The Stormwater Report

On March 22, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) launched Water’s Worth It, a public messaging campaign and website. The campaign goal is to show that water should be clear but not invisible, as it is indispensable to jobs, the economy, our health, and our communities. “It’s time that water takes its rightful place in the [...]

On March 21, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that consent orders issued under the Clean Water Act (CWA) can now be challenged under the Administrative Procedure Act. This gives parties receiving the consent order a new opportunity to contest a it without risking civil and criminal penalties. Before, they could simply comply or the U.S. Environmental [...]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced March 23 that additional time is needed to develop a schedule for the release of the proposed and final EPA stormwater rules. This short-term extension pushes the release of the rulemaking schedule back from March 16 to April 27 to allow EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to [...]

Registration is now open for the 2012 Stormwater Symposium co-hosted by the Water Environment Federation and Chesapeake Water Environment Association. This 2-day event will focus on national issues, including the proposed stormwater rulemaking, regional issues, developing technologies, and management approaches that are key to this growing and evolving topic. See the draft technical program and [...]

The effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze costs and benefits for the upcoming stormwater rule highlights an interesting question. What is stormwater worth as a resource, and how is its value measured? A new book—Economic Incentives for Stormwater Control—edited by Hale Thurston with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, provides some [...]

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District in Deephaven, Minn., is using an innovative sand-and-iron filter to remove phosphorus from stormwater. Unlike traditional stormwater management ponds that let phosphorus settle to the pond bottom, this filter will capture dissolved phosphorus. Read more. Related Posts:WERF Releases New Tools and ReportsNRCS Offers $35 Million in Assistance for National Water [...]

On March 28, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R–Wyo.) and 29 Republican senators introduced the Preserve the Waters of the U.S. Act, which would prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing their joint Clean Water Act guidance. The senators express concern that the guidance is in violation of the [...]

On March 13, the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) released a draft International Water Stewardship Standard. The draft standard covers four main water principles: governance, balance, quality, and important water areas. The document also delves into more-detailed actions, metrics, and targets that can be used to achieve three levels of certification. AWS is dedicated to [...]

On March 2, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership launched the Urban Waters Ambassadors program. The program’s first ambassador will serve the Los Angeles River watershed, with local representatives to follow for the partnership’s seven first-phase pilots. The role of the ambassador will be to connect federal tools and resources with the needs of the local [...]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) on March 6 joined the Healthy Waters Coalition, a diverse coalition of water-sector stakeholders, in announcing Farm Bill recommendations to improve water quality. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 50% of rivers, streams, and lakes and nearly 60% of bays and estuaries are nutrient-impaired. The dominant [...]