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Water Headlines for September 15, 2006Benjamin H. Grumbles Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. In This Week’s Water Headlines:
New Information on Energy Conservation and Wastewater TreatmentA new Fact Sheet on Energy Conservation, will assist municipal and utility managers and operators in evaluating ways to reduce energy consumption within wastewater treatment plants. Technical and cost information on a variety of energy management techniques and new energy efficient equipment can be used to reduce a utility's energy bills. “Saving energy saves money for water utilities and their ratepayers,” says Benjamin H. Grumbles. The fact sheet also includes information on ways to produce energy onsite by using solar cells, microturbines, fuel cells and effective utilization of bio-gas that can be produced in biosolids processing. In addition, several case studies of energy savings at utilities have been documented. For a copy of the new fact sheet, visit the Energy Conservation and Management section of the OWM Municipal Technologies web site at: http://epa.gov/owm/mtb/mtbfact.htm.
Watershed Tool of the Month: Draft Handbook Available to help Improve Watershed Planning EffortsThe Draft Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters was created to help communities, watershed organizations, and local, state, tribal, and federal environmental agencies develop and implement watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources. The Draft Handbook is designed to help anyone undertaking a watershed planning effort, but should be particularly useful to persons working with impaired or threatened waters. The watershed planning process uses a series of cooperative, iterative steps to characterize existing conditions, identify and prioritize problems, define management objectives, and develop and implement protection or remediation strategies as necessary. The document is structured so that it can be followed step by step though the watershed planning process or so that readers can go to individual sections that highlight specific technical tools for use in the watershed planning effort. You can order a free copy of the Handbook from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP). Contact NSCEP at 800-490-9198 or by e-mail, ncepimal@one.net. When requesting a copy of the Handbook, please refer to EPA document number: EPA 841-B-05-005. You can also download the Handbook at http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/watershed_handbook/. Spot-light Waterhseds at Work: Improved Herbicide Management Restores Safety of Drinking Water SourceAquilla Reservoir located in Texas, now meets atrazine concentration standards, and in 2004 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) recommended that Aquilla Reservoir be removed from the state’s 303(d) list of impaired waters for 2004. The waterbody is an important source of drinking water and recreation but was found to have excessive levels of the herbicide atrazine. Project partners initiated efforts to reduce agricultural atrazine sources – and to a lesser extent, urban sources – in the watershed. As a result of technical assistance to corn and sorghum producers, using agricultural best management practices (BMPs), and educating urban residents, atrazine concentrations in Aquilla Reservoir declined by 60 percent, far exceeding the Total Maximum Daily Load. To find out more information about this success story at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/Success319/state/tx_aquilla.htm. Water Efficiency FactoidWeather-based irrigation controllers which use local weather conditions to tailor irrigation schedules, can reduce residential outdoor water use by about 20% compared to conventional equipment, potentially saving over 11 billion gallons per year across the US. For more information on water efficiency please visit www.epa.gov/watersense. Subscribe to Water HeadlinesPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA’s Office of Water. To subscribe to the Water Headlines listserve: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe Water Headlines first name last name (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe Water Headlines Robert Jones)
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