated for state and local laws that require manufacturers of paint, carpet, batteries, and other products to pay for the collection and disposal of these items.

In 2012, Alameda County, California passed the first EPR ordinance in the US for pharmaceutical

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disposal. The ordinance requires that manufacturers set up and pay for disposal kiosk sites that are “convenient and adequate to serve the needs of Alameda County residents.”

Manufacturers are also responsible for promoting the kiosks through public outreach and for destroying the drugs collected.

The ordinance was strongly opposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers before it passed, and after it passed, they filed a lawsuit to block its implementation. The law was upheld by the District Court, and then the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and, finally, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, which paved the way for other counties and cities to pass their own “producer pays” ordinances for pharmaceutical take-back programs.

SHIFTING RESPONSIBILITIES After failing to stop EPR drug take-back programs in the courts, pharmaceutical manufacturers tried another tactic in New York. The manufacturers supported a state bill that required New York chain pharmacies and

consumers to pay for drug take-back programs, with the manufacturers paying nothing. The bill ignored residents of rural areas without chain pharmacies and pre-empted an existing producer-pays county ordinance for drug takeback. The bill unanimously passed the New York Senate and Assembly. Despite the bill’s bipartisan and industry support, Governor Cuomo vetoed the bill in response to outcries from a wide range of other stakeholders, calling on the Department of Environmental Protection to study the practicality of pharmaceutical EPR for New York State.

A new bill requiring pharmaceutical

manufacturers to be responsible for drug take-back programs was signed by Governor Cuomo on July 10, 2018. California and Washington State also passed EPR drug take-back laws in 2018, with California’s law additionally requiring EPR for the disposal of medical sharps. These states already had multiple local drug take-back ordinances in place prior to the passing of the state law. Vermont and Massachusetts also have product stewardship provisions in substance abuse prevention laws that were passed in 2016.

TAKING PHARMACEUTICAL EPR TO THE NEXT LEVEL Drug take-back laws may be taking a similar path as plastic microbead laws a few years ago. After several well-publicized studies about plastic microbeads found in the Great Lakes and other waters, a patchwork of state and local laws began banning the sale of cosmetic products containing plastic microbeads. A federal law banning microbeads was soon introduced, and the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 sailed through Congress without opposition from product manufacturers, being signed by

President Obama in late 2015.

With the current opioid drug abuse crisis, it seems possible that a pharmaceutical EPR law could pass at the federal level. Rather than facing a multitude of different state and local laws each establishing drug take-back programs with different requirements, pharmaceutical manufacturers may eventually support a uniform, federal program.

Drug take-back programs alone won’t solve the

problems of drug abuse and accidental poisoning or the impacts of pharmaceuticals on our water bodies. But providing safe disposal options for leftover drugs is a low-cost way to help prevent these serious problems.

Cynthia Finley is the Director of Regulatory Affairs at NACWA.

Could EPR for Wipes be Next?

In 2016, the District of Columbia (DC) became the first US jurisdiction to pass a law regulating the labeling of wipes. Just as pharmaceutical manufacturers fought the Alameda County drug take-back ordinance in court, Kimberly-Clark Corp. filed a lawsuit to halt the DC wipes law. Kimberly-Clark received a temporary delay in the law’s implementation, and the issue will

The wipes industry also fought a proposed wipes law in Maryland and—in a situation parallel to the passing of New York’s drug take-back law—has tried to shape a proposed New Jersey wipes law such that the final flushability requirements would actually be the wipes industry’s own inadequate guidelines.

The fight for EPR drug take-back programs at the local and state level has taken years, with significant state-level success finally achieved in 2018 with the California, New York, and Washington laws. The fight to ensure that wipes manufacturers are responsible for the fate of their products—providing clear “Do Not Flush” instructions for non-flushable wipes and ensuring that wipes labeled “flushable” will not harm sewer systems—may also take time, but it is an important fight that can be won.

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Could wipes take a similar legislative path as drug take-back programs and plastic microbeads, with local and state legislation eventually leading to federal legislation? So far, wipes look to be on a familiar path.

be resolved by the court after the DC regulations are finalized.

