Fifty Years of Clean AchievementWater
The clean water sector employs nearly half a million people, with closeto-home, good-paying jobs at all skill levels.
The nutrients recovered from wastewater are an affordable alternative for farmers compared to
Clean water utilities can tailor their treatment levels for water reuse depending on the need, whether for irrigation, industrial use, or drinking water.
NACWA represents public wastewater and stormwater agencies of all sizes nationwide. Our unique and growing network allows for the proactive peer-to-peer exchange of best practices and expertise and strengthens the advocacy voice for all member utilities, ensuring they have the tools necessary to provide affordable and sustainable clean water for all. Our vision is to represent every utility as a NACWA member, helping to shape a strong and resilient clean water future.
Clean water keeps us healthy by preventing the spread of illness. As we have seen from the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of clean and safe water is vital to ensuring sanitation and public health.
Every job in the clean water sector supports nearly four times as many jobs outside the sector.
For every $1 million of capital invested in clean water, more than 15 jobs are supported.
DID KNOW?YOU
Every job in the clean water sector supports nearly four times as many jobs outside the sector.
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At least one-fifth of the U.S. economy would grind to a halt without a reliable and clean source of water.
We are proud to assert with great confidence and 50 years of success stories and statistics that our nation’s clean water agencies are…
The Utility of the Future movement marks the evolution from compliance to championing innovation and the use of technologies that do not just clean water but benefit the Earth. Water reuse and green infrastructure offer triple-bottom-line benefits.
The last 50 years have brought transformative change to the wastewater sector. Buoyed with support, guidance, and resources from NACWA, the wastewater utilities of yesterday are known as clean water agencies today, and they have done more for their communities than merely treat their used water, they have vastly improved the quality of life for the communities they serve.
For 50 years, 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.
Thanks to clean water, redeveloped waterfronts are enabling big and small cities across the country to expand their value beyond just being urban economic centers to becoming the heart of the community, where people of all ages can rediscover their environment and improve their quality of life.
Reused water provides a reliable, drought-proof water supply unaffected by the impacts of climate change.
Fountains SustainabilityInnovationofand
Every ounce that flows into a clean water utility can be upcycled into new beneficial uses, such as fertilizer, heat, power, and natural gas, even drinking water, all with a net environmental benefit.
Anchors of CommunitiesTheir
Please visit nacwa50report.org for a list of sources for these and other statistics in this book.
synthetic fertilizers that are fossil fuel intensive.
Economic Engines and Job Creators
Critical Assets for Fighting the Effects of Climate Change
The flow of wastewater from communities holds five times the energy needed to treat it.
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Our Journey
The United States had a lot going on in the 70s. The Vietnam War was raging. Watergate rocked the White House. And Star Wars changed movies forever. America’s “free love” decade marked a major shift in views about women and feminism. With some of the first computers in circulation, the 70s also brought a shift to the way we worked. And the politics of the time were changing the relationship between the citizens and their government. These major events of the 70s were, indeed, changing our lives.
Out of this came the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and many more organizations that sparked a collective new ethic—that we should preserve our natural resources and protect our air, water, and land. These organizations and the ethos they stood for were instrumental in the way we regulate, care for, and protect the Earth today.
Another organization was born in 1970 whose impact has gone beyond serving our environment and public health to helping improve the economies of our towns and cities and the quality of life of virtually
the ones preventing the pollution. Today, our members have moved beyond pollution and are now leading the charge on resource recovery. In the next 10 years, our members will be seen by others as we see them—true innovators and frontline environmentalists— anchoring and transforming communities and their economies through a sustainable one-water approach. Through this historical account, and from case studies around the country, we will share our members’ journeys of reliably transforming communities and demonstrating how clean water creation—more commonly referred to as wastewater treatment—deserves our celebration, our gratitude, our continued focus, and our continued investment more than nearly any other civic amenity.
NACWA has had an outsized influence on improving the nation’s water quality Americans.offorqualityultimately,and,theoflifehundredsmillionsof
everyone across the U.S. But it is not something you will find from a Google search on “key events” from the 70s. And it is not one of those acronyms that require no explanation, like EPA or NOAA.
As NACWA celebrates its golden anniversary, we are sharing 50 years of clean water creation and what that has meant for our collective quality of life. We began our journey just prior to the establishment of the Clean Water Act (CWA), representing the agencies charged with controlling water pollution. Over time, our member agencies were treating that pollution. Next, they were
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Another major event in the 70s was the start of the environmental movement. The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 launched a new American attitude about our environment. Its champion, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, said it was “to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the
political establishment out of its lethargy and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda.”
No, this less known organization, originally formed in Seattle and now based in Washington, DC, may not have the name recognition of those others, but, despite its lack of widespread name recognition, it has had an outsized influence on improving the nation’s water quality and, ultimately, the quality of life for hundreds of millions of Americans. We are talking about NACWA, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. Founded in 1970 as the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA), NACWA—it changed its name in 2005—is the organization that represents public wastewater and stormwater utilities. But the terms wastewater and stormwater are narrow. They only focus on the raw inputs to the work. Clean water is the product, it is NACWA’s focus, and it is the sector’s brand promise to America.
When people outside the public clean water sector think about wastewater treatment (as they should and must do alongside transportation, ports, schools, and emergency response), their thoughts about it typically focus narrowly on the treatment works. They understand, at least in a general way, that the used water taken from their house or business, coming from toilets and drains, is transported by underground pipes to a treatment works somewhere nearby, treated, then transported to a waterway.
Every flush of every toilet every day. Every shower. Every load of dishes and every load of laundry. All of these generate a giant river of wastewater flowing through an underground collection system across America and into our wastewater plants. America’s wastewater treatment plants convert raw sewage into clean, dischargeable water every hour of every day— enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every second and a half.
They would talk about state-of-theart technology that can treat the water. They would talk about raising rates to enable continual investment in the infrastructure to meet tighter regulations. And they would often talk to customers and others about what they can do to help keep the system working well, such as disposing of fats, oils, and grease properly and not flushing so-called “flushable” wipes down the toilet.
It is a lot. Most people do not give it much thought. And because this has happened every day without interruption for our entire lives, most do not often consider how things could be without it or how things were before treatment systems were built.
For the majority of these last 50 years, most within the clean water sector were silent about their work, content to remain under the radar. They did not often communicate to customers about the important work they were doing, and, when they did communicate, they often limited their focus to the engineering and science behind the treatment of wastewater and the management of stormwater.
What was often missed in these messages to consumers was the bigger picture—the more holistic, triple-bottom-line impact that clean water creation has in communities. Think about it. If you have ever
Social Impacts
Americans value water-based recreation opportunities so much they actually spend 25% more on fishing and water sports than the entire world spends on entertainment from the film industry.
