Federal Water Tap | Water News
Federal Water Tap, March 19: A Busy Week for Congress
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 19 March 2012 06:00
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye
Last Thursday the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs heard testimony on tribal water rights settlements. Federal officials talked about the Obama administration’s preference for negotiated settlements instead of litigation. Some 16 negotiations are in progress, two of which—the Blackfeet and the Navajo-Hopi—have legislation under consideration in Congress. The chair of the Western States Water Council legal committee told the Senate committee that federal funding for these settlements is “necessary” but has “proven to be difficult.”

Hearings of note this week include:

Flood Predictions
Last year’s historic spring floods on America’s major rivers will likely not happen this year, according to a forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Normal river levels and low snowpack mean that rainfall will be the primary factor for the flood season. Only the Ohio River basin and parts of Louisiana and southern Mississippi have an “above-normal” flood risk.

Lawsuits
Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed two lawsuits in federal court to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to control nutrient pollution in the nation’s rivers, the Associated Press reports. One lawsuit, filed in New Orleans, seeks nutrient standards in the Mississippi River valley. The other, filed in New York, targets publicly owned sewage treatment plants.

Solar Review
The Bureau of Indian Affairs released a final environmental impact statement for a solar power project 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. K Road Power will build a 350-megawatt photovoltaic station on the Moapa River Indian Reservation. The company chose photovoltaic panels, in part, because they use less water than concentrated solar thermal technology.

Buffalo
Because of an inadequate plan for controlling sewer overflows, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued an order to the sewer authority for Buffalo, N.Y. to submit a new plan for meeting federal water quality standards. Due April 30, the plan will cost as much as $500 million to carry out, according to the EPA. The exact amount depends on the options chosen.

Arsenic
The EPA working group on affordable ways for small communities to meet the federal standard for arsenic in drinking water will have two public meetings this week, both via webcast. On Tuesday, the group will discuss small-scale treatment technologies. To register for the meeting, go here.

On Thursday, the group will discuss the EPA’s affordability criteria. To sign up for that meeting, go here. Space is limited for both.

Everglades
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a final environmental impact statement for a new conservation area at the headwaters of the Everglades in central Florida. Federal officials have a goal of conserving up to 150,000 acres through a mixture of conservation easements and land acquisitions.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, March 13: News from Congress and the Courts
Written by Brett Walton
Tuesday, 13 March 2012 06:00
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Military Base Water Contamination
From the 1950s to the 1980s people living at Camp Lejeune Marine Base near Jacksonville, N.C. unknowingly drank tap water contaminated with benzene and other chemicals. Lawsuits have been filed. Now, the state’s U.S. senators are criticizing attempts by military officials to redact information in a federal report about the base’s water infrastructure, according to the Jacksonville Daily News.

Today, these concerns will be aired in Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The committee will discuss national security and the public’s right to know information about government activities. A retired Marine sergeant who lived at Camp Lejeune is among those who will testify.

Flood Control Ruling
A federal appeals panel agreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to veto a flood control project in the Mississippi Delta, the Associated Press reports. Congress authorized the Yazoo project in 1941 but didn’t allocate the money to complete it. The EPA has successfully argued that the project does not met Clean Water Act requirements.

Asian Carp
To protect its fishing industry, Minnesota’s congressional delegation has introduced legislation that would help the state limit the spread of the invasive fish in the upper Mississippi River basin. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the bill would require the northernmost shipping lock on the river to close once certain conditions are met. The bill would also give the state access to federal funds currently limited to the Great Lakes.

California Water
Members of California’s congressional delegation are discussing legislation that would overhaul water management in the state’s agricultural core, the Modesto Bee reports. The legislation would be less earth-shaking than a bill that passed the House last month. That bill would supersede state water law.

Oil Spill
Last week the Senate passed the RESTORE Act, a bill that ensures that most of the fines paid by BP for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 will be allocated to the five states that border the gulf. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the bill passed because $1.4 billion was added to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which buys land for conservation.

Naval Power
In a Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday, the secretary of the Navy testified that a Naval policy that transitions energy supplies away from fossil fuels is a matter of national security. Raymond Mabus told the subcommittee that “we must use energy more efficiently and we must lead in the development of alternative energy; otherwise, we allow our military readiness to remain at risk.”

Today, the full Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hear testimony from an independent consultant on the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program. The program made news late last year when one of the companies it backed, Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, March 12: News from the Agencies
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 12 March 2012 06:00
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State Department Budget
The State Department released the second volume of its fiscal year 2013 budget justification, a document that serves as a “blueprint” for the coming year. This volume explains foreign operations, including water, which the department calls a “cross-cutting” issue. Water is an essential part of presidential initiatives on health, on food, and on climate change adaptation. This means water funding is spread across numerous projects and bureaus. Nonetheless, some $299 million is marked directly for water, a decrease of $2 million from the previous fiscal year.

Fracking Study Expanded
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would delay convening a panel to peer review its study of groundwater contamination in Wyoming so that the agency can take more water samples. The study’s goal is to determine whether hydraulic fracturing near Pavillion, Wyoming is causing benzene and methane to show up in wells used for domestic water supply.

And the Associated Press reports that the EPA is scrutinizing gas drilling practices in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formation.

Snowpack Update
Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is less than 50 percent of the long-term average, according to the March update from the National Water and Climate Center. In the Colorado River basin, the Bureau of Reclamation estimates that cumulative inflows to Lake Powell in Utah will be 80 percent of normal through the end of September.

Sticker Shock
The EPA underestimated the cost of water pollution controls for the state of Florida, according to a report from the National Research Council. Three years ago, the federal agency proposed numeric limits on phosphorous and nitrogen to replace the state’s qualitative standards. The state is seeking to create its own set of hybrid rules. In the long run, however, the report acknowledges that Florida’s population growth, land use changes, and complex hydrology makes restoring polluted waters a “formidable and costly challenge, regardless of the regulatory paradigm used.”

Atrazine
The U.S. Geological Survey published a study on the herbicide atrazine and its prevalence in groundwater. According to the lead author, the study identifies where concentrations of the chemical are highest and thus, where monitoring should be most vigilant. Groundwater contamination is most likely in eastern Nebraska where the soil is highly permeable. In other parts of the Corn Belt, where soils drain poorly, atrazine is a much bigger problem in surface waters. Atrazine is banned in the European Union and it might cause certain cancers in humans and hormonal changes in aquatic species.

Arsenic
Early this month an EPA working group met for the first time to discuss how to make compliance for the national arsenic standard more affordable for small, rural or low-income communities. The group is required to submit a report to Congress by mid-year.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, March 5: Statements of Principle
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 05 March 2012 06:00
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A National Standard
It’s not what clean-energy advocates would have envisioned three years ago when the House of Representatives passed a cap-and-trade bill, but it’s something. Last week in the Senate, Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) introduced the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, which would set national targets for energy produced from renewable and low-carbon sources. Each year after 2015, utilities would be required to sell increasing amounts of clean energy, or purchase credits from a clean-energy market.

Infrastructure Hearings
Last week, subcommittees in both the House and Senate held hearings on water and sewer infrastructure. In the House, water agency officials representing national water organizations lobbied for a piece of legislation that would establish a federal loan program for water projects. The bill, called the Water Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act and modeled after a federal program for transportation projects, has not yet been introduced. A second hearing on the topic is scheduled for March 21.

In the Senate, local and state officials spoke about their infrastructure circumstances. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the mayor of Baltimore, told the committee that her city is trying to balance the costs of replacing old pipes, with the costs of complying with new regulations.

Delta Water
The House passed a controversial bill that would overrule California water law, guarantee water for irrigation districts and overturn water-use limitations enacted in 2007 to protect the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast, the Los Angeles Times reports. The bill, which was sponsored by representatives from the state’s dominant agricultural region, is unlikely to get through the Senate. The Obama administration has also stated its opposition to the bill.

Pipelines
In a statement, President Barack Obama said he welcomed a proposal from TransCanada, a pipeline and energy company, to build an oil pipeline from Oklahoma, where there is a supply glut, to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. In January, the president rejected the company’s Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada has told the administration it will resubmit an application.

Groundwater Management
The Bureau of Reclamation and Washington state’s Department of Ecology released a draft environmental assessment for a water management program in the Yakima River basin. The plan includes a new reservoir, groundwater storage and fish passages, as well as water markets and conservation. Water managers will also change the way they operate existing facilities.

Court Rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court, Reuters reports, declined to hear an appeal from five Great Lakes states seeking more stringent measures to keep Asian carp from spreading throughout one of the world’s largest sources of surface freshwater.

And the Durango Herald reports that a federal court in Denver has ordered the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico to install air pollution controls mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The plant owner sought to delay installation while challenging the order in court.

Moves Like Phosphorous
A study from scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey shows the ways that excess nutrients—phosphorous in this case—move through groundwater from fertilized fields to streams, rivers and lakes.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, February 27: Water Infrastructure
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 27 February 2012 06:00
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Pipes on Tap
On Tuesday a Senate subcommittee will listen to officials from local governments speak about water infrastructure problems. The mayor of Baltimore, the manager of a water system in suburban Washington, D.C. and the director of an Alabama water association will speak. This is the second time in the last three months that subcommittee chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has called a hearing on water infrastructure.

In December, when the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s wastewater division testified, Cardin said that “we need to pay attention to our nation’s water infrastructure for the sake of preserving the confidence of the American people so that, in fact, when they do turn their faucets on, they will get clean, safe drinking water.”

Million’s Pipeline
Citing a lack of information about the proposed route and about its hydropower components, federal regulators denied a preliminary permit for a 501-mile pipeline that would cross the continental divide. A preliminary permit is necessary for an applicant to do the surveying, mapping and financing planning necessary for a construction permit.

The pipeline, which is being pursued by Colorado developer Aaron Million, would take water from two diversion points in Wyoming and deliver it to communities along the eastern slopes of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. The pipeline would also generate hydropower along the way, which is why the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission handled the permitting decision.

If Lewis and Clark Couldn’t Do It
The U.S. Supreme Court, according to Bloomberg News, ruled in favor of power companies in a case that clarified who can claim ownership of a river. The court decided that the stretch of the Missouri River on which PPL Corp. has dams was not navigable at the time of statehood, and therefore the state of Montana could not claim ownership—nor annual rent payments from the company.

Both sides used the 1804-06 voyage of Lewis and Clark to bolster their arguments about the river’s navigability—PPL to claim that the Great Falls section in question was not navigable (because the expedition had to portage around it), and the state of Montana to claim that the river, as a whole, was (because the expedition continued).

Bristol Bay
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to release a draft report assessing how large-scale mining in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed would affect water quality. The agency is looking for experts to peer review the report. Make nominations by March 9 via this link.

WASH Compact
The U.S. government has signed a $66 million compact with the government of Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of western Africa. Signed through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. foreign aid agency, the compact includes US$41 million for water, sanitation and hygiene.

In particular, the grant seeks to improve coverage by reforming national water regulations and restructuring local utilities so that they operate more efficiently and provide better service. A portion of the grant will be used for infrastructure improvement.

Shale Resources in Alaska
The U.S. Geological Survey released its first-ever assessment of technically recoverable shale oil and shale gas resources on Alaska’s North Slope. The estimates show that there is a 50 percent chance of finding more than 849 million barrels of oil and a 50 percent chance of finding more than 1.1 trillion cubic meters (40 trillion cubic feet) of gas.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, February 20: Legislation
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 20 February 2012 06:00
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Bills, Bills, Bills
More than 40 senators called on the body’s leadership to pass a flood insurance bill, The Hill reports. The bill, among other things, would change insurance premiums to help cover the billions in debt the program has run up. The Government Accountability Office, which has been concerned about the insurance program for years, issued a report last June calling for reform.

A Massachusetts Democrat has introduced a bill in the House to prevent any new natural gas export terminals until 2025. According to Reuters, Edward Markey said he wants to prevent price increases for U.S. consumers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which handles the permits, has already approved an export terminal in Louisiana.

The Senate team from Arizona, John McCain and John Kyl, introduced tribal water rights legislation in which the Navajo and Hopi tribes would give up pending claims on water from the Little Colorado River for money to build pipelines for drinking water. The bill would transfer additional water rights to the Navajo if the tribe signs agreements continuing the leases for transmission lines and mining permits for the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, which is on tribal land.

Kyl, who is not seeking re-election, wants to resolve the water rights issue before leaving office next January.

The House passed a bill that would take the permitting decision for the Keystone XL pipeline out of the president’s hands.

Radium in Groundwater
The U.S. Geological Survey found that one in five wells tested in the regions around Iowa and New Jersey had levels of radium—a cancer-causing chemical—above health standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Radium occurs naturally, and the water tested in the study had not been treated.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions—But Not Carbon Dioxide
The State Department announced the formation of a global alliance to reduce global warming from methane, soot and HFCs—a class of compound used in refrigeration. The U.S. will work with five countries and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The group, according to a senior U.S. administration official, will encourage countries to adopt a set of guidelines proposed by UNEP to reduce these pollutants that have a short life in the atmosphere. The group will also help countries with planning, and, in some cases, financing a reduction program.

Colorado River
The Bureau of Reclamation released the February update for reservoirs in the Colorado River basin. The current forecast predicts the amount of water flowing into Lake Powell to be 71 percent of average, but there is significant uncertainty because it is so early in the season.

EPA Arsenic
The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public meeting on March 2 to discuss arsenic in drinking water and affordable removal methods for small communities. To sign up for the webcast, follow the directions found here. To make comments, email perkinson.russ@epa.gov by Feb. 28.

And Finally, Some Research
Here’s a trio of recent reports from the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the legislative branch. On changes in the Arctic. On pipeline safety. On federal land ownership.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, February 13: The Budget and Infrastructure
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 13 February 2012 06:00
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A few choice items have already trickled out or were set in deals made months ago, but today President Barack Obama will submit his fiscal year 2013 budget to Congress. We’ll have all the water details here, once the complete document lands.

Afterward, the budget debate moves to the east end of the National Mall for Congressional hearings. On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee will discuss the Interior Department’s appropriation with Sec. Ken Salazar.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will convene on Thursday for a hearing on the Department of Energy’s 2013 budget. Steven Chu, the energy secretary, will testify.

The National Journal reports that, in the wake of a few loan guarantees gone bust, the president may shift spending for clean energy programs from the Energy Department to the Defense Department.

Sewer Infrastructure
Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said he will introduce a bill to help communities pay for improvements to wastewater infrastructure. The Clean Water Affordability Act would provide $1.8 billion in grants over five years. It would also extend the repayment period for federal loans for water projects from 20 years to 30, and it would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prioritize water quality improvements according to their cost effectiveness.

A similar bill was introduced last year in the House by Ohio Republican Robert Latta. It has not been acted on.

Infrastructure Spending
While those bills sit, the Senate actually moved ahead with a measure that would boost private-sector investment in water infrastructure. According to Bloomberg BNA, the Finance Committee, as part of a transportation bill, included a provision to lift the volume cap on private activity bonds for water and wastewater projects. These are bonds with tax-free interest that are issued for a private development that has a public benefit. The bill would allow more such bonds to be issued.

Rural Infrastructure
The Bureau of Reclamation selected six water supply projects in rural parts of the western U.S. to receive a combined $30 million in federal funding. Another $20 million was handed out for environmental restoration, water conservation studies, fisheries management and infrastructure repairs.

Drought
New months, same story. That’s the precipitation prognosis for the southern tier of the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s spring drought outlook. Through the end of April, NOAA scientists foresee “persistent or intensifying drought conditions” in the south and southwest, with “no relief in sight for Texas.”

The short-term outlook is no better. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which is updated weekly, shows much of the Texas panhandle and southern Georgia in “exceptional” drought.

Pipelines
An official from the federal agency investigating last year’s pipeline oil spill in a Montana river said that companies need to consider environmental changes when building the pipelines, according to the Billings Gazette. Erosion, floods and land subsidence can all cause a line to rupture, said Chris Hoidal, of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Keystone XL
The State Department’s internal watchdog released a report on its investigation into the permitting process for the Keystone XL pipeline. The report was requested in October 2011 by several members of Congress.

The Office of the Inspector General found no illegal acts in the permitting process. It did recommend that the State Department should hire a person within the bureau handling the pipeline permit who has experience with environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act. It also recommended changing policies for third-party contractors to make potential conflicts of interest more transparent.

Reviving the Nuclear Family
Despite a dissenting vote from its chairman, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in more than three decades, Reuters reports. Southern Company will build two new reactors at an existing plant in eastern Georgia.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, February 6: Water and National Security
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 06 February 2012 06:00
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The director of national intelligence said that during the next decade water issues abroad will affect America’s national security, according to an on-the-record report to a special Senate committee on intelligence.

In his annual threat assessment, James Clapper told the committee that “water shortages and pollution will probably negatively affect the economic performance of important U.S. trading partners” — especially in the agriculture and energy sectors. While water problems alone will not cause instability, Clapper said, they can exacerbate tensions that already exist. He said that direct conflict in the next decade between countries over water is not likely.

Low Snowpack
The latest monthly water supply forecast from the National Water and Climate Center shows that the snowpack in the mountains of California and Nevada is less than 50 percent of normal. Most of the Colorado River basin is below average as well.

Oil Shale Developments
The Department of the Interior released a draft plan for oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming that prioritizes research and development before granting commercial leases. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 1.4 trillion barrels of oil are in the formation. But the Government Accountability Office said that limited water supplies would prevent the deposit from full development.

The Bureau of Land Management acknowledged this in the draft plan. “Because there are still many unanswered questions about the technology, water use, and impacts of potential commercial-scale oil shale development, we are proposing a prudent and orderly approach,” said BLM Director Bob Abbey in a statement.

A public comment period ends May 4. Comments can be submitted on the plan’s website.

Does Red Tape Hold Back Reservoirs?
On Tuesday, a House Natural Resources subcommittee will hold a hearing to talk about which regulations are preventing more “surface storage infrastructure” (i.e. “reservoirs”) from being built. A list of witnesses has not yet been published.

Lawsuit
One of the nation’s largest irrigation districts is suing the Department of the Interior (DOI) for $1 billion in damages over the federal government’s failure to clean up salty irrigation drainage, the Fresno Bee reports. The dispute between the DOI and Westlands Water District in California’s Central Valley dates to a law from the 1960s that put the federal government in charge of drainage. Subsequent attempts to clear the land of the poisonous irrigation runoff have been unsuccessful.

South Sudan
Last December the U.S. government hosted a conference to discuss development goals for South Sudan. A number of international organizations and donor countries participated and made commitments to the newly independent country. The government of South Sudan, for its part, pledged to increase the percent of its population with access to water and sanitation from 9 percent to 29 percent by 2014.

Transportation
Last Friday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a $260 billion bill for transportation and highway funding. A section of the bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a research program with emphasis on 16 areas, one of which is porous or permeable pavement that would minimize stormwater runoff. But a paltry amount—$3 million per fiscal year through 2016—is allocated to the broad program.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, January 30: Nuclear Waste and Drought
Written by Brett Walton
Monday, 30 January 2012 06:00
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Haste and Waste
The Commission on America’s Nuclear Future released its report on how to handle the nation’s growing pile of nuclear waste. Co-chaired by Lee Hamilton, a former Congressman, and Brent Scowcroft, a former National Security Advisor, the commission made numerous recommendations that would require action from the administration or Congress.

Since halting work on the Yucca Mountain disposal facility, the need for a new strategy is “urgent”, according to the commission, because “this generation has a fundamental ethical obligation to avoid burdening future generations with the entire task of finding a safe permanent solution for managing hazardous nuclear materials they had no part in creating.”

On Wednesday, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hear testimony from the co-chairs about the report. On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will do the same.

Energy: 2012
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will also hold a hearing on Tuesday to discuss the year’s energy trends.

La Nina
NASA satellite images show cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, indicating the peak of the La Nina phenomenon. One NASA scientist said that “this La Niña could deepen the drought in the already parched Southwest.”

Bureau of Reclamation forecasters have done a 180 on projections of surplus water for Lake Mead, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In December, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam was predicted to rise 11 feet this year. Now, it is forecast to fall 13 feet by next January.

The National Water and Climate Center’s water supply outlook for the western U.S. can be found here.

Keystone
During a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing last Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones explained the department’s permitting process and the rationale for rejecting a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Water Reuse
The National Research Council published a report on recycled municipal wastewater and its role as part of the national water supply.

Water Pollution
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a new tool to help the public learn who is dumping chemicals into which bodies of water. Data is available for 2007-2010.

Fracking Study
The EPA has extended to March 12 the deadline for public comments on its draft study of groundwater contamination from natural gas drilling near a Wyoming town. The agency also announced that it will test groundwater in northeastern Pennsylvania as it continues its investigation into claims of water contaminated because of hydraulic fracturing.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

 
Federal Water Tap, January 24, Part 2: Energy and Climate
Written by Brett Walton
Tuesday, 24 January 2012 06:00
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Solar Review
The deadline for submitting public comments on the Bureau of Land Management’s broad environmental review of solar energy development in six western U.S. states is Friday. The review will result in changes to the agency’s resource management plans, allowing it to concentrate solar energy projects on the most suitable parcels of land. Comments can be submitted via this link.

Clean Water Act
Four Republican members of Congress—Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. John Mica (Fla.) and Bob Gibbs (Ohio)—wrote a letter to the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, claiming that, in negotiating settlements for several lawsuits, the agency is exceeding its authority under the Clean Water Act. The letter requests the EPA to justify its actions. At issue are settlements over groundwater regulation and water pollution from nonpoint sources.

Water Infrastructure
In a letter to the White House budget director, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, urged Jacob Lew to allocate more money in the fiscal year 2013 budget to two federal loan programs for water and sewer infrastructure. Gillibrand called for a nearly 50 percent total increase to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The text of the letter follows the press release from the senator’s office.

Air Quality, Energy and Water
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory released a study on the effects of stricter air pollution controls for a key Arizona power plant. The EPA is considering haze-reduction technology for the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, which provides some 92 percent of the low-cost power to pump Arizona’s share of the Colorado River.

NREL found that the two proposed options—selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and SCR plus baghouses and sorbent injection—would cost less than shutting the plant down and replacing the power with existing spare capacity. The study also found that using SCR controls, water rates for agricultural users would increase between 13 percent and 16 percent; using SCR technology with baghouses and sorbent injection would double the effect.

Weather 2011 and Consolidation
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published its review of the year’s weather events and climate trends. All sorts of records were broken. Texas had its second warmest and its driest year on record. The data from the September to December period, however, has not yet been made final.

As part of a broader government re-organization, President Barack Obama proposed moving NOAA from the Commerce Department to the Interior Department, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many environmental groups opposed the move, arguing NOAA’s mission and culture does not fit with Interior’s focus on natural resources development.

Climate Adaptation
The Obama administration released a draft plan for adapting to the effects of climate change on fish, animals and plants. The national strategy is directed toward all resource management decisions, not just those made by the federal government. A public comment period is open through March 5. The final plan will be released by early summer.

Water to the Supreme Court?
A Texas water district asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its lawsuit to gain access to water in Oklahoma, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The Tarrant Regional Water District, which serves nearly 2 million customers west of Dallas, sued the state of Oklahoma in 2007 to acquire water. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether it will hear the case.

The Motion of the Ocean
The U.S. Department of Energy released assessments of the power potential of wave energy and tidal energy in the United States. The west coast has greater recoverable resources than the east coast—though Alaska beats them both. Alaska also does well in tidal energy.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.