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Water Headlines for May 8, 2006Benjamin H. Grumbles Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. In This Week’s Water Headlines:
New Partnership to Help Ensure Water Infrastructure SustainabilityEPA along with six leading water and wastewater utility organizations announced a statement of intent to ensure the long-term viability of our nation’s water systems to promote effective utility management. The formal partnership will focus on improved water and wastewater utility performance through education, management tools and performance measures. "This is an historic step forward in cementing our partnership on sustainable infrastructure," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water. "Today we begin an unprecedented and unified effort to advance effective management of water and wastewater utilities and to accelerate the pace of environmental protection." The six trade associations signing this statement of intent are: the Water Environment Federation; National Association of Clean Water Agencies; American Water Works Association; Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies; American Public Works Association; and the National Association of Water Companies. This statement of intent will facilitate cooperation, collaboration, coordination, and effective communication among the signatory organizations, leading to improved utility management and performance. Over the next 12 months, EPA and the associations will work with utilities to identify the key attributes of sustainable management. They also will develop measures to use in gauging utility effectiveness, and develop a strategy to promote widespread adoption of sustainable management practices across the water sector. Additional contributions will be solicited through focus group meetings and other communications with individual utilities. Wadeable Stream Assessment Survey ReleasedEPA released the Wadeable Streams Assessment (WSA), which is the first consistent evaluation of the streams that feed rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Alaska and Hawaii were not included in the report but have pilot projects underway. “Wadeable streams” are those which are shallow enough to be adequately sampled without a boat. They are an important natural resource that has been under-sampled in the past. Conducted between 2000 and 2004, the study was based on sampling at 1,392 sites selected to represent the condition of all streams that share similar ecological characteristics in various regions. The survey found that stream conditions vary widely across the diverse ecological regions of the country, and that, in general, streams in the West were in the best condition. The WSA is part of a series of surveys to evaluate all of the nation’s waters. Coastal condition has already been evaluated. During the next five years, EPA will sample the condition of lakes, large rivers, and wetlands. Then the process will be repeated to provide ongoing comparisons of the state of the waters and point to possible future action. EPA Kicks Off Survey of the Nation's LakesEPA, States, Tribes and other partners soon will embark on a Survey of the Nation’s Lakes to provide regional and national estimates of lake condition, similar to the draft Wadeable Streams Assessment. On April 25-28, 2006, EPA’s Monitoring Branch co-sponsored a meeting in Chicago with 140 lakes experts, including representatives from 45 States, to plan the Lakes Survey. The meeting was cosponsored by the Chicago Botanic Garden and the North American Lake Management Society. The Survey will use a statistically valid approach which, like an opinion poll, randomly selects lake sites that represent the condition of all sites in regions sharing similar ecological characteristics. Survey participants will use consistent sampling and analytical procedures to ensure that the results can be compared across the country. At the meeting, EPA provided packets to States (and Tribes) identifying a preliminary list of sites that will be sampled in the summer of 2007. For more information on the Lakes Survey visit our Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/lakessurvey/. Subscribe to Water HeadlinesPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA's Office of Water. To subscribe to the Water Headlines listserve: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe Water Headlines first name last name (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe Water Headlines Robert Jones)
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