The New England Section of AWWA (NEWWA)
has made public water supply a clear priority.
Faced by a range of water allocation and withdrawal
issues, NEWWA began developing policy recommendations
for consideration by water systems,
federal regulators, and state authorities. The section's
Water Resources Committee (WRC) was charged with
reviewing water allocation policies and procedures in
the six-state region of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
After more than a year of work, the WRC developed a
regulatory screening matrix and white paper on water
supply permitting delays and instream flow-setting
policies. Early in 2003, the NEWWA Board of Directors
adopted the policy derived from the WRC report.
The policy comprises seven areas related to water
supply allocation: allocation priority; supply
management; storage, interconnection, and transfer;
identification of future sources of water supply
and development of redundant supplies; conservation
and drought; funding; and, water
supplier input. As part of its policy, NEWWA also
developed recommendations for implementing measures
in each area.
According to NEWWA, the prime priority for water
allocation is meeting the public's drinking water, culinary,
safe and healthy transportation of waste material,
and fire protection needs. Water providers must be
stewards of their water sources and use their supplies
as efficiently as possible. The water supply community
should partner with the US Environmental Protection
Agency, state regulators, and local agencies to secure
sufficient supply for future needs. To facilitate this
goal, permitting processes need to be streamlined and
the regulatory burden eased. Above all, water suppliers
must not take a backseat while others formulate water
allocation and withdrawal policy that will affect utilities'
ability to meet consumer needs. Includes 2 references.
| Edition : | Vol. 96 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 9.3 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 5 |
| Published : | 04/01/2004 |
