May 2002
Arsenic A Major Focus of Dept. of Health
The Washington Department of Health has created an internal task force to examine the issue of arsenic in a very broad manner. The agency will look at arsenic in water, soil, food, and air to help in the development of a comprehensive program for dealing with this emerging issue.
Special purpose water districts have the primary concern of arsenic in their ground water supplies. At the current time Health knows of significant levels of contamination in ground water in some parts of the state. Island county, Whidbey & Camano islands, appear to have the highest levels of arsenic. The Association believes that is only because there has not been a thorough testing of all ground water sources in the State.
This summer the Division of Drinking Water, DOH, will be sending a survey to all class A water systems in the State seeking new test results using the new standard developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Included with the survey will be a list of state approved labs capable of testing to the new standards.
The importance of this sampling extends beyond DOH being able to determine exactly where and how many problem wells exist. This information will be useful in going to the legislature for funds to assist water suppliers find methods of addressing their problems with arsenic. It may require treatment, new wells, connecting to another water supply system, or just providing bottle water for human consumption.
Public water suppliers who provide Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) also have a need for this level of information. If the system has a supply with 10 parts per billion of arsenic or more they must report that in their 2002 CCR. They also may want to utilize a message developed by DOH Division of Drinking Water to provide information on the time frame for providing treatment or other mitigation that is designed to, hopefully, address the growing concern about arsenic in the environment.
If your system has between 5 & 10 parts per billion the district must report this information in their CCR. DOH has another message to help explain the need to monitor this contamination but not be alarmed by it. Systems with between 5 &10 ppb do not need to do treatment but must continue to monitor for an increase that would put them over the limit requiring treatment.
The good news in all this is that there will most likely be a combination of financial assistance from both federal and state sources. In addition, the presentation at the Spring Conference by HDR indicated that there are now new methods of treating arsenic that are far less expensive than the processes tested by AWWA and DOE early in the listing process.
If you missed the Spring Conference and would like information on Mr. Reibers presentation please contact the Association.
Annexation: Are Cities Overreacting?
More and more cities appear to be curtailing their practice of providing water and sewer services to areas outside their cities. They have done a good job of convincing developers, Realtors, and the general business community that without a fix to this new annexation problem they will not be able to get needed urban services.
Even representatives of some counties and state agencies believe there is no way of providing water and sewer services within the urban growth area that is outside of city boundaries. Association representatives have begun to share with the county and agency staff that special districts, water/sewer districts, and public utility districts are fully capable of providing water and sewer services to these areas now being denied by cities.
Either by creation of new districts, expansion of existing districts, or through management agreements special districts can legally provide needed services.
It also is appearing more likely that the decision of the Supreme Court applies only to cities and towns but not to special districts. At a meeting of the DOE Water Resource Advisory Committee held recently the cities representative appeared a little distressed that districts could continue annexing new territory while cities could not.
The cities, their association, Realtors, developers, and the Assn. of Washington Business have all petitioned the high court to reconsider their decision. Most knowledgeable people familiar with the Courts’ history and policies do not believe that it will reconsider.
It may additionally clarify some parts of its decision dealing with annexation of uninhabited lands, and whether the findings are retroactive to the time when the petition method of annexation was passed by the legislature in 1946.
City representatives hope that if it is found to be retroactive that there are some time limitations put in place to keep the entire state from being unraveled.
No one can yet determine how quickly the Court will respond to these requests for reconsideration or clarification. Until such time cities are being advised by their Association to not complete current annexations nor start any new ones.
We believe special districts should be actively seeking ways of helping the developer community in finding solutions for water and sewer services.
Representatives of WASWD will meet before the end of May with other special district and county representatives to determine how they will respond to the cities new position on providing urban services and how they intend to address the issue in the upcoming legislature.
Some members believe that now is the time to address the assumption issue as well. Legislators will be having to think through the Courts annexation decision which was based on lack of fairness in the annexation process. Your feedback is appreciated.
President’s Corner
Comments and issues by President Lynne Danielson
Okay – I give up – where are the May flowers. First on the list is to thank Roth Hill Engineering Partners, LLC for hosting the April Board meeting at their new facility in Bellevue.