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ipes that are flushed can cause or contribute to the clogging of pipes, pumps, and other equipment in collection systems and treatment plants, wasting utility resources and potentially leading to sewage overflows.

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Connecticut River’s Nitrogen Reduction Dilemma Demands a New Dynamic with Regulatory Partners partnership, could not and cannot be emphasized enough. Today, the positive results of that relationship are evident across the country, as a great many Americans are now able to venture into their once-contaminated rivers and harbors once again—beautifully landscaped cesspool labels notwithstanding.

For decades, the successful rehabilitation of the nation’s waterways—like our Connecticut River— relied on the leadership of regulatory agencies in providing the scientific underpinnings of water quality regulations. And equally as important in this process, the clean water community provided valuable input during implementation, ultimately providing the technical know-how and innovation to realize regulatory goals, from treatment plant upgrades and process innovations to CSO remediation. This relationship, this collaborative

But recently, the dynamic between regulators and the clean water community along the Connecticut has shifted uneasily. Despite the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) own reporting that the existing nitrogen total maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Long Island Sound (LIS) is being met, restrictive numeric nitrogen limits are now being incorporated into draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for plants in the “outof-basin” contributor area of Massachusetts and points north. This has led to a role reversal of sorts between utilities and regulators.

UNAVOIDABLE ROLE REVERSAL

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he four-hundred-mile Connecticut River in New England was once dubbed “the world’s most beautifully landscaped cesspool”—a reputation that naturally carried over into the Long Island Sound, the tidal estuary into which the river flows.

That perception, that reality, no longer holds water today.

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By Jaimye Bartak

In the 1980s and 1990s, LIS experienced episodes of hypoxia in its open waters. A TMDL was developed and issued in 2000 for the “in-basin” states of New York and Connecticut, calling for a 58.5% reduction of in-basin nitrogen sources and a 25% reduction of out-of-basin nitrogen sources. In response, 106 wastewater treatment facilities in Connecticut and New York adopted nitrogen-reduction technology costing billions, and resulted in a 40% reduction in hypoxic area in LIS by 2014. But 40% is not 100%.

To address the remaining hypoxia, the EPA initiated the LIS Nitrogen Reduction Strategy (NRS) in 2015 as part of its larger LIS Study—a

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wide-ranging initiative established in 1985 in partnership among federal, state, and citizen stakeholders in Connecticut and New York.

The EPA contends that the LIS NRS, which will develop total nitrogen endpoints based on indicator species (e.g., eelgrass) in embayments, is “intended as a source of relevant information to be used by water quality managers, at their discretion, in developing nitrogen reduction strategies.” However, utilities and NACWA are concerned that the EPA intends to develop water quality targets that will be considered numeric interpretations of state narrative criteria, without any of the procedural protections provided when numeric standards are traditionally developed.

QUESTIONING THE PREMISES The expected and typical process to create new numeric limits would be to formally update the TMDL. Instead, the LIS NRS would essentially layer in additional limits. Particularly concerning in this effort is the EPA’s reliance in shaping environmental policy on data that span decades and were collected under a multitude of differing quality assurance project plans (QAPPs) by different agencies and organizations. Virtually no new data have been collected as part of the LIS NRS to inform decision-making on the Connecticut River or its embayment.

To illustrate how this approach could play out, consider the experience of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (SWSC), which operates a 67 million–gallon-per-day (MGD) capacity treatment plant on the southern border of Massachusetts. In 1995, SWSC voluntarily invested in nitrogen reduction technology, substantially reducing nitrogen effluent concentrations in the 40 MGD it processes.

SWSC’s current NPDES permit—dating from 2000, the same year as the TMDL—does not address nitrogen, nor were nitrogen load allocations ever developed for states north of Connecticut, a situation brought about precisely because the EPA concluded in 2004 that the out-of-basin TMDL was being met. But SWSC’s first NPDES permit draft update in 17 years now includes nitrogen limits that will require significant upgrades to the treatment plant and may effectively limit the ability of SWSC to add additional communities to its system, impacting regional development. The 32 other smaller plants in Massachusetts that are on tributaries to the Connecticut River may face even steeper challenges.