How Clean Water Benefits Our Lives
driven a vehicle, shopped at a mall, eaten food, or simply enjoyed a day at the beach, most anything you do throughout your day was made possible in some way because of clean water. So, wastewater plants do not simply treat your dirty water. Wastewater plants enable communities to thrive from social, economic, and environmental aspects.
all, the opportunity they provide for exploration, for play, and for Cleancommunity.water builds communities in a way no other product or service can. Beyond the simple aesthetics of having a healthy, thriving waterway, water’s presence has tangible benefits to society, such as improved physical and mental health. According to the scholarly journal Health and Place, living within sight of water is linked to lower stress levels. Urban water renewal projects have been linked to increased physical activity levels among users. In fact, Americans value water-based recreation opportunities so much they actually spend 25%
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The Santa Monica Bay. The Cuyahoga. The Potomac. Lake Okeechobee. Boston Harbor. America’s waters are considered some of our most valued treasures today. We value our waterways for their beauty, their restorative qualities, and, above
WOW!
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With greater access and opportunity for outdoor recreation, such as walking paths, fishing, and kayaking, revitalized waterways offer residents affordable, unlimited ways to stay fit. Flowing water is energizing, and, at the same time, it is calming. It creates a sense of place that people are drawn to for both social gathering and connecting with others as well as for solitary reflection and meditation. For residents of the District of Columbia, DC Water’s investment of $2.7 billion to repair its combined collection system and revitalize the Anacostia River will help ensure the new waterfront can provide housing, retail, entertainment, and sports venues, as well as recreational and environmental opportunities. The project, which has brought together dozens of nonprofit, local, federal, and regional partners, has effectively turned one of the nation’s most impaired rivers into a national treasure, right in the heart of its capital.
inside. In fact, every job created in the water sector helps add more than three jobs in the national economy, and every $1 million invested in water infrastructure supports 15 to 18 jobs throughout the economy.
Without clean water, at least one-fifth of the economy would come to a screeching halt.
empowering a rich tapestry of people in good work that serves the very community they live in. Cleaning used water requires a diversely talented workforce, tapping into almost every discipline you can imagine—from the obvious STEM-based careers of technology, science, and engineering to finance, legal, human resources, and communication. It requires tradespeople of all kinds such as mechanics, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, and more. This creates a naturally diverse workforce, representative of the community it Itserves.isestimated that one out of every 300 working Americans work in the clean water sector in some way. Clean water supports even more jobs outside the fence of the treatment works than it does
Economic Impacts
more on fishing and water sports than the entire world spends on entertainment from the film industry.
The contribution of clean water to our recreation economy is nothing to splash at—Americans’ enjoyment of recreational fishing and water sports fuels $175 billion in annual spending and is directly responsible for more than 1.5 million jobs. According to the Southern Research Station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 100 million Americans participate in water recreation annually.
Clean water creation is an economic engine. Without it, at least one-fifth of the economy would come to a screeching halt. It creates a variety of good paying, local jobs that span the spectrum of education and skills,
Clean rivers create community centers where people want to convene, so the development opportunities are tremendous. Cities across the country have discovered that one of the most valuable assets they can invest in are their riverfronts. Cities like Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Antonio, and Atlanta represent just a partial list of cities that have invested in their waterfronts in the last few decades. As an example, Richmond, Virginia has been ranked fourth among midsized cities in economic growth potential in part due to its waterfront restoration. Positive job growth trends are evident with 2019 showing the highest growth of the recent decade as jobs increased 23% from 2001 to
2019. While it is difficult to draw a direct line to all these gains simply from improved river conditions, Richmond provides strong evidence of the link—experiencing an explosion of interest in and recreation on its James River. As one of very few cities with Class IV rapids within city limits, Richmond’s growth in kayaking has led to more homes purchased closer to the river for easier access, and several volunteer groups have formed to improve access, build trails, and support the James River Park System.
The Triple Bottom Line
This outcome alone has contributed to 700 local jobs, the addition of at least 70 new businesses downtown, and $42 million in new sustained economic activity. Columbus Councilor Walker Garrett said, “the RiverWalk was the catalyst that started to incentivize some businesses to begin buying property. They started to see the potential…when whitewater came, it was like a deluge of businesses in the downtown area.”
Environmental Impacts
milestone when the city transformed its troubled industrial districts into thriving trendy areas of hiking trails, fishing opportunities, and residential and commercial development. These achievements are not possible without America’s clean water utilities.
Columbus, Georgia’s RiverWalk has been credited by city leaders as turning around Columbus’ economy. The city’s River Center for the Performing Arts, an amenity built once the Riverwalk was completed, contributes $4.9 million and 165 jobs to the city. Another economic outcome that became a part of Columbus’ revitalization story is the whitewater rafting industry. After the Riverwalk was created, the city invested funds to remove a couple of dams, opening up the Chattahoochee River to rafting.
some cases almost fully eliminate, excess nutrients and bacteria from reaching waterways. They accomplish this with significant investments in stormwater collection systems and by separating stormwater and wastewater collection systems and using natural vegetation to keep water out of the collection systems in the first place. For example, Seattle, Washington’s progressive “Green Stormwater Infrastructure” to control its combined system has enabled the city to cut pollution to Seattle’s waterways by 75%.
WORK!GREAT
AlexRenew is not alone. More than 1,200 clean water utilities in the U.S. currently produce biogas. Many treatment works are powering their own systems from this energy, enabling them to go off the grid. Others are able to fuel local bus fleets. All of these efforts reduce a community’s reliance on fossil fuels for energy, which reduces their greenhouse gas emissions. If all clean water facilities generated energy from their biogas, we could power a city the size of San Diego. The potential is great, and NACWA continues its important work to expand the sector’s efforts in this space.
In March 2019, the Ohio EPA announced that fish from the Cuyahoga River are safe to eat—the first time since the river burned in 1969. In 2019, Cleveland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the fire with festivals, events, and activities to mark the
It is clear that creating clean water from our wastewater is more than just a series of engineering activities that rid our homes and businesses of waste. The work clean water agencies do every minute of every day without interruption contributes to the overall health of a community’s people, its economy, and its environment.
Clean water enables the natural environment to thrive. Above all else, the environment is where our sector’s impact is the greatest. Clean water utilities work hard to minimize, and in
Narragansett Bay is cleaner than it has been in 150 years due to wastewater plant upgrades.
NACWA’s role over the past 50 years has been to shape the regulatory and policy landscape broadly, leading to a consistent application of strict yet rational regulatory requirements to protect public health and the environment. In short, our members and their dedicated employees are America’s most important frontline environmentalists—this has been true since before the CWA came into existence, and it is even more true today. As these utilities have grown in national importance, NACWA has grown right alongside them to serve and protect their interests.
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But preventing pollutants from entering waterways to enable plants and animals to thrive is only part of the environmental benefit from public clean water agencies. Another major element is the important impact they have on clean energy generation and the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. When wastewater is treated, the solids that are removed can be burned to generate heat and power or further processed into natural gas. For example, Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew), the agency that services the historic city of Alexandria, Virginia, has been capturing and reusing its biogas for heat for more than 12 years, and, as a result, it has realized a 25% reduction in greenhouse gases since 2005.