In April I presented four elements of Vision 2005. I will now break them down, one each month, and discuss what we, as a Board of Directors are doing to address these topics.
The first of the four is education of legislators about who Water and Sewer Districts are and how many voters we serve. The lack of understanding, at the legislative level, of whom and what we are is not reserved for Water and Sewer Districts. The more I deal with legislators the more I find that they are required to receive and process so much information, all the time, that it is extremely difficult to always remember who is who.
One of the tasks before the Board and members of the Association is to constantly take all opportunities as they present themselves to educate legislators. The presentation of a clear concise and consistent description for all special purpose water and sewer districts is important. As all districts develop working relationships with legislators, individual districts can then advance to the next level of developing an individual district relationship with the legislators they serve. The clear, concise message we want to get across is whom we are, where we serve and the number of their constituents we serve.
Our issues are many but our needs are simple. We need to provide our customers with drinking water within the requirements of state and federal regulations and we need to provide a safe manner in which to treat and dispose of wastewater. In order to continue to provide these services there are issues and situations where we need their help. To consistently receive their support, we need to provide them the opportunity to learn and understand who we are and how, by working together, we can more effectively serve the same people.
Many of the districts are considering hosting legislative receptions. Several districts and areas have successfully hosted these events in the past. If your district would like some suggestions please contact the office and staff will put you in touch with those who have successfully hosted past events. Section meetings are ideal places to explore options in these areas. The Public Relations Committee is actively working on alternatives to “get the message” out to our legislators and customers. Your input to this committee is needed.
Section meetings, conference topics and public relations committee are all areas where we can work together to perfect a plan to inform the legislature of who we are, what we do and how many people we represent.
I am looking forward to working with our members and nonmembers in the future.
Section meeting schedules are listed in the PIPELINE. All are welcome, including nonmembers and associate members, to attend any Section meeting.
Scholarships Awarded
The Leadership Development Committee announced the 2002 Scholarship Award recipients at the recent Spring Conference. Six applications for the scholarships were received by the Association. The Committee found the top three applicants to be equally worthy of support so they modified the amounts awarded. Two of the three received scholarships of $750 each and the other an amount of $1000.
Nathan A. Takko of Longview who is attending the University of Washington, majoring in Construction Management received $1000.
The two $750 scholarships went to: Devlin B. Montfort of Blain who is attending Washington State University majoring in Civil Engineering, and Sean G. Enbusk of Edmonds who is attending Green River Community College working on an A.S. in Water Supply and Wastewater Technology.
Nathan Takko is the son of Dean Takko, Commissioner, Beacon Hill Sewer District and Devlin Montfort is the son of Don Montfort, Commissioner, Birch Bay Water and Sewer District. Sean Enbusk’s parent works for the Cowlitz Sewer Operating Board of the Cowlitz County Regional Plant.
If you know of a current of future student who is a Washington resident and is taking courses related to the water/sewer industry and will be working on an appropriate degree please request a Scholarship application and urge the student to make an application. There are three scholarships awarded annually.
“No Longer Business As Usual” Theme of Spring Conference
The Association just completed a successful Spring Conference and Trade Show at the Yakima Convention Center. Over 130 attendees, 31 exhibitors, and 10 Corporate Sponsors made this conference and trade show a success.
New information on water and sewer issues was presented including new affordable arsenic treatment processes, terrorism and emergency response was also a significant topic of interest.
Barry Mitzman, the conference keynote speaker set the theme of the conference. A former public television business show host, Mitzman presented information on the changing economics and demographics of Washington. One major point of his presentation was that, as our population ages and the percentage of people of working age declines the impact on rate setting and utility growth will be significantly impacted.
The Fall Conference and Trade Show will be this September the 11th, 12th, & 13th in Spokane. Hotel Information may be found on page 2 of this PIPELINE.
Spring Conference Sponsors
The following firms generously supported the Association and its members by sponsoring the 2002 Spring Conference. It is through the financial support of our conference sponsors that we are able to bring speakers such as Bill Radke and Barry Mitzman to our conferences. We welcome any Associate Member to be a conference sponsor. Please call the Association for information.
