Water Agencies Seek Inclusion in Climate Legislation
For some time we have been hearing about changing precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and other various ways that climate change will severely impact our nation’s hydrologic systems. In the debate over climate legislation water groups are advocating for congressional funds to assist with mitigating the effects on water supplies of a changing climate. Although water groups are pleased to have been included in funding proposed in the most recent version of Lieberman-Warner, the amendment offered up by Senator Boxer is not specific about what portion of the $136 billion in funding that drinking, waste, storm-water utilities would be eligible for under the energy block grant program. In the last few weeks, water groups have stepped up their efforts and sent letters to Senator Boxer and Congress pushing for assistance and inclusion in a cap and trade program.
The May 16th letter sent by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) seeks “clearly designated federal funding” to assist wastewater treatment agencies with:
- adaptation and public health risk;
- proactive climate change mitigation projects; and
- furthering efforts to establish wastewater industry GHG offsets.
On May 20th eight water groups followed-up NACWA’s effort with a letter outlining three broad objectives they are calling on Congress to implement:
- develop an applied research program focusing on climate change and water resources;
- increase federal funding and support for both water infrastructure and climate change impacts; and
- provide support and incentives for water utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In an earlier post, we blogged about obtaining GHG credits through managed water supply systems and concluded that water utilities should be proactive in developing strategies for dealing with nitrogen oxide and methane emissions that are almost certain to be regulated under federal climate legislation. Now industry groups, such as NACWA, are actively pursuing inclusion in whatever allocation or cap and trade program our future holds.
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