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WASWD Updates for May 20, 2025
- By: WASWD
- On: 05/20/2025 13:24:56
- In: WASWD Updates 2025
- Comments: 0
| WASWD publishes this bi-weekly e-newsletter to convey current information about legislative and regulatory issues, other issues of importance to districts, and upcoming training and other events |
| WASWD Updates Archive |
| Public Works Board Opens $100 Million Funding Round With New Scoring Policy |
| Apply Now - Construction and Pre-Construction Windows Open Through August |
| The Washington State Public Works Board (PWB) has opened a new round of funding for its Traditional Program, with $100 million available to support critical infrastructure investments across the state. This cycle introduces a revised scoring policy, creating new opportunities for water and sewer districts to secure funding by aligning with state priorities and submitting stronger applications. Key Details:
For more detail on the new scoring policy, download their one-page guide here, or reach out to staff@waswd.org for support. |
| 2025 Regional Water Cybersecurity Workshop | |
| The Water Sector Workshop engages water sector professionals and response partners for a closer look at emergency preparedness, response, and recovery in a Cybersecurity Incident at a water facility. There is no cost to attend. The event will be two days with unique speakers and tabletop scenarios for each day. Attending both workshops is not required. Attendees can receive .7 CEUs for attending 1 day of the workshop. Course ID: ECY25-3960 is assigned to this course. DAY 1: June 11th 9:00am-5:00pm at Des Moines Beach Park Event Center- The first day, morning speaker sessions will be geared more toward OT Cybersecurity for water and wastewater facilities. DAY 2: June 18th 9:00am-5:00pm at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett- The second day will delve into IT and Business Continuity. |
| EPA | ||
| EPA Lifts Emergency Order on Flint Water After City Completes Requirements | ||
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FLINT, MI – The Environmental Protection Agency has lifted a Safe Drinking Water Act emergency order in Flint that has been in place since 2016. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on Monday, May 19, that the city completed all requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act emergency order. |
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| EPA Extends Compliance Deadlines for PFOA and PFOS, Rescinds Hazard Index | ||
| EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces the agency's decision to maintain national limits for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, with plans to extend compliance deadlines while rescinding the Hazard Index. What to know:
On April 10, 2024, EPA announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, including standards for PFOA and PFOS. At that time, EPA established legally enforceable levels for these PFAS in drinking water and gave public water systems until 2029 to comply with the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). EPA stated it will continue to offer free water technical assistance (WaterTA) that provides services to water systems to improve their drinking water and help communities access available funding. EPA's WaterTA initiatives work with water systems nationwide to identify affordable solutions to assess and address PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS. Services offered to utilities include water quality testing, development of technical plans, operator training support, designing public engagement and outreach strategies, and support for accessing federal funding opportunities. |
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| Municipal Bonds Unscathed, Clean Energy Tax Credits Targeted In House Tax Bill | |
| Lawmakers would make no changes to the tax-exempt status of municipal bond interest in a major tax reform package that began to advance last week, in a victory for AMWA and a wide range of other stakeholders that have been loudly advocating in support of maintaining the exemption. However, the Republican proposal would dial back numerous clean energy tax incentives enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, including several that offered savings opportunities for public utilities. |
| Funding News | |
| Trump Cuts to Western Washington Dam Project Likely to Affect Housing, Water Supply | |
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Washington state water utility officials spoke Friday of the threats posed by the elimination of federal funding eliminated for a regional dam project, including potential housing moratoriums and risks to flood-prone areas. The virtual press briefing was hosted by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Officials on the call included Heather Pennington, water superintendent for Tacoma Public Utilities, and Thomas Keown, general manager of the Covington Water District in south King County. Murray said that funds to improve Howard A. Hanson Dam for a fish-passage project were among cuts to Army Corps of Engineers' projects, according to the Corps' work plans released Thursday. The dam facility was set to receive $500 million this year in funding Murray secured in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she wrote as chair and passed through committee in August 2024, as well as in House Republicans' fiscal year 2025 bill. Read More
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| Regulatory News | ||
| Burlington Decides Against Using Skagit River Water to Irrigate Park | ||
