Water System Adaptation Partnerships Act of 2009

The Water System Adaptation Partnerships Act of 2009 (PDF) is a recently introduced and, um, brilliantly named bill that would establish a competitive grant program to be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency allowing the nation’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems to apply for assistance to plan and implement projects that adapt to the challenges posed by global climate change.

The bill was introduced by Congresswoman Lois Capps along with Reps. Carnahan, Blumenauer, Schwartz, Matsui, Napolitano, and Inslee this past Friday, June 19. This piece of legislation is intended to be added as an amendment to the comprehensive Waxman-Markey climate bill, aka The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

By providing a mechanism for water, wastewater and stormwater utilities to apply for climate change adaptation funding, it is hoped that the amendment will ensure the water utility sector fully supports the broader Waxman-Markey climate bill. According to a press release from Rep. Capps' office:

Congresswoman Capps and her Congressional colleagues worked closely with the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and other drinking water and wastewater organizations, to develop the Water System Adaptation Partnerships legislation.
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“Funding obtained by utilities through the “Water System Adaptation Partnerships Act” could be used by utilities to undertake water conservation and efficiency efforts, fund capital projects to develop new water supplies or improve water quality, and carry out utility-specific evaluations to estimate how climate change will impact their sustainability,” said Diane VanDe Hei, Executive Director of AMWA. “The bill also requires that these projects have a clear nexus with climate change. Utilities applying for funding will be required to cite available research describing a climate change-related risk, explain how the project would address that risk, and demonstrate that the project is consistent with state-level climate change adaptation plans.”

VanDe Hei concluded, “This legislation represents a positive step, and AMWA encourages Congress to quickly pass it into law, either as stand-alone legislation or as an amendment to comprehensive climate change legislation.

Perhaps the best news about the bill is that adapting to climate change would require utilities to implement many of the water conserving strategies river advocates have been promoting for years. Many, if not all, of the programs eligible for funding would benefit our rivers, lakes and streams. Take a look at Section 2 of the bill for a sense of the programs that could receive funding:

Beginning in fiscal year 2010, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall make grants to water systems to assist in planning, designing, constructing, implementing, or maintaining any program, strategy, or infrastructure improvement--

(1) to conserve water or increase water use efficiency;

(2) to carry out water metering to measure water efficiency effectiveness of a water efficiency program;

(3) to preserve or improve water quality;

(4) to enhance water management by increasing source water preservation and protection, or natural or engineered green infrastructure in the management, conveyance, or treatment of water, wastewater, or stormwater;

(5) to increase energy efficiency or the use and generation of renewable energy in the management, conveyance, or treatment of water, wastewater, or stormwater;

(6) to support the adoption and use of advanced water treatment, water supply management, or water demand management technologies or processes (such as those used in water reuse and recycling or adaptive conservation pricing) that maintain or increase water supply or improve water quality;

(7) to complete studies or assessments to project how climate change may impact the future operations and sustainability of the water system; or

(8) to carry out any other activity or project to address any ongoing or forecasted, based on the best available research and data, climate-related impact on the water quality or quantity of a region of the United States that increases the resiliency of a water system to the impacts of climate change.

The current bill is just an authorization, so the specific amount of funding that would be available is still unknown and will be determined in the appropriations process.

This piece of legislation and the Waxman-Markey climate bill could receive a vote as early as this Friday, so if you support these bills be sure to contact your local representative before its too late.