And up the Atlantic coast in Rhode Island was a similar story. Due to the success of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s efforts to reduce wastewater flows into the ocean, beach closures in the state have decreased by more than 80%. In 2016, Dr. Candace Oviatt, a prominent researcher at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, declared that Narragansett Bay is cleaner than it has been in 150 years due to wastewater plant upgrades. The bay’s tourism economy has benefitted with cumulative growth of 23% over the past five years. This supports 83,913 jobs, or one job for every 293 visitors.
and cholera, which killed at
DID KNOW?YOU theTreatingWater PRE-1970 12 13
In the post-World War II period, communities began to focus on their polluted waters. Charleston, South Carolina was one of America’s earliest cities to start dealing with the issue. to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, water-borne in the 19th typhoid least 50,000 Americans.
We paid a tremendous price for this lack of awareness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water-borne diseases were rampant in the 19th century, including typhoid and cholera, which killed at least 50,000 Americans. In 1945, more than 3,500 communities pumped 2.5 billion tons of raw sewage into streams, lakes, and coastal waters every day.
WATERTHETREATING PRE-1970| 1948 isControlPollutionWaterFederalActpassed 1963 MLK makes “I have a speechdream” 1967 Height involvementAmericanof in Vietnam War
century, including
1965 Medicare and Medicaid are established According
1969 Neil walksArmstrongonthemoon 1960 Reverse osmosis is first successfully demonstrated 1951 “I Love Lucy” airs for the first time on CBS
and
America was not always mindful of the power or importance of clean water, nor were the utilities and people that provide it. In fact, our “treatment” of water was very different before the 70s. Prior to the CWA, most cities viewed their waterways as nothing more than a pathway for shipping goods and people between cities. The prevailing philosophy of the time was “the solution to pollution is dilution.” So, waterways were a disposal point for our waste. From colonial times through the post-World War II era, most communities treated their waterways as garbage dumps.
Charleston’s harbor waters were too polluted for swimming, and shell fishing was banned. The problem was so significant that a 1963 article in the Charleston Evening Post quoted a resident saying the waters were so filled with sewage that “if we just wait long enough, we won’t need to build another bridge across.” By 1965, plans were announced for a program that would include a treatment plant. The new system was permitted for operation in 1970, just as state legislation was passed prohibiting dumping untreated sewage into the harbor.
diseases were rampant
“It was 50 years ago this coming May when I wrote to 13 nationally recognized developingweexecutiveswastewatertosuggestjoinforcestomakesurethenation’slargecitiesweretreatedfairlyinthethenCleanWaterAct.AMSAwascreated,andwehadamajorroleinthedraftingofPL92-500,which contained significant sections we helped write. It’s rewarding to see that our early efforts morphed into NACWA with its strong environmental focus.”
Out of this first meeting in 1969, AMSA was born. Officially incorporated in 1970, it represented 43 million people, or 22% of the total national population, with a mission to speak with one voice on water pollution control and to obtain federal financial aid while also providing valuable information to its members. This coalescing of clean water agencies could not have happened at a more opportune time, as the country was on the verge of a nationwide movement—one that would recognize and, ultimately, support investments in clean water.
Gibbs conducted outreach across the country and confirmed that many agencies like his were having trouble being heard in Washington. Representatives of 22 sewerage authorities convened later that year for the first meeting of what is now NACWA. It was Gibbs’ vision that the group would come away from this meeting with a plan for sewerage agencies to not just be heard but to also successfully influence federal legislation in a way that was more responsive to the needs of the nation’s large cities and to better reflect the huge costs associated with the national clean water policies being considered. Who better to advise on such legislation, was their thinking, than the agencies at the front line implementing it?
Many cities realized the situation could not go on. Like Charleston, cities such as San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago had developed rudimentary collection systems to stop the impairment of their waterways. They built systems to transport sewage from homes and businesses to primary treatment works, which included basic filtration to remove pollutants. Though this level of treatment worked for a while, it was not perfect. Rivers and other waterways continued to be severely degraded, unfit for recreation, and a community eyesore.
While cities generally had teams of people to work on the problem, they struggled to get the funds they needed to build better treatment; they did not have the regulatory framework they needed to really compel investments in the infrastructure. As a result,
FOUNDINGNACWA’SFATHER
Gibbs was one of the outspoken leaders who considered this pending legislation to be unjust to the larger agencies, and he made this known repeatedly with letters, telephone calls, and visits to people on Capitol Hill to give legislators a better understanding of the special needs and problems of the large metropolitan sewerage agencies. By 1969, he recognized that other metropolitan clean water agencies were having similar problems. He wondered if leaders from a number of these agencies spoke to Congress together with one voice, they might be heard.
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the very agencies at the core of the solution, the ones helping to clean America’s waterways, felt as though federal regulators saw them as the core problem, the ones responsible for the pollution. This did not sit right for many of them.
In developing the legislation to create the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, later to be known as the Clean Water Act, the Senate Committee on Public Works declared that “pollution of our water resources by domestic and industrial wastes has become an increasingly serious problem due to the rapid growth of our cities and industries.... Polluted waters menace the public health..., destroy fish and game life, and rob us of other benefits of our natural resources” (House Report No. 1829 to accompany Senate Bill 418, 80th Congress, Second Session, April 28, 1948).
The Start of a Solution
More than two years before the passage of the CWA in 1972, key wastewater utilities around the nation were being proactive, convening and coalescing around the need for a coordinated effort to control water pollution. The earliest of these convenings and coordination can be traced back to Seattle, Washington, where the late Charles V. Gibbs, executive director of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle at the time, was confronting the sometimes conflicting direction on water pollution control coming from Congress and the Administration, direction that came with little or no federal funding or grant assistance. And Gibbs along with other public clean water utility leaders from around the country rejected the notion that their agencies were entities to be regulated as opposed to utilities with the means and knowledge to work collaboratively with the federal government to solve the problem.
small agencies serving few people. In order to conform with the requirements of the law, large metropolitan sewerage agencies had to use mostly local funds for building or improving their facilities. Then, in 1969, Congress began considering a bill that would provide substantial construction grants to sewerage agencies for future facilities and little or nothing to those that had already used their own funds for that purpose.
A Voice for the Sector
Grants available from the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, authorized by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments, went mainly to
CHARLES V. GIBBS
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was one of the first examples of how AMSA helped to shape major legislation, but not without political disagreements.
nation’s waterways, but preventing and reversing it, too.
Although still in its infancy at the time, AMSA had already become a “go-to” source of information and counsel that the federal government turned to for water pollution matters. In September 1971, EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus urged AMSA and EPA to work together, and he pledged that EPA would look to AMSA for assistance.
In fact, President Nixon vetoed the bill, but it became law when the veto was overridden by Congress—a remarkable bipartisan achievement that reflected
As mentioned previously, the 70s was a time of transformative thinking on many fronts in America, and one of the most sustaining and important notions of that time was the idea that we should protect the Earth. The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 launched a new collective conscience with 20 million Americans participating on that day—more than 10% of the population at the time.
