City of Phoenix Joins Forest Protection Program
The City of Phoenix entered into a three-year partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) to improve forest health and water quality in the Salt and Verde watersheds. The City is investing $200,000 in a program developed by the NFF and Salt River Project called the Northern Arizona Forest Fund, which focuses on the Nation Forests in northern Arizona where most of the surface water supplies to the greater Phoenix area originate. The program involves local governments, businesses, and nonprofits in projects to reduce wildfire risk, improve streams and wetlands, enhance wildlife habitat, and generally help improve and protect watershed health. The Northern Arizona Forest Fund’s first two projects are already underway (see AWR Winter 2015), and in 2016, the program will implement six high priority projects on all five National Forests in northern Arizona – the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott, and Tonto National Forests.
Desalination Technology Innovation for the Developing World Is Topic of International Competition
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/Jain Irrigation Systems, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Center for Inland Desalination System, and Green Desal were top winners of the Desal Prize, a competition that challenged worldwide innovators to create cost-effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sustainable desalination technologies. The goal is to provide potable water for humans and water for crops in developing countries. The competition received 68 applications from 29 countries. The top three teams shared grant funds totaling $400,000 to be used to implement pilot projects with small-holder rural farmers in a USAID mission region. First Place MIT and Jain Irrigation Systems designed a photovoltaic-powered electrodialysis reversal (EDR) system designed for low energy consumption. In second place, UTEP Center for Inland Desalination System designed a Zero Discharge Desalination system that reduces water waste. Green Desal, an international team, received an honorable mention for a high-percent recovery system that integrates proven technologies. The Bureau of Reclamation hosted the international competition at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, NM.
Final Clean Water Rule Released by EPA and Army
On May 26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the final Clean Water Rule, which is intended to protect U.S. streams and wetlands from pollution and degradation. The rule defines the waters protected under the Clean Water Act with the goal of making permitting less costly, easier, and faster for businesses and industry. Determining jurisdiction for the purpose of Clean Water Act enforcement was confusing, complex, and timeconsuming since Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006, and as a result, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers received requests from members of Congress, state and local officials, industry, agriculture, environmental groups, scientists, and the public for a rule that provides clarity. In developing the rule, the agencies held more than 400 meetings with stakeholders across the country and reviewed over one million public comments. According to the EPA, the Clean Water Rule only protects the types of waters that have historically been covered under the Clean Water Act. It scales back regulation of ditches, does not apply to groundwater or shallow subsurface flows, and does not create any new agricultural permitting requirements. Despite efforts to address concerns expressed after the publication of the proposed rule that it expanded Clean Water Act jurisdiction, there continues to be opposition to implementation. Opposition has inspired actions in the U.S. Congress to prevent the rule from taking effect.
National Environmental Award Goes to Tucson’s AOP Treatment Facility
Tucson Water’s Advance Oxidation Process (AOP) Water Treatment Facility was awarded the 2015 Grand Prize in Design from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES). The prize identifies Tucson’s facility as among the best environmental projects and programs. The facility uses AOP technology to treat groundwater contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which was used by aircraft manufacturing companies in the Tucson airport area from the 1940s to the 1970s. The process combines ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide to purify up to eight million gallons of water a day.
Residential Water Prices in U.S. Continue to Increase
Water prices across the country increased again in 2015. Each year since 2010, Circle of Blue, an online scientific media outlet, surveys the 20 largest U.S. cities and 10 regionally representative cities to gather data on prices for water. In 2015 they found that the monthly water bill for a family of four using 100 gallons per person per day had increased 41 percent on average. Compared to a rise of just 1.8 percent in the Consumer Price Index, water prices increased an average of 6 percent in the 12 months before March 2015. A graphic illustrating water prices across the country is available from Circle of Blue at http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/WaterPricing2015graphs.pdf.