Yet, on what data are these new nitrogen limits based? Are they assured to bring that 40%

Currently, the fate of nitrogen entering the Connecticut River is understood only through that patchwork collection of statistically insignificant and outdated data points. This raises significant alarm that clean water plants in Massachusetts and points north may be required to invest in substantial nitrogen reduction technology without a basic scientific foundation to ensure meaningful environmental improvement in the LIS. RETURNING TO FUNDAMENTALS Seeing the economic jeopardy facing an entire region’s clean water plants, SWSC

recognized a crucial role that needed to be filled. SWSC stepped into it by partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), which had its own concerns about the impending nitrogen regulations, and the US Geological Survey for its scientific expertise.

In late 2017, SWSC and its partners developed and installed a new river gauge and nitrogen sampling program at the borders with Vermont and New Hampshire. The gauge and sampling program will complement existing and recently enhanced

structure, and legal and scientific basis for the LIS NRS.

REGIONAL CONCERNS, NATIONAL STAKES Along New England’s longest river, it is clear that the fate of nitrogen also carries the future of clean water investments for the next generation of ratepayers. To protect the public’s trust in its work and that of the clean water community in its region, SWSC was compelled to fulfill a crucial need—statistically meaningful data—that might historically have been provided by its regulator, the EPA. Suffering from years of budget and staff cuts, the EPA faces more challenges than ever to execute its critical mission. State environmental agencies have often fared little better, while substantial public funding for clean water infrastructure is virtually nonexistent. In this challenging environment, utilities should feel obliged and empowered to identify when the regulatory process has become distorted by funding and capacity constraints and, if needed, invest in material contributions to change the trajectory.

Jaimye Bartak, AICP is the Communications Manager at the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission.

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hypoxia reduction much closer to 100%? Is the science strong enough to link the condition of eelgrass in embayments to that of the open waters of the LIS?

The new data, which are collected weekly, will be used to contribute to the scientific review of the LIS NRS. But more importantly, they are also expected to illustrate the need to return to the fundamentals—transparency, stakeholder involvement, and sound science—that shaped the original TMDL. Meanwhile, NACWA actively monitors the progress of the LIS NRS and engages EPA Regions 1 and 2 in outlining its concerns with the lack of stakeholder input,

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“Seeing the economic jeopardy facing an entire region’s clean water plants, SWSC recognized a crucial role that needed to be filled. ”

USGS nitrogen sampling at the Connecticut border to more accurately profile the current volume and fate of nitrogen entering and leaving Massachusetts.

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Addressing Private Property Infiltration & Inflow Without Going Onto Private Property s public municipal entities, we know the mantra well: “Public money can’t be spent on private property.”

How often has that or something similar been said?

So, wouldn’t it make sense to try to address private property I&I? Unfortunately, many utilities usually do not attempt to address these issues due to any number of reasons—the most important of which is often that public entities often have (or perceive) legal constraints regarding paying for work that unduly benefits private entities. And that’s where it ends: Utilities are dealing with inordinate amounts of clean water sources originating

ENLARGING THE AREA OF FOCUS For Avon Lake Regional Water—a midsized water and wastewater utility serving Avon Lake, Ohio, and surrounding areas that is governed by an independently elected board—2011 helped reframe the problem in order to come up with new solutions. That year was the wettest year on record and included five different events that led to basement backups. As one can imagine, customers were demanding results.

As staff were trying to reassess what might have changed—aside from the weather—a stormwater expert suggested that the inflow could be coming from private

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from private property and designing and constructing mega-projects to address these issues.

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When looking holistically at the sanitary sewer (collection) system, however, about half of the total length of pipe may be found on private property, and according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that pipe can contribute up to 40% of the overall infiltration and inflow (I&I) to the system.

