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Water Headlines for June 30, 2008Benjamin 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:
EPA Requests Grant Proposals to Reduce Hypoxic Zone in the Gulf of MexicoEPA plans to award up to $4.2 million in targeted watershed grants to reduce the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico. EPA is soliciting proposals that will use water quality trading programs to reduce nutrient loads, particularly from the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River, or the Lower Mississippi River. These three sub-basins provide the most nutrients to the Gulf, contributing to the hypoxic zone, an oxygen-depleted area that cannot support aquatic life. Excess nutrients come from a wide range of sources, including runoff from developed land, atmospheric deposition, soil erosion, agricultural fertilizers, and sewage and industrial discharges. "This is seed money to grow an innovative solution to nutrient pollution and cut the size of the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone," said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. Market-based approaches like water quality trading that use innovative pollutant cap and trade programs can accelerate the restoration of the Gulf and help achieve major reductions in pollution at lower costs. Setting pollutant reduction targets and allowing sources to buy and sell credits to meet those targets can make it faster, easier, and cheaper to meet water quality goals. Grant proposals must be submitted by Sept. 9, 2008. State governors and tribal leaders nominate proposals for targeted watershed grants. A national panel evaluates and ranks submissions based on criteria outlined in the notice. Selection of the grantees will be announced this fall. The Targeted Watersheds Grants program has awarded nearly $50 million to 61 organizations since 2003. For 2008, the focus is on supporting water quality trading to protect local water resources to reduce the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
More information: Water Efficiently for Smart Irrigation Month!Did you know that one-third of the water Americans use daily is used to irrigate lawns, water gardens, and maintain landscaping? More alarming, up to fifty percent of that water goes to waste due to overwatering, runoff, and evaporation. With a few simple steps, we can significantly reduce the amount of water we use—and waste—on our lawns and gardens without compromising their health or appearance. July is Smart Irrigation Month, and EPA is encouraging homeowners across the country to take a closer look at their outdoor water use. There are several simple steps you can take to save water and money such as planting native plants, properly applying mulch, avoiding watering driveways and sidewalks, utilizing mirco-irrigation (such as soaker hoses), and in-ground sprinkler systems. For more information on watering efficiently, and information on WaterSense irrigation partners, visit http://www.epa.gov/watersense/sim/index.htm. EPA Awards the Water Quality Standards Forum Cooperative Agreement (Corrected item)
EPA has awarded a cooperative agreement to Water Environment Federation (WEF) to conduct the Water Quality Standards (WQS) Forum. The WQS Forum is a four-year, $400,000 cooperative agreement aimed at providing information sharing and technical solution transfer between the states, U.S. territories, authorized tribes, and EPA on WQS issues. (Authorized tribes are those EPA has found eligible to administer WQS programs in the same manner as states under the Clean Water Act.) The key elements of the cooperative agreement are: 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) To unsubscribe to the Water Headlines listserve: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: leave-waterheadlines@lists.epa.gov
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