The Rundown
- Bureau of Reclamation seeks bids for two Hoover Dam turbine replacements that can generate hydropower at lower Lake Mead levels.
- NOAA forecasts a Lake Erie harmful algal bloom of moderate size this summer.
- EPA’s next drinking water infrastructure needs survey will not ask about lead service lines.
- EPA lists 30 unregulated contaminants to monitor in drinking water, but not microplastics.
- GAO assesses federal help for communities without central water and sewer service.
- Federal Reserve research connects Ogallala groundwater access and farmland values.
- Supreme Court ruling aids pesticide companies fighting lawsuits over their failure to warn customers about alleged health risks. At the same time, a Trump executive order seeks research to reduce human health harm from pesticides.
And lastly, a Justice Department settlement with Chemours over the company’s PFAS water pollution angers top North Carolina officials.
“This is not simply a temporary drought condition. I want to make clear that what we’re witnessing is a long-term shift in the baseline of conditions in the West’s water systems…Now is the time for Congress to step up and answer the call to invest in water conservation, to modernize our aging infrastructure, to address drought preparedness, and to invest in the fundamental long-term changes in how we manage water so that our communities are able to be resilient in the face of drought and climate change.” – Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) on filing an amendment to the House budget to restore funding to the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSmart program, which provides grants for western water conservation, recycling, efficiency, and ecosystem restoration.
By the Numbers
$450 Million: Proposed settlement the Justice Department reached with the chemical company Chemours over PFAS pollution at the company’s facilities in Parkersburg, West Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Deepwater, New Jersey. Included is $90 million to reduce PFAS pollution or provide alternative drinking water supplies to affected communities. Chemours will take the lead in identifying potential projects. North Carolina officials blasted the agreement, NC Health News reports. Gov. Josh Stein and others argue that the dollars are tiny compared to the size of the problem and that the settlement gives the company too much control.
News Briefs
Hoover Dam Turbines
The Bureau of Reclamation has issued a request for proposals to replace two existing turbines at Hoover Dam with “wide-head” designs that will generate hydropower even as Lake Mead declines.
When the water level in Lake Mead falls below elevation 1,035 ft. hydropower generation capacity will drop by 70 percent. Twelve of the dam’s 17 turbines were not designed to operate at low lake levels and could be damaged. Today Lake Mead sits at 1,044 ft.
The new turbines will function down to elevation 950 ft.
More solicitation packages could be forthcoming, according to Becki Bryant, a Reclamation spokesperson. Reclamation initially announced that $52 million would provide for “up to three” wide-head turbines.
“There are several different turbine designs so upgrades must be tailored to the specific characteristics of each turbine type,” Bryant wrote in an email. “The development of future [requests for proposals] incorporating the different design types is ongoing.”
The winning bidder will have two years to deliver. In the meantime, Lake Mead is expected to continue to decline.
In context: Betting on Lake Mead’s Demise
Monitoring for Unregulated Contaminants
The EPA published a list of 30 unregulated contaminants that a select number of water utilities will monitor in drinking water between 2028 and 2031.
The monitoring program helps inform future drinking water regulation. On the list are solvents, PFAS, and pesticides.
Two petitions – from a group of seven Democratic governors and from Food and Water Watch – asked the EPA to include microplastics in this round of monitoring. The agency said that microplastics lack a rigorous testing method and might be considered in the future.
Studies and Reports
Lake Erie Algae Forecast
NOAA published its summer forecast for the annual Lake Erie harmful algal bloom. The agency expects a bloom of moderate size.
The blooms can produce toxins like microcystin, which damages the liver. But the size of the bloom does not correspond to its toxicity. Still, unsightly green water does not help lakeside tourism and recreation businesses.
The bloom, fed by phosphorus from farm fields in the Maumee River watershed, is expected to become visible in the lake’s western basin in July and peak in August.
Water and Sewer Access
The Government Accountability Office looked into “unserved communities” – those without centralized water and sewer services.
The list of problems documented in the report is familiar. Small, high-poverty communities that do not have the technical, financial, or managerial expertise to locate and apply for federal funding opportunities.
The report recommends that the EPA and USDA – agencies that oversee federal water infrastructure funding for rural areas – should pay closer attention to the needs of unserved communities. The agencies signed a joint memorandum in 2017. USDA, however, told the GAO that EPA should take the lead on anything environment related.
More data to assist with the problem will be forthcoming. The Census Bureau included a survey question last year on whether a household is connected to a septic system. The data are scheduled to be released later this year.
In context: Small Water Systems Lose Ground as Federal Support Wavers
Ogallala Groundwater and Farmland Value
Access to the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation increases the value of farmland in the High Plains compared to farms without access. According to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, this irrigation premium increases faster during times of deep drought.
The research looks at farmland values in the 10th District, which covers the main Ogallala states except for Texas. Places with more groundwater had higher premiums, and those premiums have climbed over the last two decades.
“The positive relationship between irrigated land value premiums and groundwater reserves is indicative of operators’ confidence in the long-run availability of water for agriculture,” Ayesha Cooray, the report author, writes.
In other words, when the water runs out, the land value drains too.
In context: Kansas Farmers Dramatically and Profitably Pare Water for Irrigation
On the Radar
Western Drought Briefing
On July 8, NOAA and its partners will hold a virtual briefing on drought impacts in the American West.
From 9:30 a.m – 11:00 a.m. Pacific the briefing will focus on the Intermountain West, California, and Nevada.
From noon to 1:30 p.m. Pacific, attention will swing to the Pacific Northwest and Missouri River basin.
Register here.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs
Last week, the EPA submitted an outline of the data the agency plans to collect for its next national assessment of drinking water infrastructure needs.
The outline does not include a survey of lead service lines. Congress, for the first time, had required the EPA to collect such data in its current assessment, published in 2023. It found about 4 million known and suspected lead service lines nationally.
Conducted roughly every four years, the assessment estimates drinking water infrastructure needs over the next two decades and is the basis for allocating federal dollars to states, tribes, and territories.
Pesticide Lawsuits
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court granted Bayer a victory in the company’s attempt to dodge responsibility for alleged health damages from Roundup, a pesticide.
The ruling targets lawsuits that claim the company failed to warn customers about the cancer risk of its products. It means that “failure-to-warn claims included in several thousand lawsuits pending against Monsanto likely cannot go forward,” The New Lede reports. (Bayer bought Monsanto, the original maker of Roundup, in 2018.) Negligence lawsuits would not be affected.
At the same time, President Trump issued an executive order to mollify the MAHA flank of his coalition, which has been dismayed by his administration’s backing of agribusiness.
The order instructs the Department of Health and Human Services, through ARPA-Health, to “identify new, innovative, and cost-effective technologies that reduce reliance on conventional chemical crop protection tools in order to reduce risks to human health.”In context: Bayer’s All-Out Campaign to Protect Roundup
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.