| BURLINGTON — The city of Burlington has opted not a use an interruptible water right it received from the state Department of Ecology that would have allowed it to pump water from the Skagit River to irrigate Skagit River Park. After researching the costs of pumping water from the river, the city decided that doing so was not cost effective. Instead, the city will continue to spend about $55,000 a year on piped Skagit Public Utility District water to irrigate during the summer months. |
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| Another Big Overflow-Prevention Storage Tank Proposed for West Seattle | ||
| King County Wastewater Treatment continues working on ways to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) into local waterways. One of its next projects is a million-gallon storage tank in southeast West Seattle, near the 1st Avenue South Bridge, to protect the Duwamish River. And now it's proposing another, much-bigger storage tank, also along the Duwamish's west shore in West Seattle further north. It's part of this announcement today. | ||
| Hanford-Area Groundwater Agency Enacts Well Registration And Reporting Policies | ||
| Kings County growers in and around the Hanford area will be required to register their wells, report how much they pump and register private recharge areas under three new policies enacted by the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA). | ||
| Rural-Focused Organization Launches Effort to Address Infrastructure Needs in Rural WA | ||
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A rural town in southeastern Washington has been selected to take part in a new pilot project to address critical water infrastructure needs.
“We're losing gallons of water from pipe leaks,” said Charles Hill, city council member in Starbuck.
With an aging population and limited revenue, Starbuck – a town of fewer than 200 people along the Tucannon River in Columbia County – faces mounting infrastructure challenges, particularly in its water and sewer systems. Jody Opheim, executive director of Partners for Rural Washington, a nonprofit that supports rural communities across the state, said the pilot project, called “Rural Opportunity, Advancement, and Resilience,” will help Starbuck and eight other rural towns secure funding and technical assistance for critical improvements.
Palouse, another eastern Washington town, also has been selected to complete a comprehensive upgrade to its wastewater system.
Opheim estimates at least 24 months of completion for most of the projects.
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| WASWD News | |
| 2024 Revenue Survey Update for WASWD 2026 Dues Process | |
| Thank you to all the districts who have submitted their 2024 revenue surveys in support of the 2026 budget process — we truly appreciate your time and collaboration. Your input is vital to ensuring an accurate and informed budgeting process. For those few who haven't yet submitted your survey, we kindly ask that you do so at your earliest convenience to staff@waswd.org. Your participation is important, and we're here to assist if you need any support |
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| Seeking District Project Panels for Future Conferences | |
| The Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts (WASWD) invites member districts to submit an abstract for consideration to participate in a panel presentation at an upcoming conference. We are seeking engaging presentations that highlight innovative or challenging projects, with a focus on the hurdles encountered and how they were overcome, as well as the outcomes achieved. Abstracts should provide a clear overview of the project and may include perspectives from operations personnel, management, engineering, or other key contributors. This is a great opportunity to share valuable lessons learned and best practices with peers from across the state. The next conference will be September 16-18, 2025 at the Spokane Convention Center. The exact date of the fall conference district panel is not set, although if there is a preferred day of the conference that will be relayed to the Conference & Training Committee if a preference is submitted. If you have any questions, please contact twila@waswd.org |
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| Upcoming Meetings |
| Links to all virtual meetings are available on the Committee Documents webpage of the members only section of the WASWD website. |
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Section I & II Meeting |
May 22, 2025 @6:00PM |
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Workforce Development Committee |
June 6, 2025 @10:00AM |
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Section III Meeting |
June 10, 2025 @6:00PM |
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Government Relations Committee |
June 12, 2025 @10:00AM |
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Section IV Meeting |
June 16, 2025 @7:00PM |
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Membership Committee |
June 17, 2025 @10:00AM |
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Conference & Training Committee |
June 20, 2025 @10:00AM |
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Executive Meeting |
June 23, 2025 @9:30AM |
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Board Meeting |
June 23, 2025 @10:30AM |
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Section I & II Meeting |
June 26, 2025 @6:00PM |
| Trainings, Conferences & Events |
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Water Use Efficiency: Background, Water Loss, Guidance & Rules |
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Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 9:00AM - 12:00PM | ||||
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History of the Water Use Efficiency and guidance and rules. Also, what is important on the report, and how to mitigate water loss.
