John Hennessy III,
P.E.
The Value of Water Coalition hosted an in-depth conversation at the Newseum in Washington DC on the current condition of water infrastructure in the United States, the consequences of letting these failing systems worsen, and solutions to meeting the water challenges of today and tomorrow.
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Kern County is the most-fracked county in California by a wide margin. This region also has the worst air quality in the nation, as well as highly elevated rates of cancer and respiratory illness. For the people that live here, fracking means more oil extraction, more crippling climate impacts, and more impacts on their health.
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GREEN FOR ALL
This white paper focuses on one of the most promising strategies water utilities can use to develop broad public support: Embracing triple-bottom-line outcomes that deliver community benefits like jobs, business opportunities, green space, safer and more beautiful streets, and other local amenities. Selected policies and programs designed to catalyze community and economic development allow water utilities to show the public that they provide efficient and environmentally beneficial infrastructure that fosters local economic and social improvements.
Water utilities are investing millions, even billions, to clean up our water. Yet our water infrastructure is essentially invisible and its value often goes unnoticed by consumers and ratepayers. Community benefit strategies and green infrastructure help water utilities translate the value of their work and in the process they make our communities stronger.
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Most Americans assume that water supply is both reliable and plentiful. However, research has shown that with climate change, water supply will become more variable due to salinization of ground water and increased variability in precipitation. Some have argued that rather than focusing on increasing freshwater supply alone, we need also to reduce water demand. Demand-side policy responses to future freshwater variability will benefit from a deeper understanding of public perceptions of water use, which is the focus of this study.
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Dan Pitera discusses his work with the Detroit Collaborative Design Center and the University of Detroit Mercy. Key topics include current projects underway in Detroit, strategies for effective citizen engagement, and the need to bring together disparate voices from the community for successful urban design.
“Digital engagement works, but it only works with a certain core group of people who have that technology access. Community meetings work, but they work with a certain group of people. It’s not about developing a tactic that is one-size-fits-all; it’s about developing tactics that connect.”
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BLACK & VEATCH
Since the rollout of the first smart grid programs, there has been a realization that automation and “smart” programs benefit all types of utilities and infrastructure systems. Gas and water smart grids, for example, will result in more efficient storage, improved distribution, reductions in system losses and expanded customer engagement.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS: GEORGIA SECTION
With new grades for the first time since 2009, Georgia’s infrastructure has shown very little improvement and once again received a cumulative grade of C. The Georgia Section of ASCE assessed the same 12 categories as 2009: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, parks and recreation, ports, rail, roads, school facilities, solid waste, stormwater, transit and wastewater. Recognizing the importance of transportation to Georgians, we added two new categories in 2014: ports and rail. As indicated by the grade, much work remains to be done, though there are some bright spots.
Transportation Issues Daily
As we, like Congress, begin our “recess,” we decided to offer some early predictions about 2014 federal transportation issues. It’s not an exhaustive list, and these may not be the most important five issues, but it’s a place to start.
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