Tuesday, November 5, 2013

EPA water headlines

Please click on various live links on the file to read more detail.
Water: Water Headlines

Water Headlines


Water Headlines is a weekly publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water.

Water Headlines for the Week of August 6, 2013 

1) EPA Hosting Webcast Series to Raise Awareness about Harmful Algal Blooms
2) EPA Advisor Honored by Association of Clean Water Administrators
3) EPA Providing Funding to Assist Small Water and Wastewater Systems
4) Success Spotlight: Wilmington, Delaware's Renewable Energy Biosolids Facility
5) EPA Features Locally Led Efforts in Urban Water Restoration via Video Series
6) National Estuary Program Success Stories: Maryland Coastal Bays Program Develops a Poultry Digester, Providing a Beneficial Use of Manure

1) EPA Hosting Webcast Series to Raise Awareness about Harmful Algal Blooms On August 20, 2013, EPA's Watershed Academy will host a webcast on the identification and monitoring of harmful algal blooms. Don Anderson from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Steve Morton from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue the series with a discussion of innovative methods for identifying these algae and their blooms, and how both government and research institutions and even the public can help to monitor their outbreak and spread. This webcast series is a part of a broader outreach effort this summer that aims to focus public attention on harmful algal blooms, which are associated with nutrient pollution, and can sicken people and pets, devastate aquatic ecosystems, and be a detriment to the economy. To register, visit www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.  You can also help document and raise awareness about algal blooms by photographing them and posting your photos to our State of the Environment photo project atblog.epa.gov/epplocations/2013/08/green-water-or-clean-water/. 
2) EPA Advisor Honored by Association of Clean Water AdministratorsEPA Office of Water Senior Policy Advisor Ellen Gilinsky has been chosen as the Association of Clean Water Administrators' "Environmental Partnership Award" recipient for 2012 for her work to seek out state involvement and input in water regulatory and policy decision making and implementation. This award is presented to individuals who have, throughout their careers, demonstrated a true and consistent willingness to work cooperatively with states and other organizations to effect environmental improvement. For more information on ACWA's annual awards, go tohttp://www.acwa-us.org/#!awards
3) EPA Providing Funding to Assist Small Water and Wastewater SystemsEPA will award up to $12.7 million for projects to provide training and technical assistance to small public water systems, small publicly-owned wastewater systems, and communities served by onsite or decentralized wastewater systems, and private well owners. More than 97 percent of the nation's 157,000 public water systems serve fewer than 100,000 people and more than 80 percent of these systems serve fewer than 500 people. Many small systems face unique challenges in providing reliable drinking water and wastewater services that meet federal and state regulations. These challenges can include a lack of financial resources, aging infrastructure, management limitations and high staff turnover. The funding will help provide water system staff with training and tools to enhance system operations and management practices, achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and support EPA's continuing efforts to protect public health and promote sustainability in small communities.For more information:http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/sdwa/smallsystemsrfa.cfm
4) Success Spotlight: Wilmington, Delaware's Renewable Energy Biosolids Facility EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) programs provide funding for water quality protection projects for wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management. This week's success spotlight shines on the City of Wilmington, Delaware. Using a $36 million CWSRF loan, the city's Hay Road Wastewater Treatment Plant began construction of a renewable energy biosolids facility in June 2012. The new facility will incorporate a number of sustainable energy technologies, including: (1) using methane captured from the plant digesters and an adjacent landfill to power the plant, and (2) employing thermal drying technology, which uses excess heat from electricity generation to reduce the volume of biosolids produced by the plant. When complete, the facility, which is the city's largest energy user, could be powered 100% by the renewable energy being generated. More information: http://www.wilmingtonde.gov/news/news.php?newsID=429.
5) EPA Features Locally Led Efforts in Urban Water Restoration via Video SeriesEPA has released Urban Waters Voices, a series of 12 video interviews featuring locally led efforts to restore urban waters in communities across the United States. These videos feature local efforts and strategies to improve urban water quality while advancing local community priorities. This week's video features Mary Rickel Pelletier, Director of Park Watershed, Inc., describing some of the challenges faced by watershed communities in Hartford, Connecticut (e.g. lack of access and lack of awareness of the "buried" river) and how the organization is using art and science to address these challenges. Park Watershed, Inc., a nonprofit organization (formerly Park River Watershed Revitalization Initiative), sees its goal as working through community engagement, scientific research, and ecological revitalization to cultivate clean water and healthy urban environments within the municipalities of the Park River regional watershed. Watch the video.
6) National Estuary Program Success Stories: Maryland Coastal Bays Program Develops a Poultry Digester, Providing a Beneficial Use of Manure
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program has worked with designers of proprietary equipment to provide a beneficial use of poultry manure, including providing advice on local conditions, sitting and permitting. The Program helped advocate for a state law to incentivize the process in 2013 and is continuing to educate the public on this beneficial use of poultry waste. To learn more about the program, go to www.mdcoastalbays.org

1999 streamside-protection issue stirred me to submit column to my boss, Jim Morriss, at The Morning News

Please click on image to ENLARGE for easy reading.

Riparian-zone of Tanglewood Branch in Fayetteville AR damaged by trail-bridge work

Trail bridge going across Tanglewood Branch of the Town Branch at S. School Avenue between 8th and 9th street right of ways.