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Disclosure 101: Candidates and Committees |
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Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 1:30PM - 4:00PM Registration Link |
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Candidates and committees, join the PDC for an overview of campaign finance regulations. Learn the basics of reporting, including rules around contributions and expenditures. Hear guidance on using volunteers, hosting fundraisers, and advertising campaigns.
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Consumer Confidence Reports: Guidance on Completing |
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Thursday, May 22, 2025, 9:00AM - 12:00PM | ||||
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How do you inform your consumers about the quality of their local drinking water? The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires that all community water systems submit a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) to their customers by July 1st of each year. This annual report holds the water system accountable by reporting compliance successes and failures to water consumers. The most recent and welcome change to the CCR regulation is that CCRs can now be delivered electronically using the Environmental Protection Agency's iWriter tool. |
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ORCA Demonstration |
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Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 1:30PM – 4:00PM Registration Link | ||||
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Join the PDC to watch a demonstration of reporting various contributions, expenditures, and loans. Learn to personalize your campaign, import contacts, and enter fundraisers. Find out how to review and amend reports. |
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Cyber Security for Utilities |
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Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 9:00AM - 12:00PM | ||||
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Cyber security best practices and incident response planning can prevent or mitigate many of these attacks and are essential to the sound operation and management of water and wastewater systems. |
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Western Washington Short School & Trade Show for Water & Wastewater Operators, Engineers & Managers |
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Tuesday, June 3, 2025 – Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | ||||
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Join a two-day training event featuring five concurrent tracks. Attend in-person or virtually — two tracks will be streamed online. Topics include water and wastewater treatment, maintenance, corrosion prevention, SCADA, and more. Highlights: Everett WWTP Tour (Tuesday afternoon), Trade Show with manufacturers and reps (Wednesday), 1.3 CEUs available for full attendance (pending approval in OR & WA; accepted in ID), Operator scholarships available (application required). Schedule and scholarship info available on the website — follow the Registration link to download.
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Regional Water Cybersecurity Workshop |
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Day 1: OT or Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Day 2: IT |
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Both days will include retrospective case studies and future recommendations for Water Operators and Emergency Managers. Attendees may register for any number of the 4 sessions: the two morning sessions will be instructional speaker sessions, and the two afternoon sessions will be interactive tabletop sessions. |
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Join the 2025 Wastewater Symbiosis Study Tour |
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Sunday, June 15 - 21, 2025 | ||||
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Key goals of the 2025 Wastewater Symbiosis Study Tour will be to translate inspiration and learnings from Denmark into action at our utilities back home in the PNW, to reshape many millions of dollars of capital investment and realize the economic and sustainability benefits of industrial symbiosis. |
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2025 Western Washington Short School Trade Show |
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Wednesday, October 1-2, 2025, 8:00AM – 5:00PM Renton | ||||
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This course reinforces information covered in the ICS-100 through ICS-300 courses, and discusses several new topics, including Area Command, and modifications to the standard ICS organizational structure that might be helpful during Complex Incidents. |
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| Associate Member Spotlight |
| Northwest Municipal Advisors |
| Northwest Municipal Advisors is an active provider of capital finance planning for municipal clients in the region. For over 25 years, our firm has served water and sewer districts, public utility districts, general governments, and other special purpose districts throughout the northwest. Northwest Municipal Advisors is an independent registered municipal advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and we have a fiduciary duty to serve your interests. If you are seeking financing for your project, we can assist with determining sources of funding and navigating the debt market and financing process. Contact us at Advisors@NWMunicipalAdvisors.com or visit our website at www.NWMunicipalAdvisors.com. |
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