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property and convinced staff to undertake a pilot project on one street where the consultant’s company would simulate rain events and Avon Lake Regional Water would have video cameras in the sanitary sewer. The area was formerly a combined sewer area. In Avon Lake, when sewers were separated in the past, though customers were required to prevent downspouts, yard drains, and driveway drains from entering the sanitary sewer, they were not required to prevent foundation drains from discharging into their laterals that used to be connected to the combined sewer and would then be connected to the sanitary sewer upon separation.

Pilot testing showed that the foundation drains were an immediate inflow source and contributed to sewer surcharging and basement flooding.

This led Avon Lake Regional Water and its governing board, the Board of Municipal Utilities, to change its regulations and require customers to prevent all clean water sources from entering sanitary laterals, including foundation drains.

To complement this, the City Council passed a Resolution of Necessity, which put the force of law behind the requirement to prevent clean water from entering the sanitary sewer.

Additionally, as sewer separations progressed, no houses were allowed to connect to new sanitary sewers until it was proven that all clean water sources were not connected to the sanitary

lateral. The houses remained connected to the combined sewers and were required to remove all sanitary wastes from those combined sewers by a certain date when those sewers were to become storm sewers.

With the memory of basement backups, few people complained about the new requirement.

Additionally, the Board of Municipal Utilities made it easier for customers by providing them with $1,000 in wastewater bill credits over a tenyear period if they separated their clean and dirty water sources, ending up with storm and sanitary laterals connected to their respective sewers.

This led to a number of customers undertaking the work.

A WIN-WIN-WIN Initially, progress was good regarding inspections of customers’ homes to determine if clean water needed to be removed from laterals, and a number of customers undertook lateral separations. However, the data also showed that not enough people would undertake the necessary work before the required deadlines.

Avon Lake Regional Water had been hearing from some customers that even with the $1,000 credit, they could not afford to pay the $3,000 to $4,000 to separate their laterals. Avon Lake Regional Water investigated options for helping customers

The Lateral Loan Program established by Avon Lake Regional Water and its Board of Municipal Utilities, with the help of Ohio EPA, has met the needs of the utility, the regulatory authority, and customers in a way that does not affect rates. Wet weather testing and sewer modeling have shown that wet-weather peak flow reduction during sewer separations has improved by 10% during the sewer separation process —i.e., from an 85% to a 95% reduction in peak flow—due to the requirement of foundation-

With money provided

by Ohio EPA, Avon Lake Regional Water would loan its customers the money they needed for their lateral separations.

Water would loan its customers the money they needed for their lateral separations.

Avon Lake Regional Water allowed customers to select a contractor and arrive at an approved price.

Once the contractors do the work and both customers and Avon Lake Regional Water approve it, Avon Lake Regional Water pays the contractors. Customers repay their loans through their quarterly water and wastewater bills, and Avon Lake Regional Water uses this money to repay its loan from Ohio EPA.

The loan program—which recently received an honorable mention in the EPA’s 2018 PISCES Awards—is a true win-win-win situation: Avon Lake Regional Water is better able to comply with its Long-Term Control Plan, customers are able to address private property issues such as the frequent failure of laterals due to root intrusion, and Ohio EPA benefits—along with the entire community—from a cleaner Lake Erie.

As of the writing of this piece, the program has been in existence for nearly two-and-a-half years. And during that time, approximately 350 customers have executed loan agreements, and Avon Lake Regional Water has committed more than $1.2 million for loans to these customers.

drain disconnection from sanitary laterals. In Avon Lake, that means an additional 640,000 gallons are prevented from entering the sanitary sewers during a ten-year storm event. This reduces the chances of basement backups and/or overflows into Lake Erie and keeps capacity available for future growth.

As a service organization with the guiding principles to lead by influencing change and leave a lasting legacy for future generations, the board and staff of Avon Lake Regional Water wholly believe that this program has a tremendous benefit for our customers, our community, and the environment.

Todd Danielson is the Chief Utilities Executive for Avon Lake Regional Water, a water and wastewater utility on the shores of Lake Erie treating water for approximately 200,000 people and cleaning wastewater generated by 30,000.