Legislative Symposium to be Developed for Fall
The members attending the Spring Semi-Annual Business Meeting in Yakima indicated strong support for the Leadership Development Committee to put on a half day symposium that will explain how the legislature works and how to interpret bills.
Due to computerization, email, and cell phone communications the legislature is able to process legislation faster and faster each year. During the end of the past session the Ag&Ecology Committee was able to produce a new 29 page water rights bill every 24 hours or less.
The burden on our membership to decipher and understand bills changes as the session progresses. At the beginning of the session we are overwhelmed with the sheer number of new bills. They are introduced at a rate of hundreds per day. By the time the first cutoff comes into play there are literally thousands and thousands of bills that have to have at least been looked at as to which RCW they impact and what little the title can tell.
Any bill that impacts our RCW 57 or sounds like it could have some application or impact on special districts must be downloaded and read by either WASWD staff of Government Relations committee members.
Those found to be applicable in some manner are then listed on the UPDATE sheet and emailed to those members who have requested to be on the list. Included on the UPDATE list is the bill number and title, author or prime sponsor, a brief description, and a hyperlink to the bill on the legislative web site.
It is then up to members to look at the list, download and read those they find interesting or of concern and then provide comments back to the Association and the Committee. In most cases this needs to be done in about 2 business days at the beginning of the session.
Once the session nears cutoff and amendments are being introduced then the time frame is shortened for everyone concerned. Staff and committee members need to update the UPDATE more frequently, members need to respond within 24 hours as to their concerns or support for the new language and the WASWD lobbyists must be given the position the Association will be taking on the amended bills.
To outsiders this entire process is hard enough to deal with at the start of session but when the fur starts to fly towards the middle and later parts of the session the time frame becomes unbelievably short and most do not have the ability to respond back to the Association. What saves the day towards the end of the session is that members have provided enough input on bills and their impact on districts that the committee members and finally at the end the lobbyists pretty well understand the position to take on each surviving bill.
This next session with revenue issues, education, transportation and annexation all on the table things will become very confusing very early in the session.
Therefore a workshop on the legislative process showing members how to read the reports, acquire bills, and bill reports, how to respond by email or phone to the Association will be very valuable to all concerned. If you have ideas or topics you would like included in such a workshop please let us know.
Nominating/Awards Committee Seeking Photos
Member Districts are being asked by the committee to submit photos of their district facilities, commissioners, staff, both field and office, and of other interesting district activities from the past couple of years.
While black and white will work it is color prints that are most desired. If your district is in the digital photo age a jpeg color photo would work just great.
These photos will be used by the Committee to build a slide show about special districts, their people and their activities.
Of special interest are photos of people and districts who have won awards from the Association since 1996. These include Commissioner and Manager of the Year, District of the Year, Special Recognition Awards, and Distinguished Service awards.
If your photos are in digital format then email them to the Association at other photos should be mailed to the Association office (address on page 2). We would like to receive all photo contributions by the end of June. Please indicate on the back of photos if you would like to have them returned. Also identify any people in the photo, the name of the district, and the approximate date the photo was taken.
If enough photos are received they will be presented in a slide show at the Fall Conference.
Certified Operators, Threat Assessments, Arsenic, Radon And Other New Demands On Districts
As the Spring Conference theme “No Longer Business As Usual” implied, change is coming to the operation of special purpose districts. It appears that the greatest impact will be upon smaller districts, many without internal resources able to deal with the continuing flow of new requirements.
As mentioned in another article in this publication the need for water purveyors to sample for arsenic and install treatment or other mitigation is just one of the new challenges facing districts.
By next year, 2003, small public water supply system operators that were “grandfathered” as certified water system operators are to have earned certified operator status. Add to these new requirements the U.S. Congress’s terrorism bill that may require all water systems serving 3300 population or more to perform a threat analysis process on their utility and to develop protection and recovery processes.
The actual terrorism assessment requirements being developed by Congress may be known as early as the end of June. Most are speculating that a qualified terrorism threat assessment expert utilizing the Sandia Lab’s assessment procedures will have to analyze each qualifying utility and develop adequate detection and response plans.