Welcome to H2O News

-Learn what you can do now to tap into Smart Irrigation Month this July at www.irrigation.org/SIM.htm. -Homeowner information at www.irrigation.org/smartmonth.htm.

Issue #011

H2O Weekly is an on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities about the world’s water on a weekly basis. A full article is followed by other brief headings are followed by links that will take you to the complete article you are interested in.

Created & Published by Lorne Haveruk CID, CIC, CLIA, WCP

Visit our website at http://www.DHWatermgmt.com for additional articles, product, educational offerings and more.

Weekly Water Events

1. $1 Billion Into Drinking Water
2. County asks halt to golf courses
3. Desal comes to Moss Landing
4. Valley lawns will help evaporate state's water supply
5. Did you Know? Facts and Figures About Eutrophication.

H2O Weekly is sent only to those who have requested it. We value your privacy and never share our mailing list with anyone. To subscribe and unsubscribe contact us and add subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject line.

________________________________________________________

1. EPA to Infuse Almost $1 Billion Into Drinking Water Programs… States, territories and tribes will share more than $940 million from three EPA grant programs to support the quality and security of the nation's drinking water. The water supplies for more than 270 million people will benefit from the funding.

"This important Congressional funding advances President Bush's commitment to states and communities for safe, sustainable, and secure water systems," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water.

More than $837 million will support Drinking Water State Revolving Funds programs, which help states, territories and tribes finance infrastructure improvements to public water systems. Federal capitalization grants fund low-interest loans to public water systems. Eligible projects include upgrades to treatment facilities, certain storage facilities and distribution systems. Since the program began in 1997, public water systems have received more than $9 billion in low-interest loans. Concurrently, the agency has proposed allotting $841,500,000 in the proposed FY 2007 budget.

Another $98 million in grants will fund the Public Water Supervision System. This system operates under the Safe Drinking Water Act and provides resources to implement and enforce drinking water regulations and programs. At the same time the agency is announcing tentative allotments of $99,099,000 in the proposed FY 2007 budget.

Finally, EPA will provide $5 million in FY 2006 counter-terrorism grants to states and territories. The grants will help provide drinking water utilities with technical assistance and training to improve the readiness of first responders at drinking water systems, including practicing emergency response and recovery plans. States are also encouraged to develop strategies to help utilities implement security enhancements.

States, territories, and tribes may apply for funding through their EPA regional offices.

EPA to Infuse Almost $1 Billion Into Drinking Water Programs… States, territories and tribes will share more than $940 million from three EPA grant programs to support the quality and security of the nation's drinking water. The water supplies for more than 270 million people will benefit from the funding.

"This important Congressional funding advances President Bush's commitment to states and communities for safe, sustainable, and secure water systems," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water.

More than $837 million will support Drinking Water State Revolving Funds programs, which help states, territories and tribes finance infrastructure improvements to public water systems. Federal capitalization grants fund low-interest loans to public water systems. Eligible projects include upgrades to treatment facilities, certain storage facilities and distribution systems. Since the program began in 1997, public water systems have received more than $9 billion in low-interest loans. Concurrently, the agency has proposed allotting $841,500,000 in the proposed FY 2007 budget.

Another $98 million in grants will fund the Public Water Supervision System. This system operates under the Safe Drinking Water Act and provides resources to implement and enforce drinking water regulations and programs. At the same time the agency is announcing tentative allotments of $99,099,000 in the proposed FY 2007 budget.

Finally, EPA will provide $5 million in FY 2006 counter-terrorism grants to states and territories. The grants will help provide drinking water utilities with technical assistance and training to improve the readiness of first responders at drinking water systems, including practicing emergency response and recovery plans. States are also encouraged to develop strategies to help utilities implement security enhancements.

States, territories, and tribes may apply for funding through their EPA regional offices.

More information:

Public Water Supervision System: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pws/grants/

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf/allotments/

Counter-terrorism funding: http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/financeassist.cfm

Public Water Supervision System: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pws/grants/

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf/allotments/

Counter-terrorism funding: http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/financeassist.cfm

3. Desal comes to Moss Landing…

Developers of the proposed $250 million desal plant in Huntington Beach are scheduled to meet with a state water agency today to discuss a discharge permit. Further north, California American Water gets the thumbs-up from Monterey County to move forward with the pilot water-desal plant at Moss Landing.

http://www.bcwaternews.com/ca/CAnews-76.html

4. Valley lawns will help evaporate state's water supply

SAN FRANCISCO — Thirsty grass is expected to strain water supplies in California over the next 25 years if nothing is done to reduce outdoor water use, according to a new study.

The growing number of single-family homes with lush lawns, especially in the Central Valley, is projected to significantly increase the state's water demands, according to the report released Wednesday by the …

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12450119p-13170605c.html

5. Did you Know? Facts and Figures About Eutrophication.

• Eutrophication is a slow ageing process during which a lake or estuary evolves into a bog or marsh and eventually disappears. During eutrophication, the lake becomes so rich in nutritive compounds (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) that algae and other microscopic plant life become superabundant, thereby choking the lake and causing it to eventually dry up.
  
• Eutrophication is accelerated by discharges of nutrients in the form of sewage, detergents and fertilizers into the ecosystem.
  
• Eutrophication can be a natural process in lakes, as they age through geological time. Estuaries also tend to be naturally eutrophic because land-derived nutrients are concentrated where run-off enters the marine environment in a confined channel and mixing of relatively high nutrient freshwater with low nutrient marine water occurs.
  
• Lakes and reservoirs can be broadly classified as ultra-oligotrophic, oligotrophic, mesotrophic, eutrophic or hypereutrophic depending on the concentration of nutrients in the body of water and/or based on ecological manifestations of the nutrient loading. In general terms, oligotrophic lakes are characterized by low nutrient inputs and primary productivity, high transparency and a diverse biota. In contrast, eutrophic waters have high nutrient inputs and primary productivity, low transparency, and a high biomass of fewer species with a greater proportion of cyanobacteria than in oligotrophic waters.
  
• Eutrophication can also cause Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), which can harm fish and shellfish, as well as the people who consume them. Some algae can cause negative effects when they appear in dense blooms, while others have potent neurotoxins and need not be present in large numbers.
  
• In the 90s, the regions of Asia and the Pacific had more lakes and reservoirs with eutrophication problems (54%) than Europe (53%), Africa (28%), North America (48%) and South America (41%).
  
• Because of eutrophication, Lake Victoria in Africa has become turbid to the point that brightly coloured fish species cannot see each other clearly enough and they have begun to interbreed.
  
• In China, Lake Dianchi near Kunming and Lake Taihu near Wuxi both suffer from extreme eutrophication. In these lakes vast areas are covered by dense algal blooms and fish-breeding has been almost totally abandoned because there is no oxygen for them to breath, especially in autumn. Almost all native water plants and many fish species have been killed. Snails die from lack of oxygen in the bottom water and in addition the poor water quality makes it very difficult to supply water for domestic use that meets legal standards.

Information from 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility' (http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr2/table_contents.shtml); from Vital Water Graphics website (http://www.unep.org/vitalwater/37.htm); from the article ‘Biodiversity studies in Lake Malawi’ (http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=980) and from the section 'How Bad Is Eutrophication at Present?' of the United Nations Environment Programme website (http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/publications/short_series/lakereservoirs-3/2.asp).

________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading!

Lorne Haveruk C.I.D., C.I.C., C.L.I.A
Editors, H20 Weekly News
Click to contact us
http://www.DHWatermgmt.com

Privacy and Spam Policy: We never rent, trade or sell my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.

Copyright 2006, DH Water Management Services Inc., All Rights Reserved.