September 26, 2011

Faced with a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the Federal government and avoid a shutdown, as of press time, House and Senate members are continuing their fight over disaster relief funding.

Last week, the Republican-led House passed a continuing resolution until November 18 but Democrats, who control the Senate, oppose it because they say the $3.6 billion for disaster aid is inadequate and they oppose cuts in the measure designed to offset about $1.1 billion of the emergency spending.

A congressional briefing held last week on “The Future of Alternative Water Supplies” received a boost from two ACWA members. 

Last November, EPA’s WaterSense program issued a notice of intent to develop efficiency and performance specifications for cation water softeners.  ACWA, along with a coalition of other organizations including the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and various ACWA member agencies, asked EPA to consider the impacts of salts on water quality before proceeding with the NOI.  When this letter did not receive a satisfactory answer, the coalition asked EPA to stop working on the NOI. 

In a party line vote of 10-8, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee approved the nomination of Ken Kopocis to the head of EPA’s Office of Water, on Sept. 21.

Prior to his nomination as Assistant Administrator for water, Kopocis was the Senior Counsel to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.  Kopocis has worked on water issues in the United States Congress for over 25 years, where he helped craft and defend numerous pieces of environmental legislation, including the Clean Water Act and Water Resources Development Act.

It’s steel versus iron in a growing controversy between the House and Senate over what type of pipe the Bureau of Reclamation can use in corrosive soils.  The House position, for iron, is in the Fiscal Year 2012 House Energy and Water Appropriations report directing Reclamation to disregard its longstanding policy of considering the longevity of pipe materials in corrosive soils when making contracting decisions for federal water projects. The Senate position, for keeping steel, is in the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations report.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor has announced the Contra Costa Water District has been awarded a $150,000 grant through the Department of the Interior's WaterSMART program to complete a system optimization review of the district's water delivery and treatment system.