This was good news, but AMSA noted some inequity—some large cities had already made efforts and investments on their own. Would the new law compensate these communities for their progressive thinking and their leadership, or would these cities pay a penalty by being left out of funding under the new law?
It was during this decade that the number of large public wastewater utilities started to grow. These agencies were moving from basic, primary treatment, focused merely on the physical separation of the water and the solids it contains, to secondary treatment, which added biological processes. Secondary treatment brought in microbes that could further treat the water by removing even more pollutants, detectable at even smaller amounts. Establishing secondary treatment as the minimum standard only happened because of the visionary foresight and input from the first members of AMSA.
A New Environmental Ethic
The flaming Cuyahoga became the symbol for mounting environmental issues, sparking wide-ranging reforms, including the passage of the CWA and the creation of federal and state environmental protection agencies. It was with this new environmental ethic that the 70s became a time for the water sector to focus on not just stopping the impairment of our
1970 - 2000 16 17
PollutionPreventing
With the enactment of the Federal Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, the U.S. had a new law for ensuring its waterways were protected. Today, we refer to this statute as the Clean Water Act.
This was considered a catalyst of the environmental movement. But, of all the important moments that sparked new thinking and new action to protect our resources, it has been argued that the key moment, the key catalyst of our environmental activism, was actually the sight of the Cuyahoga River fire just a year before, which occurred when a train passing through Cleveland set fire to an oil slick floating along the river’s surface. TIME Magazine published dramatic photos of the burning river saying it “oozes rather than flows.”
With AMSA’s urging, the final law established a federal construction grants program that helped provide financial assistance to larger municipalities to meet the law’s new national mandates. This program not only provided important investments for those communities that had begun construction of facilities under the previous law, but it also established a key principle of the federal and local partnership that helped make the CWA so successful—local clean water utilities would upgrade to meet a new national
1970 AMSA is incorporated with 22 member agencies 1972 CWA is passed and construction grants program begins, ultimately providing over $60 billion in grants over the next 14 years 1990-1994 AMSA plays critical role in the National Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy 1990 World Wide Web debuts 1980 Reagan is elected PresidentU.S. 1987 Clean Water State Revolving Fund program is established 1998 Michael Jordan wins his 6th and final championshipNBA 1977 passamendmentsCWA 1980 AMSA celebrates 10th anniversary and has 76 member agencies
the importance of clean water to the public at large and the growing desire for national standards to improve our most important natural resource. With the enactment of the law in 1972, the U.S. finally had a new program for helping municipalities clean up their wastewater.
POLLUTIONPREVENTING 2000-1970|
Financing Clean Water
By October 1977, federal agencies and Congress frequently came to AMSA for input because AMSA members knew better than anyone in the federal government about collection, treatment, and handling of wastewater, and they had firsthand knowledge of what would and would not work.
AMSA members met on numerous occasions with EPA over the next year to make sure the regulations EPA was developing to implement the CWA met the intent of law. And, because of AMSA’s important contributions to the 1977 CWA’s implementing
The Earth-friendly and somewhat more liberal 70s gave way to a new conservatism in the 80s. Beachy hair was replaced by big hair. Bell-bottom jeans became tight, acid-washed jeans. The 80s brought to market some products still wildly popular today, like Apple’s Mac computer, the first mobile phone, disposable soft contact lenses, and Prozac.
The phenomenal expansion of AMSA’s membership and activities in its first decade prepared it well for the challenges it faced in the 80s, including increased scrutiny on urban stormwater and wet weather issues. Besides advising both the legislative and executive branches of government on all clean water issues, AMSA kept its members well informed about federal activities through bulletins and newsletters, helped its members share information among themselves, and provided forums for technical education through its many conferences.
President Reagan entered the White House in 1981 on a platform of reducing the government’s size and reach, which also meant reductions in government
spending. As part of this agenda, the 80s proved to be a transitional time for public clean water utilities, with the phase out of funding for the construction grants program and the emergence of a new Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program, established by Congress in the Water Quality Act of 1987 and becoming effective in fiscal year 1990. AMSA played a large role in the legislative discussions around the creation of the new loan program.
Since its start, the CWSRF has surpassed $126 billion in cumulative assistance and continues to grow today. AMSA was instrumental in ensuring this funding continued through the years. Despite the success of the CWSRF, however, the shift in the 80s from a federal grants program to a federal loan program marked a fundamental shift in the clean water partnership between local governments and the federal government.
AMSA members and staff spent many hours conferring with members of Congress, congressional staff, and officials of concerned agencies who were working on amendments. The eventual legislation, the CWA amendments of 1977, included a new five-year authorization of more than $26 billion for municipal construction grants, major changes in the states’ role in the construction program, an extension of municipal deadlines, and
regulations, EPA Administrator Doug Costle chose to officially sign those regulations during one of the regular quarterly meetings with AMSA in September of 1978. AMSA and EPA were committed partners.
The CWA of 1972 successfully established a national program of investment in and regulation of our waterways, but, as written, it was still not fully solving the nation’s water pollution problems. There were still too many challenges including limited funding and how it was being appropriated, the effects of inflation, unworkable rules, regulations being developed with inadequate knowledge of the technology involved, contradictory goals of competing federal agencies, and inflexible administration of the law. In light of all of these issues, it was clear that Congress would have to rework the law, and AMSA members would play a critical role in making that happen.
an added push toward innovative technologies. There were also adjustments to the pretreatment and industrial cost recovery (ICR) requirements of the 1972 law. The passage of the 1977 amendments solidified AMSA’s role in influencing federal clean water law and policy.
The 80s also saw AMSA continue to build its value for the sector with more of a focus on developing financing strategies for capital projects and increasing its visibility as a national leader in environmental management, further enhancing its publications with documents like, “The Cost of Clean,” and regular resources like its triennial Financial Survey and annual Index of Service Charges, which provided the first national comparison of service charges for members.
standard for pollution reduction, and the federal government would help provide funds to achieve that goal. AMSA was critical in helping negotiate this win-win partnership and it was the most significant achievement of AMSA in its early years.
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Amending the CWA
The One-Water Approach
AMSA also had considerable influence in pushing forward the notion of comprehensive watershed management as the most effective way to address watershed challenges.
AMSA was already working to advance umbrella—aandmanageapproacheffortWatershedintotalentscombinedpartapproach,watershedbeganbywasthelegislation“watershed-focused”intheearly90s,andpubliccleanwatersectorfollowingsuit.Forexample,thelate90s,Atlanta,Georgiaplanningacomprehensivemanagementandintheearlyofthe2000s,thecityhadtheresourcesandofseveralofitsteamsaunifiedDepartmentofManagement.Thisfosteredacoordinatedtoeffectivelywater,wastewater,stormwaterunderoneone-waterapproach.
