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A message from Sharon Nappier, National Program Leader for Water Reuse, USEPA:
In celebration of the WRAP’s fourth anniversary, I am proud to share the Year 4 annual progress update, which summarizes some of the incredible accomplishments of WRAP action leaders and partners in 2023. The WRAP has now grown to include 69 action commitments, which involve collaborations among 157 organizations and water reuse leaders across federal and state governments, utilities, nonprofits, universities and the private sector. The WateReuse Symposium held in Denver, Colorado from March 11-14, 2024 was an excellent venue to share progress, forge new collaborations and learn more from WRAP partners about their recent accomplishments to advance water reuse (a full list below).
One highlight of the WateReuse Symposium was the fourth State Summit on Water Reuse, held on Monday, March 11. During the closed-door session, the EPA, ACWA, ASDWA, ASHTO and GWPC convened state regulators from nearly 20 states to share information and discuss lessons learned related to water reuse policy, planning and implementation. Shellie Chard, the Water Quality Division Director at Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, will share more about the State Summit in the next WRAP quarterly update – stay tuned!
On Tuesday, March 12, members of the EPA Water Reuse Program gathered with industrial partners, economists and state regulators to brainstorm the possible public benefits of a federal tax incentive for privately funded water reuse projects. This brainstorming session will help the EPA-led Federal Water Reuse Interagency Work Group respond to the directive from Congress to study a potential tax incentive. The EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board will conduct the study in the coming year and a public meeting will be announced in the Federal Register this spring.
I’m continually impressed with the countless water reuse professionals working to advance the science and implementation of reuse as a strategy for securing safe, affordable and sustainable water supplies for all. Looking forward, the EPA aims to release a state of the science document this fall outlining a risk assessment framework that state regulators may use to establish health-based water reuse treatment targets for non-potable and potable reuse, and onsite and centralized reuse. To improve affordability of water reuse, the Federal Water Reuse Interagency Working Group will highlight federal funding opportunities for water reuse in an Infrastructure Financing Webinar on June 26, 2024 (register here). Additionally, tickets sold out fast for our first ever Onsite Water Reuse Summit in April, where attendees will engage with researchers, state regulators and building code organization representatives, to learn about new research, understand how to finance onsite systems and hear lessons from treatment operators.
To conclude, I’d like to echo what many folks expressed at the WateReuse Symposium last week: water reuse is a key tool for climate resiliency. In addition to managing drought impacts, water reuse supports other efforts to adapt to or mitigate climate change, like providing a reliable water supply for manufacturing computer chips used in electric vehicles and innovative carbon neutral energy solutions. I am pleased to be at the forefront with you all, and I look forward to seeing what we accomplish this next year! Thank you, WRAP collaborators, for your hard work and congratulations on your accomplishments in Year 4!
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