WRRC Brown Bag Webinar: Water Reuse Action Plan and REUSExplorer Demo

The National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) helps drive progress on reuse by leveraging the expertise of scientists, policymakers, and local experts across the country to create a more resilient water future for communities of all sizes. The collaborative was launched in February 2020 by federal, state, Tribal, local, and water sector partners to build state and local capacity to pursue reuse practices that help solve local water resource challenges. There are currently more than 100 organizations partnering on 56 actions in the plan, ranging from scientific and technical advances in water reuse to policy and coordination improvements across jurisdictions.

This WRRC Brown Bag presentation will highlight progress across the WRAP actions and provide a demo of a new tool: Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer (REUSExplorer). The REUSExplorer compiles state water reuse regulations and guidelines and highlights the underlying scientific and technical basis of water quality metrics. This new web-based tool, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and partners under WRAP Action 3.1, is searchable by state, source of water, and end-use application. It can be used to assist states interested in developing regulations and help utilities and practitioners to better understand current regulations. The first end-uses available include potable water reuse, onsite non-potable reuse, and other centralized non-potable reuse applications, except agricultural and landscape reuse. The REUSExplorer is available at http://www.epa.gov/reusexplorer.

Useful Links

• Water Reuse Action Plan: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/water-reuse-action-plan
• REUSExplorer: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/regulations-and-end-use-specifications-explorer-reusexplorer
• Reuse webinar (next week) — Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/us-epa-introducing-the-reusexplorer-a-tool-to-explore-water-reuse-regs-tickets-403165517917
• National Water Reuse Action Plan Online Platform: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/national-water-reuse-action-plan-online-platform
• Reuse highlights and activities: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/recent-and-upcoming-water-reuse-activities
• Interagency federal workgroup: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/water-reuse-interagency-working-group
• Reuse maps page: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/maps-states-water-reuse-regulations-or-guidelines
• Reuse news page: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/news-water-reuse-regulations-and-guidelines
• Pure Potential: The Case for Stormwater Capture and Reuse (PDF): https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-03/wrap-pure-potential-report.pdf
• National Water Reuse Action Plan — Updates on Collaborative Progress: https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/national-water-reuse-action-plan-updates-collaborative-progress

Dr. Sharon Nappier is the National Program Leader for Water Reuse in the Office of Water at the US Environmental Protection Agency. She specializes in environmental health microbiology and quantitative microbial risk assessment, and is currently leading the implementation of the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP). Sharon holds BS degrees in Biology and Environmental Science from the George Washington University; an MSPH degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a PhD in Environmental Health Engineering from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.