Seizing Technologythe Revolution
In the early part of the 2000s, Atlanta, Georgia had combined the resources and talents of several of its teams into a unified Department of Management.Watershed This effort fostered a coordinated approach to effectively manage water, wastewater, and stormwater under one umbrella—a onewater approach.
AMSA’s membership had doubled to 150 agencies by its silver anniversary in 1995, and the association continued to play an integral role in the reauthorization of the CWA. AMSA also played a critical role in EPA’s implementation of CWA programs, most notably the biosolids beneficial use program and the landmark National Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy (NCSOCP).
The brash boldness of the 80s swung back to slightly more mellow 90s. Punk rock lost favor to grunge. The nuclear standoff with Russia was over, and, as the Cold War thawed, the 90s brought incredible advances in technology, particularly in the medical field such as the first gene therapy trial. And—thanks to clean water utilities—by 1995, toxics and pollutants were at their lowest levels in the nation’s waterways. Rivers and lakes that had been on the brink of biological extinction were now teeming with life.
By 1995, toxics and pollutants were at their lowest levels in the nation’s waterways. Rivers and lakes that had been on the brink of biological extinction were now teeming with life.
The 90s also ushered in a new era of innovation and technology, with the public adoption of the Internet and many types of new media. Clean water agencies were benefiting in many ways from this technology era, particularly with respect to communications tools that enabled remote control of systems through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. This level of automation brought efficiency and safety to wastewater treatment.
SMART!THAT’S
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Between 1992 and 1994, AMSA provided critical input that resulted in the NCSOCP. The policy gave municipalities both the clear direction and the flexibility they needed to effectively control sewer overflows and came at a significant savings— from $160 billion under previous proposals to a projected $41 billion long-term investment under the new policy. The eventual codification of the NCSOCP into the CWA put the full force of law behind its essential components and ensured, through action by Congress, that the policy would not be arbitrarily amended or altered without significant review.
As AMSA moved into its fourth decade, its focus became resource recovery, including water and biosolids reuse, energy generation, and green infrastructure.
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With this new focus, AMSA’s members no longer thought of themselves as mere sewerage agencies, and they were changing their names to better reflect their missions of clean water. AMSA did the same in 2005 and became the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. NACWA’s core values were expanded from supporting and advocating for the clean water sector at the federal level to better reflect what the organization and its members had already embraced—the much broader charge of influencing environmental policy and environmental stewardship through sound science, fiscal wisdom, and more stakeholder engagement.
With the fresh start of a new decade and millennium, we were hopeful, excited, and even giddy, for what this new century would bring. Then, on September 11, 2001, our excitement turned to horror. Everything would surely be different going forward, though not in the way most had thought, as the threat of global terrorism joined climate change as one of the top drivers for more resiliency, and AMSA became deeply involved in working with the federal government to address security concerns for the clean water sector.
The 90s tech revolution was a boon to businesses. We were working smarter and faster than ever before. We were embodying Bill Gates’ crazy dream of “a computer on every desk,” that is, until New Year’s Eve 1999. For it was on this night that—as everyone partied exactly as the recording artist Prince had instructed everyone to do in his 80s pop anthem—we all worried that this high-tech future we had created for ourselves would come to an abrupt and catastrophic end once the year flipped from ’99 to ’00. AMSA was actually part of a White House task force working to minimize any impact to the sector leading up to that night. As the ball dropped and clocks around the world struck midnight, we held our breath and…nothing happened—other than a lot of champagne consumption and a deep appreciation for working toilets and clean water systems the next day.
But all was not dark, as this first decade of the new millennium also brought more technological innovations such as the smartphone and social media, helping to connect global communities and provide more access to information than ever before. The public clean water sector, like others, would both benefit from and be significantly challenged by the new wealth of digital information available at consumers’ fingertips. The technology and information explosions of the time created many new demands on clean water agencies to be more agile, innovative, resilient, and savvy with communication.
Water reuse in the U.S. more than doubled from 1995 to 2015 and is commonly used for irrigation.
One of the most important breakthroughs in treatment science over the last decade was the discovery and investment in membrane filtration. This treatment opened up a whole new era that enabled the reuse of highly treated wastewater for a variety of beneficial purposes. Water reuse in the U.S. more than doubled from 1995 to 2015. Today, the United States reuses 2.2 billion gallons of wastewater per day.
At its heart, the UOTF concept is the evolution from mere compliance to true championing of innovation and the use of technologies that do not just clean our water, but benefit the Earth and our future. Ideas like water reuse and green infrastructure are being adopted more frequently, and their impacts continue to offer triple-bottom-line benefits.
Biosolids from wastewater recovery are now commonly used as fertilizer to grow crops such as corn, wheat, and alfafa.
The growing focus on reuse has also helped diversify NACWA’s portfolio of important water advocacy issues beyond a traditional focus on wastewater and stormwater management.
In Michigan, the Great Lakes Water Authority biosolids dryer facility has the ability to turn one billion gallons of biosolids into Class A fertilizer every year. And in Denver, Colorado, the Metro Water Recovery’s biosolids reuse program supports area farms with a METROGRO cake, which reduces the need for chemical pesticides while driving higher crop yields.
In addition to nutrient and water recovery, NACWA’s members are recovering energy from the process of cleaning wastewater. For example, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which serves the city of Boston and surrounding areas, has aggressively pursued renewable energy at its Deer Island plant. Solar, wind, hydro, and biogas today produce about 27% of the plant’s electricity needs and over 60% of its overall energy needs. This energy recovery does not just benefit the environment, it is smart business. LOTT Clean
NACWA has evolved in recent years to help support members like the city of Garland with its efforts to reuse cleaned wastewater, forming a new work group to develop advocacy initiatives that will facilitate and encourage these innovative techniques.
Water Recovery: Reuse
Nutrient Recovery
Innovation in the clean water sector is both exciting and breathtaking. The silent service providers of the past are now becoming more visible, vocal participants in building long-term economic and environmental sustainability in their communities by pursuing new business models, advancing creative ideas to challenging problems, and producing valuable products. They are leading with innovation and are more “loud and proud” about the work they do for their communities, highlighting the central role they play and the service they provide.
All of this is happening at a time when a whole new set of environmental issues never envisioned by the CWA, like the impacts of climate change, drought, and growing nutrient issues, are combining with unprecedented economic and infrastructure pressures to squeeze utilities from all sides. Many clean water agencies are finding that innovation is critical for addressing these challenges, and NACWA is out in front, creating opportunities for agencies to surmount those challenges, including spearheading the Utility of the Future (UOTF) concept.
Innovation Influences Success
By 2000, many NACWA members were employing some form of nutrient recovery, especially through the beneficial reuse of biosolids. Case in point, Los Angeles, California’s LA Sanitation and Environment is the largest municipal agency in the country that converts its sludge into Class A biosolids. The biosolids meet or exceed all federally prescribed standards for safety so that they can be used as fertilizer and soil amendments to grow crops such as corn, wheat, and alfalfa used for animal feed. A smaller portion of the biosolids is mixed with green waste and manure from the Los Angeles Zoo to produce compost.
