AUGUST MONTHLY ROUNDUP
Water & Health Advisory Council
My name is Rob Renner, and I’m pleased to introduce to you the first Water & Health Advisory Monthly Roundup.
 
We are the Water & Health Advisory Council, and we are a multidisciplinary group of water utility leaders, scientists and drinking water engineers. Although we come from different backgrounds, we all believe that clean and safe drinking water is one of the most important public health achievements in modern history.
 
Today, the water utility and public health community face many challenges: aging infrastructure, droughts, and emerging contaminants that capture media attention and can undermine public trust in drinking water supplies.
 
Regulators are moving to address these challenges. However, we have all seen firsthand the difficulty water utility and public health professionals can have putting risk in perspective when engaging with policymakers and the general public.
 
I served as the Chief Executive Officer at the Water Research Foundation for more than 13 years, and I spent 20 years working as a consultant optimizing water treatment plant performance. Our group collectively has decades of experience in researching, educating and promoting water infrastructure, health and safety, and engineering.
 
Our goal is to help bridge this gap and provide context on complex issues using the best available science so that we can collectively focus on the most effective actions to protect our nation’s water supply and public health.
 
To learn more about our mission, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to find our regular updates. 
 
Sincerely, 
Rob Renner

Council Chair
Blog Highlights
25th Anniversary of the 1996 SDWA Amendments
The 1996 SDWA amendments emphasized sound science and risk-based standard setting, addressed microbial contaminants and disinfection byproducts, and strengthened operator certification. The risk-based standard setting required that the U.S. EPA to determine a risk and cost benefit assessment when setting most new standards and regulations.
Providing Clean, Safe and Affordable Drinking Water for all Americans
In April, the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee met to examine the challenges facing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
Staying Focused on the Risks that Matter
Attention and money focused on the next thing is attention and money taken away from the thing that is most impactful—the thing that best protects public health for the greatest number of people—investment in aging water infrastructure. 
Water News Highlights
The Guardian: Severe drought threatens Hoover dam reservoir – and water for US west
The drought in the western regions of the U.S. is putting pressure on our nation’s natural water supply and infrastructure. In a recent article featured in The Guardian, Council member Kathryn Sorensen offers her insights into the state of water today in places like the Hoover Dam. Read her thoughtful comments on what the water scarcity in the West means for our natural systems and resources in the future.
The New York Times: Small Towns Grow Desperate for Water in California
Small water systems can be at extreme risk during droughts & other climate-induced pressures. The water shortages in Northern California are examples of how these fragile water systems need a protected quality water source and ongoing technical support. We must put our nation’s resources towards ensuring all Americans have access to water.
The New York Times: Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill, Handing Biden a Bipartisan Win 
The $1 trillion Infrastructure Bill passed in the Senate with more than $40 billion allocated to drinking water infrastructure. We support this critical investment in drink water infrastructure and urge elected officials to focus these funds where they will do the most good for our country. That requires a commitment to risk and cost benefit analysis to prioritize upgrades to our drinking water system that address the greatest risk. Read more from the U.S. Water Alliance on how the funds are broken down.
Guardian: The US city that proves replacing lead water lines needn’t be a pipe dream
State and federal legislators and water suppliers have the responsibility to ensure that every American has access to clean water, and that includes investing in aging infrastructure. The non-compliance with the 30-year old Lead and Copper regulation in Flint and Newark were the result of lack of corrosion control on old lead service lines and galvanized plumbing. But water is not the only source of lead exposure.
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