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From their website
“WASHINGTON, D.C. --
Americans are more concerned about water pollution than they have been since
2001. The latest percentages of Americans who are worried "a great
deal" about the pollution of drinking water (63%) and of rivers, lakes and
reservoirs (57%) have inched past the elevated levels of concern seen since
2014.
The latest data are
from Gallup's annual Environment poll, conducted March 1-5, 2017.
The continued
elevated levels of concern about both types of water pollution come as
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to roll back environmental
regulations put in place by his predecessor to protect American waterways from
pollution. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump has
committed $100 million in federal funding to address the ongoing drinking water
crisis in Flint, Michigan. The discovery of elevated lead levels in Flint's
public drinking water in 2015, and subsequent news about a range of other
contaminants in the Flint water system, has put a national spotlight on the
issue of water pollution.
Gallup first polled
on environmental worries in 1989 and began tracking these concerns regularly in
1999. Since then, between 48% and 72% of Americans have expressed a great deal
of worry about the pollution of drinking water, and between 46% and 66% have
expressed this level of worry about the pollution of rivers, lakes and
reservoirs.
Concerns about these issues were highest
around the turn of the millennium, and lowest between 2010 and 2012, perhaps
reflecting the state of the economy during those times. Americans tend to give
a higher priority to environmental matters when the economy is healthy than when it is
not.”
Read the remainder of the article, including
graphs, on their website.
From ASDWA Weekly Update, August 11, 2017
“A new study by the U.S. Geologic Survey
(USGS) on the prevalence of pesticides (including mixtures) in the Midwest, and
potential impacts on aquatic insects was recently published. More than 180 pesticides and their byproducts
were detected in small streams throughout 11 Midwestern states, some at
concentrations likely to harm aquatic insects, according to the new study. (To
read a free copy of the article, see the “unformatted article”
under the Pesticides Prevalent
in Midwestern Streams (August
2017) on this website )
On average, 52 pesticide compounds were
detected in each stream. At least one
pesticide in at least half of the 100 streams sampled exceeded a threshold
predicted to cause harm to aquatic insects and other stream organisms. Pesticides were not measured at levels
predicted to be toxic to fish in most streams.
While numerous pesticides were detected at
low levels, only a few—atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, imidacloprid,
fipronil, and organophosphate insecticides—were predicted to be major
contributors to toxicity. The first three
are widely used agricultural herbicides,and the latter three are insecticides
used in both residential and agricultural settings. This is one of the most extensive assessments
of pesticides in streams to date: 1,200 samples were collected at 100 Midwest
streams over a 12-week period during the 2013 growing season and analyzed for
228 pesticide compounds. This study is
one component in the first in a series of five USGS regional stream quality
assessments.”
From ASDWA Weekly Update, August 11, 2017. Assistance from states was requested to get a
larger pool of utilities to respond.
“The American Water
Works Association (AWWA) is conducting a survey of water utility disinfection
practices that is open until September 5th. The 2017 Water Utility Disinfection Survey should only take a half-hour to complete. The survey is being conducted by AWWA's
Disinfection Committee, and is the fifth in a series of disinfection surveys
since 1978. Through these surveys, the
Disinfection Committee seeks to:
- Compile information on key disinfection-related
practices and issues at drinking water utilities;
- Identify trends in disinfection based on recent
changes in legislation, costs, system effectiveness, and other factors; and
- Assist the drinking water industry by providing a
basis for development of best management practice, educational efforts, and
additional research on disinfection-related practices and challenges.
Responses are
strictly confidential and will be reported only in aggregate form or in a
manner that does not allow individual responses to be identified.”
From EPA Region 7,
8/9/2017
USDA and EPA are co-hosting a webinar on Wednesday, August 30th,
to showcase two systems’ approaches to asset management. The new asset management document, Successfully
Protecting Your Investment in Drinking Water Infrastructure: Best Practices
from Communities and Local Experts, is
now on the website and we are co-hosting a roll-out webinar with USDA on
Wednesday, August 30th. Two case studies from the document will be
highlighted. Larry Paine (Hillsboro, KS)
and Mario Leone (Monaca Borough, PA) will discuss some of the challenges faced
by their water systems and how asset management provided them with solutions
and benefits for their communities.
Date
and Time: August 30th, 1:00 – 2:00 CDT
Registration.
Iowa
DNR staff in the water supply program areas are scheduled to speak at the
following events. The date, sponsor and
event, location, subject, and contact for more information are listed.
- August 28-29,
2017, AWWA Fall Short Course, Ankeny.
“IDNR Water Supply Update.”
Website for brochure and registration.
- September 12
- 13, 2017, IRWA Fall Conference, Okoboji.
“IDNR Water Supply Update.”
Website for brochure and registration.
- September 12,
2017, EPA Region 7 Environmental Finance Center (Wichita State), St. Joseph,
MO. “Regional Water Finance Forum.” More information.
- September 28,
2017, SHL 50th Annual Laboratory Symposium, Ankeny. Website for
brochure and registration.
- October
10-12, 2017, AWWA Annual Meeting, Council Bluffs. “LUST Sites and Water Mains; IDNR Water
Supply Update; Cyanobacteria.” Website
for brochure and registration.
- October 10 -
11, 2017, IRWA Fall Conference, Dubuque.
“IDNR Water Supply Update.”
Website for brochure and registration.
For other
professional development opportunities, see the “Training Calendar” at programs.iowadnr.gov/opcertweb/.
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