In the late 90s, Garland, Texas’ Duck Creek plant began providing a local power plant with some of its treated wastewater for their boiler systems. The rest of Garland’s freshly cleaned wastewater flows through a man-made, 1,840-acre wetland and is subsequently pumped to the city’s drinking water reservoir, providing a natural habitat for a wide variety of birds. This project’s success was crucial to the health of the nearby Trinity River, a drinking water source for the cities of Garland and Dallas.
Energy Recovery
THAT’SALOT!
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Today, the United States reuses 2.2 billion gallons of wastewater per day, enough to fill eight Empire State Buildings.
Through innovative practices like these, NACWA’s members have an incredible opportunity to materially reduce the impact of climate change.
Green Infrastructure Communities nationwide have found green infrastructure (GI) to be a cost-effective way to reduce flooding while also providing many other community benefits. NACWA has helped make GI an acceptable regulatory approach by partnering with EPA and state and environmental activists in 2007 to sign the first ever joint statement on the use of GI to help address stormwater issues.
WHOA!
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Water Alliance in Washington saves $150,000 in electric costs annually using methane and other biogas produced from its treatment process to power its Regional Services Center.
The steady, unrelenting growth in regulatory requirements over recent decades has increasingly challenged NACWA members to comply with new mandates while necessitating a balancing act with ballooning affordability challenges. The affordability challenge limits the ability of many communities to significantly raise rates. The Great Recession of 2008-2009 was the tipping point that made everyone realize the status quo was no longer sustainable. NACWA launched its Money Matters campaign in 2009 to advocate for a new, smarter regulatory paradigm that allowed utilities to prioritize their investments to best meet the CWA obligations at the most effective cost.
In New Jersey, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) has also used GI to support its community. CCMUA created the Camden Collaborative Initiative (CCI), an environmental initiative designed to improve the quality of life for Camden residents. With more than 60 environmental and community service partners, CCI works on green infrastructure projects, green job creation, reduction of air emissions and illegal dumping, elimination of brownfields, and environmental education. CCMUA’s program has been a model for community service for other clean water agencies and was recently adopted by the state as the model for initiatives in 10 other economically distressed communities.
These efforts, combined with those of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and other key organizations, led to EPA releasing its Integrated Planning Framework in 2012. The framework created the first clear regulatory and legal structure that empowered clean water utilities to look at all of their competing obligations under the CWA and create their own plans, subject to regulatory approval, that integrated and prioritized investments to meet obligations in a way that made the most sense to the utility and its community. NACWA and its members then followed up on the framework with strong, sustained advocacy that, ultimately, resulted in Congress codifying integrated planning into the CWA in 2018—marking one of the most important substantive, bipartisan policy changes to the CWA in over a decade.
Seattle Public Utilities has been a leading innovator in green stormwater infrastructure for 20 years and is perhaps one of the most shining examples of where GI has not just helped solve historic overflow problems, but also influenced a fundamental shift in the way a city regulates its development community. Today, Seattle continues to pursue GI as an environmental quality strategy by exploring how water infrastructure can be a platform for public health, social cohesion, environmental justice, cultural identity, and a wide range of other benefits.
NACWA and its members followed up on EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework with strong, sustained advocacy that, ultimately, resulted in Congress codifying integrated planning into the CWA in 2018—marking one of the most important substantive, bipartisan policy changes to the CWA in over a decade. KNOW?YOU
Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) in Greenville, South Carolina is always exploring how to increase biogas production to fuel its heat and power needs. To that end, ReWa created a fats, oils, and grease collection program to ensure they are properly disposed.
This also helps ReWa increase its biogas production, which leads to more renewable energy generation.
In the cereal capital of the world, Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s Utilities Department plans to invest $427.6 million from 2020 to 2037 for biogas recovery to provide heat and power and to sell biosolids for use as a soil amendment and fertilizer.
LOTT Clean Water Alliance saves $150,000 in electric costs annually using methane and other biogas produced from its treatment process to power its Regional Services Center. High urbansuchhasstrategyathehasprojectnaturalfeaturesinneighborhoodPointWestSeattlethelargestdrainagethatthecityundertakenandfirsttimethatnaturaldrainageofthisscalebeenusedinahigh-densitysetting.
Integrated Planning
DID
KAREN PALLANSCH
SUE MCCORMICK
NACWA is also working to build relationships with state regulators, along with engineering, labor, agricultural, and environmental justice groups. And, of course, collaboration with other longtime water-sector partners like the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, which served as AMSA’s sister organization in the early years, the Water Environment Federation, and the American Water Works Association has continued to grow. In short, NACWA and its members have recognized that partnerships and collaboration, wherever possible and where interests align, are critical to helping advance our collective goals of improving clean water and the environment.
NACWA has been fortunate to have amazing women serving the Association in a variety of leadership roles. Here is just a snapshot of some important female leaders from NACWA’s past and present.
The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) provides another excellent example of effective outreach. ABCWUA created a watershed protection website that keeps customers informed and suggests actions to protect their watershed. More significantly, the program includes a full-time education coordinator and a team of educators that conduct tours, classroom presentations, puppet shows, and field trips to the river for all fourth-grade classes in Albuquerque, reaching more than 18,000 students annually.
NACWA, over time, began expanding its membership to include smaller utilities—first removing any size restriction in the 90s and then making a more targeted commitment in 2017 to ensure membership was more accessible to small and mid-sized utilities. This was accomplished when NACWA’s largest members volunteered to increase their dues to enable significantly lower dues for smaller utilities. This “all for one, one for all” approach was consistent with the original AMSA in the early 70s and brought important new perspectives to NACWA initiatives, substantially strengthening and expanding its advocacy footprint on Capitol Hill.
WOMEN LEADING THE WATER SECTOR
Silent No More
Innovation alone cannot solve all the challenges NACWA’s members confront. They need partnerships with their communities and customers. Though being a “silent service provider” was fairly typical for most utilities prior to the 2000s, many are now beginning to reap the benefits of more frequent outreach and communication with stakeholders. Strong public engagement is a foundational element for a successful clean water utility, and transparent, two-way communication is what customers now expect. It is also how our members build trust with their communities and build themselves as the leading experts in their field and as anchor institutions within their communities.
of helping the community better understand how the utility is present in everyday life while building important connections with customers.
