Drinking Water Week

Drinking Water Week

For more than 40 years the American Water Works Association and its members have used Drinking Water Week as a unique opportunity for both water professionals and the communities they serve to recognize the vital role water plays in our daily lives. This year's recognition will be May 1-7, 2022. Drinking Water Week materials, such as logos, graphics, children's activities and social media posts are available here for free download.
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Water is Health

National News, Research
By Jim Lauria; Water Online World Water Day both celebrates clean water and reminds us that 2 billion people live without access to it. Safe drinking water is one of the most fundamental elements of health — healthy water keeps people healthy; sick water makes people sick. Though we have come to understand a lot more about the biology and chemistry that link health and water, even our early ancestors sensed the connection — as Marq De Villiers notes, one of the signs of the Apocalypse in ancient writings is "the bitterness of waters." Taking the metaphor into the very availability of water, Robin Clarke and Jannet King wrote in The Water Atlas, "Thus do the four horses of the Apocalypse — war, famine, pestilence, and death — gallop even faster…
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GWPC Annual Forum 2022

This year we are excited to merge the GWPC UIC Conference with our Annual Forum. Join us in person or virtually June 21-23, 2022 in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah. We are offering a hybrid attendee experience for this conference with both in-person and virtual attendance options.
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EPA Webinar – Using State Revolving Funds For Source Water Protection

Feb. 2, 12-2 p.m. MST Register Here State Revolving Funds offer numerous ways to support and encourage the implementation of projects aimed at the protection of source waters. Kara Goodwin, US EPA, will open the session with a national overview of SRF-related tools currently available to environmental entities interested in source water protection. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program (DWSRF) funds Source Water Protection through two different optional set-asides: State Program Management (10%) and Local Assistance and Other State Programs (15%). April Byrne, US EPA ORISE Fellow, will showcase recent source water protection project eligibility and spending trends within these two set-asides. Potential increases to the DWSRF capitalization grants in the future would in turn increase opportunities to fund source water protection efforts. Learn how to maximize these two…
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World Water Week

For 30 years, SIWI has organized World Water Week. Today it is the world’s most influential movement focused on transforming global water challenges. World Water Week 2022 will take place 23 August to 1st September online and in Stockholm! This new edition will offer opportunities to connect face to face and propose online components to engage worldwide.   For more info and register please visit: https://worldwaterweek.org/tickets
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EPA Webinar – Harmful Algal Blooms

Register at https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_B7J5tY92RtGVlh2QxvqDrg   Harmful Algal Blooms: The federal and innovative funding sources for the prevention, monitoring, and treatment of harmful algal blooms November 9-10 at 11:00am - 2:00 pm MT During this virtual forum, participants from federal agencies will provide an overview of the federal funding programs related to harmful algal blooms (HABs), the funding allocation/application process for those programs, and how inland and coastal communities can use the programs to address HABs challenges. Invited speakers will provide an overview of federal funding programs from: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) United States Geological Survey (USGS) United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The forum will also include presentations from communities that have utilized funds from these federal programs as well as a session dedicated to…
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Youth Academy Pitches In On Clearwater River Cleanup

Idaho News
Idaho County Free Press For the fourth year, cadets from the Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy (IDYCA), located in Pierce, pitched in during the annual Clearwater River Cleanup Day on Sept. 17. According to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) release, the cadets removed hundreds of pounds of debris and trash from the river and shoreline along a 5-mile stretch from Cherry Lane to Gibbs Eddy. “While we host this event each year to help clean up the river, our goal is to find less and less trash each time,” stated BLM Cottonwood field manager Richard White. “Together with the Clearwater Management Council, we are really trying to encourage everyone who recreates on the river to leave no trace.” The annual cleanup day event is supported by the BLM’s Cottonwood Field…
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Idaho Seeking $2M Worth Of Project Ideas To Reduce Phosphorous In Lake Coeur d’Alene

Idaho News
By Samantha Wohlfeil, Inlander Idaho's Department of Environmental Quality will soon be awarding $2 million to projects that will reduce phosphorous on Coeur d'Alene Lake. The funding from the state is part of Gov. Brad Little's "Building Idaho's Future" plan. The projects are intended to prevent the lake from reaching a dangerous tipping point where heavy metal contamination that has mostly remained in sediments could become suspended in the water column due to a shift in the water chemistry. Like much of North Idaho, the lake faces issues with contamination deposited during decades of silver and lead mining in the region. To be eligible, projects must include on-the-ground reductions in phosphorous, be located in Idaho within the watersheds that drain into Coeur d'Alene Lake, and have community support. Projects on…
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Ground Water/Source Water Protection Paper Published

Research
The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) and the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) have jointly released a paper developed by ASDWA with the help of a few states entitled, “Groundwater-Based Source Water Protection.” This paper serves as a great educational handout for state drinking water and groundwater programs, as well as water utilities and other water quality stakeholders, to share with potential partners when talking about the importance of, and special considerations for, protecting groundwater sources of drinking water. The paper includes a short background and four sections: The Challenge of Protecting Groundwater SourcesFederal and State Programs for Groundwater ProtectionElements of a Groundwater Protection FrameworkState Examples Anyone interested in protecting groundwater can use this paper to help drive actions and work with partners on any or all the…
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