On October 3rd, 2017, the US Water Alliance, National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) released a paper focusing on a collaborative approach on how to reduce nutrient pollution in our nation’s waterways, titled “Addressing Nutrient Pollution in Our Nation’s Waters: The Role of a Statewide Utility”.
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in rivers, lakes, bays and coastal waters can lead to nutrient overload and can potentially threaten drinking water quality and impair recreation and fishing activities. To address this pressing problem, a wide range of stakeholders including agriculture, utilities, businesses, environmental groups, government, and academia will need a new collaborative approach to achieve water quality results that return waterways to healthy nutrient levels. This policy brief sets forth a new approach that is more strategic and holistic in its structure and execution.
“The benefits of freshwater to people and nature are immeasurable, but water quality and quantity issues are among the greatest environmental challenges of this century,” said Radhika Fox, CEO of the US Water Alliance. “Addressing the problem of excess nutrients in our nation’s waters will require collaboration, resources, and watershed scale approaches. We hope this paper offers actionable ideas for progress.”
“Nutrients are by far one of the most challenging issues facing public clean water utilities today,” said Adam Krantz, CEO of NACWA. “The concepts discussed in this paper are an important addition to the national discussion on how to address this critical water quality challenge. NACWA is thrilled to partner with the US Water Alliance and WEF on this document to contribute valuable new ideas to the nutrients dialogue and an approach that could have far-reaching watershed benefits.”
“Nutrient pollution is one of the most challenging and widespread challenges in our nation’s waterways and water professionals are continuously looking for ways to make progress,” said Eileen O’Neill, Executive Director of the WEF. “It is clearly time to try new approaches to this long-standing problem and WEF is glad to have partnered with our colleagues in the water sector to propose options.”
For more information and to read the full paper, visit: http://uswateralliance.org/sites/uswateralliance.org/files/publications/Environmental_Utility_FINAL.pdf