Prior to joining the organization in 2010, he helped Loudoun Water (Virginia) with policy, design, and operation of community-based water and wastewater systems.

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Ohio EPA offered Avon Lake Regional Water a loan in order to allow the utility to establish its own revolving loan program for its customers. With money provided by Ohio EPA, Avon Lake Regional

THE FUTURE IS LARGER AND BRIGHTER

CLEAN WATER ADVOCATE

get the money. Unfortunately, the available grant money (Community Development Block Grant Program funds) was very quickly used for the neediest of residents. Luckily, with the support of the Board of Municipal Utilities, staff approached Ohio EPA with great interest in piloting a new type of revolving loan.

Managing

TODAY’S Automating The Employee Discipline/Grievance Process to Improve Efficiency, Reduce Risk, and Build Workforce Morale

W

hile utilities plan for the workforce of the future and worry about how to replace long-term skilled and trained employees, it is equally essential for them to better manage the workforce they have today. And, as managers know all too well, corrective action and discipline are an inescapable reality of managing employees. Looking at employee disciplinary procedures through the lens of “effective utility management (EUM),” those procedures should be designed to reinforce the EUM principles of employee development and leadership and to

By Frank Roth and Judy Montoya

facilitate employee engagement and retention.

Achieving this goal is not possible without a disciplinary process that is fair, equitable, and transparent.

Ensuring and maintaining such a process requires identifying and fixing those areas where the system of discipline falls short. For the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (“Water Authority”), a big part of the fix came in the form of a computer-based process called Positive Corrective Action (PCA), which was developed in partnership with HRefficient.

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“PCA is a very useful discipline and grievance system that works through a custom-built, web-based application,” says Peter Auh, General Counsel for the Water Authority. “It has helped to solve a number of challenges that the Water Authority and its employees faced in the disciplinary process. It also helps me in defending imposed discipline before our Labor Board or in court.”

Auh explained that, prior to implementation of the PCA, the disciplinary process was decentralized, and disciplinary issues were handled in discrete operational centers without direct oversight from the utility’s Human

Resources or Legal departments. According to Auh, “this contributed to violations—intentional or otherwise—of personnel rules and regulations.”

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With various divisions and sections administering their own disciplinary processes, consistency problems arose.

With various divisions and sections administering their own disciplinary processes, consistency problems arose. Record-keeping was not uniform across divisions, and an employee’s disciplinary history could walk out the door with a retiring supervisor. Moreover, discipline was not always enforced in the same manner from department to department, leading to disparate treatment of employees who had committed similar infractions. PCA offered an automated, paperless solution to these problems, which did not require any change in management, since the implementation was simply automating and improving the entire disciplinary process.

Enforcement of disciplinary procedures was perceived by most supervisors as a cumbersome and time-consuming endeavor. Because of

the effort involved, some supervisors chose to overlook employee infractions rather than become involved in a lengthy and burdensome disciplinary process.

The PCA application is easily operable from a desktop or mobile device, allowing supervisors access to a centralized, automated system that takes them step-by-step through the disciplinary process. It creates a standardized procedure that assists in human resource, legal reviews and choosing legal pathways, as well as maintains and disseminates coaching, discipline, and appeal responses in a workflow and approval application.

“I receive an email alert that lets me know that

there is a matter in the PCA that requires my attention,” Auh explained. “I log in, review the wording of the notice to the employee and the listed violations of policy or regulations, make revisions as necessary, and then send it along the routing process.”

This has significantly decreased the time necessary to administer disciplinary procedures.

Furthermore, the PCA system’s built-in oversight mechanism ensures that HR, legal, division managers, chief officers and—in circumstances where pay or continued employment are affected—the executive director are all involved at critical points along the way.

PCA also tracks policy or procedure issues, incidents, and an employee’s disciplinary history. All documentation is stored in the web-based application, including audio files from meetings or hearings, as well as video files from surveillance cameras. The PCA also provides a permanent record-retention platform and allows for real-time information to better inform management of where and how employee problems are occurring and being resolved.