Expanding Reach
of its members’ missions to improve the environment and public health. NACWA has maintained its traditional close relationship with Congress and EPA but has also increased its engagement with other federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
In the past 15 years, NACWA has broadened its own outreach to stakeholders in support
KISHIA POWELL NACWA Vice President, Board Member, & 50th Anniversary Task Force Co-Chair COO of DC Water
Funding Focus Continues
NACWA Board Member & 50th Anniversary Task Force Co-Chair
With more than 10,000 followers on Twitter and active accounts on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) has one of the more popular—and often the most admired—Twitter feeds among its clean water peers. While often entertaining, NEORSD’s social media presence also serves an important role
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NACWA did not just grow in membership numbers over the years, it became stronger as its membership grew more diverse. Women and people of color are increasingly leading clean water utilities and, by doing so, improving their communities. NACWA continues to grow stronger through their engagement, and these diverse perspectives have bolstered and improved our collective approaches to water management and public health protection. NACWA is proud of this evolution and continues to strive for diversity at all levels of the organization and to support programs and initiatives that attract a workforce that is diverse, inclusive, and representative of the people it serves. As this document went to press, one-third of NACWA’s Board members are women.
Clean Water Services (CWS) in Hillsboro, Oregon first demonstrated its commitment to public outreach with River Rangers, a classroom presentation for young students that has expanded since 1990. Today, CWS’ education program includes labs, presentations, and field experiences that reach more than 15,000 students each year, helping them understand the interrelation between water, our environment, and our individual activities.
With more than 10,000 followers on Twitter and active accounts on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has one of the more popular— and often the most admired—Twitter feeds among its clean water peers.
Funding has, of course, continued to be of primary importance. And more deliberate and proactive public engagement efforts have proven that people support what they help build. By reaching out and engaging their stakeholders in the conversation around clean water and investments, NACWA agencies have started to build real support and value for the work they do. In addition to advocating for increased federal funding through established programs such as the CWSRF and the Water Infrastructure
MICHELE PLA First Female NACWA (1998-1999)President
NACWA President (2014-2015) CEO of Alexandria Renew
One issue that NACWA and its members have learned over the years is that our effectiveness in serving our customers and advancing our goals of environmental protection is significantly improved when we are inclusive and representative of all communities. Though it began with a focus on serving the larger clean water utilities,
CEO of Great Lakes Water Authority
Diversity and Inclusion
In some communities, existing investment projects that were not necessarily planned
NACWA is addressing the growing affordability concerns in many communities due to increased clean water rates for households that have the least ability to pay. Addressing this challenge includes updating EPA’s affordability guidance and creating
new federal support programs for the lowest income households. The challenges of infrastructure funding and affordability will only grow, but the public clean water sector is well positioned to meet these challenges with a combination of innovative solutions, local resources, and a unified national advocacy effort to ensure consistent federal investment support. NACWA is, and will continue to be, a leader in this effort to ensure that every community can pay for clean water.
With proper funding, support for innovation, public engagement, and added resiliency, NACWA supports utilities so they have the tools, knowledge, and flexibility they need to meet the demands of the 21st century.
Resiliency
It is estimated that Louisville Municipal Sewer District’s plan to address system resiliency across stormwater,wastewater,and flood protection services will create 2,310 jobs and $3.4 billion in economic impact over 10 years.
Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, NACWA is also advancing new concepts like a federal low-income water customer assistance program targeted at the most financially disadvantaged households.
Resiliency is now more important than ever, as climate change has become perhaps the biggest challenge to the public clean water sector today. Changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather events are impacting different communities in different ways, requiring utilities to consider and plan how to address these unpredictable conditions. NACWA has been at the forefront of arguing that climate change is ultimately a water issue and that federal policy and investments need to treat it as such.
For other communities investing in more recent projects, resiliency considerations are top of mind. For instance, in Florida, highly treated wastewater provides resiliency to the state’s primary crop—oranges. Orlando-area agricultural customers can count on cleaned water at pressures suitable for their irrigation systems. The Orange County clean water system is a dependable, long-term source of irrigation water, even during droughts, for 2,600 acres of citrus groves. According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Orange County, the birthplace of the modern orange juiceprocessing industry, is showing the nation how a community’s monumental wastedisposal problem can become a liquid asset to Resiliencyagriculture.”isnot
with climate change in mind are nevertheless helping to address impacts from changing precipitation patterns. Long before climate change was a topic of national discussion, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) was working on a plan to collect tremendous amounts of combined sewage from large storm events. MWRD’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) is helping to prepare for future climate change and large storm events. TARP is one of the country’s largest public works projects for pollution and flood control. With three reservoirs in operation today and 109 miles of tunnels that hold rainwater mixed with wastewater during storm events, TARP will
Long before climate change was a topic of national discussion, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago was working on a plan to collect tremendous amounts of combined sewage from large storm events.
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just about environmental protection and public safety; it is a smart investment. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is estimated that Louisville, Kentucky Municipal Sewer District’s plan to address system resiliency across wastewater, stormwater, and flood protection services will create 2,310 jobs and $3.4 billion in economic impact over 10 years.
ultimately provide greater Chicago with more than 17.5 billion gallons of storage capacity, allowing area treatment plants to keep up with treatment needs during heavy rain events.
NACWA is proud of its members’ 50-year legacy of community environmental health, growth, and prosperity. Not content to rest, however, we push forward, shaping the future and addressing the challenges ahead of us. Our focus will continue to be on acquiring funding for our members’ essential work; identifying and sharing innovative best practices; advocating for the use of sound, science-based laws and regulations; and empowering and equipping our members to engage with their ratepayers and stakeholders. We will continue to pursue ways to become more resilient to challenges ranging from climate change to pandemics. We will do so by building on our values as an increasingly diverse organization and sector. Finally, we will never lose sight of our overarching mission—to influence and advance responsible and sustainable clean water policy on behalf of our member public clean water utilities.
DANNENFELDTPAULA
The Next 50 Years
In NACWA’s own institutional life, the impacts of the pandemic have been significant. Most of NACWA’s meetings for 2020 were cancelled, including the planned 50th Anniversary Celebration and Gala in July 2020. It remains unclear when NACWA’s members will be able to meet and engage with one another in person again. The loss of these in-person connections has been tremendous.
YEARS50NEXTTHE BEYONDAND2020|
As this document went to press, the United States remained in the grip of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s economic health and social fabric have been drastically impacted. Financial markets are volatile, and more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment. Public clean water agencies are also feeling the effects, as they are faced with significant operational, staff health, and workplace challenges along with a growing loss of revenue.
2020 AND BEYOND
We would like to acknowledge the incredible contributions made by many AMSA and NACWA staff over five decades. In particular, we want to call attention to the tireless efforts of longtime AMSA/NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk and Deputy Executive Director Paula Dannenfeldt for their leadership and commitment to the organization and its members. Thank you!
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Former ExecutiveAMSA/NACWADirector
record of achievement that goes much further than supporting our members’ funding for wastewater investments and advocating for sound, science-based regulations. What NACWA and its members have accomplished over the past 50 years has directly enabled community growth and nurtured wealth and prosperity throughout our country. Because of clean water, communities that were once dying now boast thriving cultural centers. Beaches that before the CWA were closed and offered no viable fishing are now contributing significantly to local economies.
