AUGUST ROUNDUP
In today's world of water, there are hundreds of competing priorities and risks that grab our attention and make headlines. Water utility leaders and policymakers are pressed to make sure everyone has safe drinking water, but deciding which risk to tackle first is not easy.

Check out Episode 7 of The Authority Podcast where Council Member Chad Seidel discusses how to prioritize access to safe drinking water when there are several competing priorities, like microbial contaminants and PFAS, that impact our water supply daily.
Water Advisory Insights
Council Member Manny Teodoro talked to Water & Wastes Digest’s Bob Crossen about why competing priorities can create challenges for small utilities as well as his perspective on utility capacity.

America’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, is 25 feet lower than last summer. As a result, this fall areas in Phoenix will see unprecedented cuts of their share of the Colorado River. Council Member Kathryn Sorensen, Director of Research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, talked to CNN’s Bill Weir about Lake Mead potentially reaching dead pool and what can be done moving forward.

What can bottled water tell us about America? Check out Council Member Manny Teodoro’s new book, “The Profits of Distrust: Citizen-Consumers, Drinking Water, and the Crisis of Confidence in American Government,” to learn about how the rise of the bottled water industry has led to declining trust in government.
Water News
New York Times: Mississippi’s Capital Loses Water as a Troubled System Faces a Fresh Crisis

More than 150,000 people in Mississippi’s capital were without access to safe drinking water on Tuesday, forcing officials to tackle what they described as the “massively complicated task” of distributing bottled water and devising a plan to restore service without a firm sense of how long that would take.
National Law Review: EPA Releases Long-Awaited Proposed Rule Designating Certain PFAS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances
On August 26, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its proposal to designate two of the most widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Section 102(a).
LA Times: Most Californians view state’s water shortage as extremely serious, poll finds

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is offering a $2.5 million grant for researchers to investigate water contamination following fireworks shows. Fireworks contain perchlorate, and when the chemical does not completely combust it can leach into groundwater or enter streams.
It’s not a theoretical concern. Wells supplying Evart, Michigan, were tainted by perchlorate from years of fireworks shows that took place at a nearby fairgrounds. There are no national drinking water standards for perchlorate. But California and Massachusetts have their own regulations. One grant will be awarded and applications are due September 14, 2022.
The Guardian: US issues western water cuts as drought leaves Colorado River near ‘tipping point’
As his city stands on the brink of running out of water, Las Vegas, New Mexico, Mayor Louie Trujillo said the fires that initiated the problem could have been avoided.
"The government is 100% responsible for this disaster and we intend to hold them accountable, to pay for every expense and discomfort that the citizens are suffering right now, even if it includes legal recourse," Trujillo said. The city is in a state of emergency after intense flooding at the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire "burn scar" area led to contamination in water reservoirs from ash, soot, burned trees, pine needles, rocks and boulders.

August is National Water Quality Month and we’re highlighting the importance of having access to clean and safe drinking water by sharing Council Member Chad Seidel’s blog post on the challenges of providing reliable and affordable drinking water for all. 
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