Statistical data is easily retrieved to analyze which policies are most often violated, what areas of the utility’s operation seem to be the most frequent source of misconduct, and other such trends that allow management to focus its attention on improvement.

LEGAL TEAM Defines and monitors the process and use the documentation to reduce litigation.

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MANAGERS/ SUPERVISORS

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Creates, routes and stores documents involved in the progressive discipline process.

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DOCUMENTS

UNION Documentation, timelines and visibility of corporate actions.

For supervisors and personnel staff, PCA provides for quick and easy historical record retrieval, which is vital in positively correcting employee behavior and ensuring compliance with prescriptive corrections. With the use of pre-approved legal templates, PCA improves the legal framework by generating notices, letters, and findings. Moreover, PCA supports consistent discipline for similar infractions and the ability to meet the strict deadlines set in collective bargaining agreements.

When the PCA system was initially rolled out in 2010, HR personnel were surprised to see an uptick in the rate of reported disciplinary procedures. This suggested that a significant number of procedures may have been going unreported to HR before a centralized recording system was in place. After PCA implementation, however, the number of grievances filed by employees dropped significantly. This statistical development warrants further analysis, but the fall-off suggests that inconsistencies in disciplinary enforcement, which may have led to grievances in the past, are now being addressed.

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Guided through the progressive process ensuring company policies are followed.

HR Monitor, track and report on the process as well as define areas of corporate concern.

Since employee grievances have been reduced under PCA, the system appears to be contributing to employee satisfaction.

Certainly, the knowledge that standards are being applied uniformly and fairly across departments and that the PCA

system holds supervisors accountable in the disciplinary process is a morale builder.

And, by relieving supervisors of some of the more burdensome aspects of the disciplinary process (e.g. paperwork, record-keeping, calls to HR for instruction, etc.), the system allows them to focus more fully on their jobs, which contributes to improving the operation and maintenance of utility assets.

To the extent that the process has become more transparent and streamlined for all parties involved, it has abated a source of internal conflict and resulted in employee engagement.

This reinforces the contention that a thorough examination of disciplinary processes should be included as part of any utility’s implementation of EUM principles with respect to employee development and retention.

Judy Montoya is the CEO of HR Efficient.

Frank Roth is the Policy and Performance Improvement Manager of the AlbuquerqueBernalillo County Water Utility Authority.

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EMPLOYEES Coached towards success using a clear and consistent process

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How PCA Connects the Company

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CLEAN WATER CAREERS LINKS GREAT JOBS WITH GREAT CANDIDATES NACWA’s Clean Water Careers job board is a growing and invaluable resource for NACWA Member Agencies, Affiliates, and job seekers alike. Join the growing numbers of utilities, companies, and government agencies that are connecting exceptional jobs with exceptional candidates through Clean Water Careers today!

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NACWA STANDS FOR LEADERSHIP The greatest asset that a clean water utility can have is its leadership.

Clean water leaders understand that their responsibility as clean water stewards could not be more profound—that the stakes could not be higher—and with passion and diligence, they not only meet the demands of this calling, but instill it daily throughout their whole organization.

This call to lead, however, carries an inherent commitment to constantly improve: In valued knowledge, best practices, technical skills, engagement with peers, and so much more. Leaders, including all clean water professionals, must constantly grow if they are to stay ahead of the curve for the sake of their communities.

As fellow stewards, NACWA embraces the responsibility. Do you?

For nearly five decades, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) has been the nation’s recognized leader in clean water issue advocacy, and a premium resource for clean water executives, professionals and stakeholders.

It’s time to join the nationwide network of leaders and agencies, and take a proactive role in the forces that directly impact your organization.

WE KEEP YOU AHEAD OF THE CURVE AND PROACTIVE. IT’S TIME TO FIND AND COLLABORATE WITH YOUR PEERS.

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Membership means Leadership.

For information about membership, contact Kelly Brocato at kbrocato@nacwa.org

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