One thing that has been made clear over the past 50 years through the incredible work, dedication, and progress of the public clean water sector is that NACWA and its members have earned the right to have a permanent seat at the table in discussions on what the next 50 years of clean water will look like in the United States. The 50th anniversary of the CWA is just around the corner in 2022, and the next few years will see many celebrations of the CWA’s success—and rightfully so, as it has arguably been the most beneficial and impactful of all the federal environmental statutes. But it is also the work and progress of the nation’s public clean water utilities—NACWA’s members—that is arguably the greatest success of the CWA. We, as a sector, have done our part to dramatically improve the environment and public health all across our great country, and we are ready to do so much more.
Nevertheless, NACWA and its members are persevering, and we will emerge stronger than ever. As essential to our communities, the half a million employees that comprise the clean water workforce are doing the important work to keep us all healthy. They are proving through this crisis that, no matter what happens, they can always be counted on to serve. And they are helping to remind Americans, in a way that has never been so concrete before in the history of the CWA, just how critical clean water is to helping citizens stay healthy and safe every day. NACWA is also adjusting to the “new normal” of pandemic life by increasing options for its members to engage with one another virtually and continuing the strong sense of clean water fellowship and peer-to-peer learning that has been its lifeblood.
Former AMSA/NACWA Deputy DirectorExecutive
As we look forward to the next 50 years, NACWA and its members will be at the center of a new water policy paradigm focused on holistic watershed approaches, powered by cuttingedge technology, funded by rates that are fair and equitable to all customers, and anchored by public clean water agencies that are centerpieces of the environmental, social, and economic vitality of their communities. We cannot wait to get started on this next chapter of our clean water story. Back in those early years of NACWA, country music star Loretta Lynn sang, “We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.” Today, NACWA can say the same about our sector, but we have much further to go. We appreciate your support and partnership on this journey and look forward to the adventures ahead.
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary during uncertain times, NACWA can be counted on to serve. NACWA is proud of its steady and continued growth, today representing over 325 public utility members and over 100 private affiliate members, with 1,100 water resource recovery plants serving more than 127 million people. We are also extremely proud of our
KEN KIRK
Officer, Northeast Ohio Regional
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, MO
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, OH
ACKNOWLEDGE
•
AMSA President 1974-1977
Cathy Gerali
AMSA President 1970-1972
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, CA
•
AMSA President 1990-1992
Kumar Kishinchand
Suzanne E. Goss
•
AMSA President 1977-1979
City of Richmond
NACWA President 2016-2017 Narragansett Bay Commission, RI
Los Angeles Sanitation District
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, CA
•
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Robert W. Hite
Narragansett Bay Commission, RI
Mark Sanchez
•
Mami Hara | General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Seattle Public Utilities
Charles B. Kaiser, Jr.
John Sullivan
NACWA President 2005-2006
NACWA President 2012-2013 JEA, FL
Alexandria Renew Enterprises
NACWA President 2008-2009
John Costello
Adel H. Hagekhalil
Thomas R. Morgan
•
Kevin L. Shafer
City of Cedar Rapids Utilities Department
Great Lakes Water Authority
NACWA President 2010-2011 Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, MO
Fred Harper
Cecil Lue-Hing
John Sullivan | Chief Engineer, Boston Water and Sewer Commission
David R. Williams
AMSA President 1988-1990
Columbus Water Works
•
AMSA President 1992-1994 County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, CA
• County Water Utility
Jeff Theerman
AMSA President 2000-2001 City of Tacoma, WA
Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board, AL
Thank
City of Garland Water Utilities
•
• Sue McCormick (Co-Chair) Executive Great Lakes
Charles V. Gibbs
Paul Pinault
•
AMSA President 1982-1984 City of Houston, TX
NACWA President 2019-2020 Boston Water and Sewer, MA
Passaic Valley Commissioners,SewerageNJ
•
•
NACWA President 2017-2018 Metro Water Recovery CO
City of Atlanta, Department of Watershed Management
Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District
Narragansett Bay Commission
THAT HELPED CONTRIBUTE
William L. Pugh
TO THIS PROJECT:
AMSA President 1996-1997 Metro Water Recovery, CO
AMSA President 2001-2002 KC Water, MO
Thank You to Our 50th Anniversary Sponsors You NACWA’sto Presidents
James M. Tarpy
•
AMSA President 1999-2000 City of Philadelphia Water Department, PA
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, MA
Donnie R. Wheeler
NACWA President 2020-2021 KC Water, MO
AMSA President 2003-2004
AMSA President 1995-1996 Rock River Water Reclamation District, IL
•
•
NACWA President 2018-2019 Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, NM
Terry Leeds
DC Water
AMSA President 1998-1999 San Francisco Clean Water Enterprise, CA
AMSA President 2002-2003
LOTT Clean Water Alliance
Hampton Roads Sanitation District, VA
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
Renewable Water Resources
Metro Water Recovery
LIKE
Karen L. Pallansch
•
AMSA President 1979-1982
Bergen County Utilities Authority, NJ
Hampton Roads Sanitation District, VA
NACWA President 2006-2007
AMSA President 1994-1995
Officer,
Nashville Department of Water and Sewerage Services, TN
William B. Schatz
Raymond J. Marshall
Seattle Public Utilities WE
•
Please visit nacwa50report.org to review one of the many success stories from our clean water partners or submit one of your own. You can also find a list of sources for the statistics referenced in this book.34 35
AMSA President 1997-1998 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL Michele M. Pla
Bart T. Lynam
•
•
MEMBERS OF OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY TASK FORCE FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION TO THIS PROJECT:
• Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells Executive Sewer
AMSA President 1984-1986
•
Clean Water Services
Joe Johnson
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•
Gurnie Gunter
Julius Ciaccia, Jr.
NACWA President 2014-2015 Alexandria Renew Enterprises, VA
Authority
Mark Sanchez | Executive Director, AlbuquerqueBernalillo County Water Utility Authority
•
Carmine Parrapato
•
NACWA President 2015-2016
•
AMSA President 1972-1974
Independence Water Pollution Control Department, MO
NACWA President 2018 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL
Christopher M. Westhoff
County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, CA
Albuquerque Bernalillo
• Kishia Powell (Co-Chair) Operating
Officer, DC Water
David St. Pierre
•
NACWA President 2009-2010 Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, WI
District
NACWA President 2011-2012
SILVERGOLDPLATINUM
Chief
Erwin J. Odeal
East Bay Municipal Utility District, CA
ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE FOLLOWING UTILITIES
Marian A. Orfeo
Dick Champion, Jr.
•
Orange County Utilities
Terry Leeds | Director, KC Water
Ray Harrington
Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, IL
| Chief
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, OH
James R. Borberg
AMSA President 1986-1988
Water Authority
Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, WA
Charleston Water System
Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
J. Wayne Sylvester
NACWA President 2007-2008
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, OH
NACWA President 2013-2014
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
| Chief
Jon Olson
AMSA/NACWA President 2004-2005
The principal investigator team for this project was Raftelis.1130www.raftelis.comConnecticut Avenue NW Suite Washington,1050 DC 20036 info@nacwa.org202.833.2672www.nacwa.org