Groundwater Awareness Week (GWAW) is taking place March 5-11 in 2023! An annual observance established in 1999 to highlight the responsible development, management, and use of groundwater, the event is also a platform to encourage yearly water well testing and well maintenance, and the promotion of policies impacting groundwater quality and supply. Groundwater advocates across the country also use GWAW to highlight local water issues in their communities.
By Brad Carlson; Capital Press Idaho Gov. Brad Little will again ask the Legislature to spend substantially on water and road infrastructure, and other work that benefits the agriculture sector and rural communities. The proposed spending of money available in the short term — from a state budget surplus and federal economic stimulus funds — targets long-term benefits, said Alex Adams, the governor’s budget director. Water infrastructure exemplifies ongoing needs, he said. Last year’s grant requests to help pay for system improvements easily exceeded the increased money available, and much of the new money to add storage capacity went to a few big projects. Continuing to make long-range, strategic investments in roads, water and other key areas bodes well for quality of life and reduces burdens on local budgets, Little…
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris; Idaho Capital Sun (Getty Images) The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality announced grant awards of more than $59 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve 11 drinking water and wastewater systems across the state, according to a press release. The $59.1 million in construction grants are part of $300 million distributed through the State Revolving Loan Fund in 2022 and Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho initiative. “Water is our most valuable resource, and we absolutely must keep up the infrastructure to ensure water is clean and plentiful for this generation and future ones,” Little said in the release. “These investments also could keep your property taxes low. Property taxes are determined locally, but the investments we made in water and other infrastructure needs at…
By Brad Carlson; Capital Press Joe Tackett and Greg Curtis of Nampa and Meridian, Idaho, Irrigation District at the Ridenbaugh Canal headworks on the Boise River. Brad Carlson/Capital Press The Idaho Water Resource Board on Sept. 16 approved 12 grants totaling $12.5 million to upgrade aging irrigation infrastructure. The board’s finance committee on Sept. 8 endorsed the grant recipients and dollar amounts, which the full board approved. The board received 31 requests for a combined $41 million. A single region cannot get more than half of the money. In the southwest, for example, the state approved a grant of $1.82 million rather than the $3.18 million Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District requested to modernize Ridenbaugh Canal. District directors will decide how to proceed with the project, said Greg Curtis, water…
Each year, EPA holds SepticSmart Week with outreach activities to encourage homeowners and communities to care for and maintain their septic systems. During SepticSmart Week, EPA seeks to inform homeowners on proper septic system care and maintenance, assist local agencies in promoting homeowner education and awareness, and educate local decision makers about infrastructure options to improve and sustain their communities.
Water Finance and Management ASDWA has announced the launch of its new Environmental Justice webpage. The webpage includes ASDWA’s environmental justice strategy, developed by ASDWA’s members and staff and will guide the association’s work in the future, as well as a variety of resources related to environmental justice and drinking water. Most notably, ASDWA staff worked with members to include a table that provides the text definition of a disadvantaged community for each state, along with the link to where that definition can be found (Intended Use Plans, regulations, statute, or policy). Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, states are responsible for defining what constitutes a disadvantaged community. States use these definitions to make determinations and help prioritize the funds for drinking water infrastructure that are distributed to communities and water…
By Andrew Guckes; Idaho Mountain Express On Monday Ketchum became the final city in the Wood River Valley to approve a term sheet proposed by the Idaho Department of Water Resources that requires each party to put forth funds to combat water shortages and help preserve groundwater aquifers in the area. The deal includes Sun Valley Co. and the Sun Valley Water and Sewer District, in addition to the cities of Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue. For the next three years, each of those parties will contribute $10 per acre-foot of groundwater diversions to the newly formed Conservation, Infrastructure and Efficiency Fund, which will be managed by a specially formed committee. They have agreed to also pay $3.60 per acre-foot of groundwater diversions to cloud-seeding projects that directly benefit…
EPA will host a webinar on Advancing Water Equity as part of its DWSRF and Capacity Building in Action series. The webinar will feature state presenters and will focus on how states can use their DWSRF set-asides for activities that identify and prioritize water infrastructure and capacity building projects for underserved communities. For more information and to register, click here. For information about drinking water capacity and other upcoming webinars, visit www.epa.gov/dwcapacity.
