New Drinking Water Notification Levels + Pending State and Federal Actions
Last month, the State Water Resources Control Board's Division of Drinking Water announced that Notification Levels for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances will be lowered. While this move was expected, in conjunction with the recently enacted AB 756, it effectively authorizes the State Water Board to order public water systems to monitor for PFAS and issue extensive notices to ratepayers when a detection exceeds the new levels.
A
study
by the Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment forms the basis for the newly lowered standards, which for PFOS went from 13 parts per trillion down to 6.5 ppt and for PFOA, from 14 ppt to 5.1 ppt. Several associations, agencies and technical experts are reviewing the OEHHA study and determining appropriate next steps.
Additionally, CASA staff met last month with the State Water Board’s PFAS investigative team. The Water Board has begun to receive submissions from drinking water agencies from phase 1 of the PFAS investigation, which launched this past March. They plan to present preliminary findings at an upcoming State Water Board meeting this month. CASA is developing a comment letter to help scope their investigative efforts in phase 3 and will submit it later this month.
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CASA Wraps Up Successful Annual Conference
The 2019 CASA Annual Conference was a resounding success! The three-day event in San Diego was well attended with more than 315 delegates and 22 informative and innovative speakers taking part. The conference started Wednesday, August 21 with three concurrent sessions, some of which were standing room only.
The conference kicked off Thursday with Keynote Speaker Rob Wolff from High Performance Culture. The luncheon followed where we presented both the 2019 Awards of Excellence and the CASA Education Foundation scholarship recipients. The day concluded with three afternoon sessions on crisis communications, climate change issues, and a "policy and pints" discussion.
The conference ended Friday with closing sessions by Presiding President Traci Minamide and Ben Hueso from the California State Senate. Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board Joaquin Esquivel was our closing speaker.
Thank you everyone who attended or served as a speaker! We look forward to seeing you at next year’s conference.
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Welcome New CASA Board Members
During the annual conference, the membership elected four directors to serve on the CASA Board. Jim Herberg, Orange County Sanitation District general manager, and Tony Trembley, Camarillo Sanitary District director, are new to the CASA Board. Herberg also serves on the CASA Education Foundation Board of Directors and Trembley is a past chair of the attorney's committee.
Delegates also re-elected immediate Past President Traci Minamide and Vice President Jason Dow. The president appointed Brian Danley of Anchor Engineering to serve a one-year term as the associate director.
The Board of Directors selected the CASA officers:
- President: Bill Long, Novato Sanitary District
- Vice President: Jason Dow, Central Marin Sanitation Agency
- Secretary Treasurer: Jasmin Hall, Inland Empire Utilities Agency
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Open Call: Profile a Wastewater Veteran Today!
The California Water Environment Association is asking wastewater agencies to send in profiles of deserving veterans who work for their agency. They will be gathering 12 profiles to run in various forums over the next two years including featuring them as part of the upcoming California Water Professionals Appreciation Week during the first week of October. For more information and to submit a candidate, please check out the
website
.
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Congress Returns and Focuses on Key CASA Issues
Congress returns to work after Labor Day and the legislative agenda is expected to focus on crucial CASA issues including FY 2020 spending bills and markup of clean water State Revolving Loan Fund legislation. On the budget front, the Senate will be busy finalizing its version of agency spending bills following earlier action this summer on spending legislation by the House.
According to congressional budget leadership, the limited number of weeks before the October 1 start of the new fiscal year means that a stopgap spending bill will be required to avoid the prospect of a governmental shutdown. As of this writing, it seems that Congress is preparing to approve a Continuing Resolution that would extend into December.
For CASA, it appears that final spending agreements for water infrastructure programs like the State Revolving Funds and water recycling will continue to garner strong support. The House passed a spending package for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that contains $3 billion for the overall SRF program. This level is expected to survive any final congressional negotiations on the agency's budget.
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CalPERS Hosting Elected Officials Forum
Each year, CalPERS hosts an annual conference called the Educational Forum for employer management and operational-level team members. This year they are also hosting a "Forum-within-the-Forum" specifically tailored to elected officials who oversee agencies that make up the CalPERS System.
The forum will discuss pension costs, projections and strategies to address several issues including unfunded, accrued liability investment returns and rising health care costs. This year, the "Forum-within-the-Forum" will be held at the Oakland Marriott Events Center in Oakland, California on Monday, October 28, 2019, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
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Energy and Reliability in Wastewater
On September 12, Goleta Sanitary District will host an informative and interactive workshop event to discuss energy and reliability strategies for wastewater agencies. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited. For more information or to RSVP, contact
James Ferro
.
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Orange County Sanitation District’s New Centrifuge Facility is Among the World’s Largest
The Orange County Sanitation District held a ribbon cutting to celebrate its newest centrifuges facility, one of the largest in the world. The facility houses six new centrifuges that remove an additional 200 tons of water per day from biosolids. Lighter biosolids mean 3,500 fewer trips to Barstow and Arizona a year, saving $3 million in hauling costs. OCSD received $1 million in grant funding from the Department of Water Resources because more efficient dewatering yields more water for the Groundwater Replenishment System.
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Here's to 20 years of Financial Excellence!
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District received the Government Finance Officers Association’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting and a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual financial report. LVMWD was awarded both distinctions as a result of its dedication to transparency in financial reporting and demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to communicate its economic story.
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Check out Which CASA member has Installed Water Bottle Stations for Back-to-School
As students across the region begin going back to school, the Eastern Municipal Water District is ensuring students are staying hydrated. This fall, EMWD will complete work on installing water bottle fill stations at every school within EMWD’s service area that has requested one.
These stations allow students and teachers to easily refill water bottles and stay hydrated with safe and reliable tap water. EMWD actively promotes the use of refillable bottles as part of its commitment to the quality of its tap water and help reduce the number of plastics within landfills. For more program information and an interactive map of the EMWD fill station locations, please visit www.emwd.org/wbfsprogram.
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