WESTCAS Western Coalition of Arid States

The Water Infrastructure Network is a broad-based coalition of local elected officials, drinking water and wastewater service providers, state environmentalists dedicated to preserving and protecting the health, environment and economic gains that America's drinking water and wastewater infrastructure provides.

WESTCAS is a member of the Federal Water Quality Coalition. The FWQC's members are directly affected by, or have members that are directly affected by, regulatory requirements imposed under the Clean Water Act. The Coalition participates in federal and regional water quality rulemakings, initiatives and guidance development, through negotiation, written comments and litigation. The Coalition’s goal is to ensure that water quality programs are focused, flexible and founded on sound science.
Here are some of the issues that the Federal Water Quality Coalition works on: Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs); Development of water quality criteria and standards; NPDES permitting issues; Mixing zones; Interaction of Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act; Mercury issues.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), in a collaborative effort with the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), is pleased to provide its state and regional liaisons with the Water Resources Utility of the Future . . . Blueprint for Action. The Blueprint is an excellent tool to spotlight the innovative techniques that clean water agencies throughout the country are, or will be, utilizing to make their operations more sustainable in the future.

The Blueprint offers scores of recommendations to remove barriers to, and incentivize activity that enhances, Utility of the Future (UOTF) initiatives. Such actions range in scope from developing grant programs targeted at innovative reuse, energy and green infrastructure technology development, to the creation of a Congressional Caucus focused on UOTF initiatives. The document also explores the need for further action to incentivize green infrastructure approaches as well as the need for a national resiliency program similar to what was created in the Hurricane Sandy bill that passed Congress recently. NACWA's next steps will be to cull from this document a prioritized and aggressive UOTF advocacy agenda that can be advanced by working with key partners as appropriate. This agenda will be used to encourage Congress, the White House, key federal agencies, and other stakeholders to move the UOTF ball forward.

The Clean Water Exchange below is a publication sponsored by NACWA, the American Public Works Association (APWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF).