Many of you have already been receiving funds under Phase 1 of the federal Infrastructure Plan and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Fund. More funds have gone to our partners in the First Nations’ communities. Phase 1 allocated about $5 billion of the $20 billion committed to ‘green’ infrastructure and now we await the next federal budget and the announcements for Phase 2 and the remaining $15 billion. With additional provincial funding support and leveraged financing, we should see A LOT of infrastructure renewal in the coming years.

For those that have been following our efforts to address all the problems with the ‘not-so-flushable’ wipes. We have had a few setbacks, but also a few successes.

CWWA was involved in a partnership effort with the wipes manufacturers (INDA) along with our friends at WEF, APWA and NACWA in the U.S. Our technical workgroup (with Dwayne Kalynchuk for CWWA) was trying to develop a new Guidelines Document (GD4) for their industry association that would better define what products can be called ‘flushable’ and the testing/verification process. Unfortunately, we could not overcome some major points of disagreement and we have had to walk away from that effort for now.

We are now accepting presentation proposals for the 2017 National Water and Wastewater Conference in St. John's Newfoundland. A complete call for presentations is coming soon, but we're happy to accept proposals on any of our core topics!

Every year CWWA awards the Steve Bonk Scholarship to a deserving Canadian university student working in water and/or wastewater research. The scholarship honours our former CWWA Executive Director Steve Bonk and awards a prize of $500. We were excited to receive a great many applications this year, but our scholarship review committee agreed upon one standout application.

For those that have attended either of the last two National Water & Wastewater Conferences, you know we have started a tradition of handing out a stylist CWWA toque.

We want to see you wearing it proudly! So send us a picture of you sporting your CWWA toque and you could be a big prize winner. Send us a picture and we’ll put you in a draw for a $50 gift card (you name the place).

Plan to attend the 2017 Window on Ottawa and our specialty workshop this June.

Sincerely, one of the most awe inspiring evenings of my entire life was attending the recent NSERC Awards Ceremony.

These prestigious prizes awarded by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada were presented by the Governor General, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, at Rideau Hall on February 7th.

Last month, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released a consultation document outlining proposed amendments to the Concentration of Phosphorus in Certain Cleaning Products Regulations, pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

CDW proposing to introduce more stringent requirements after presence of lead in drinking water linked to reductions in IQ. The Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water (CDW) recently released a technical document to solicit public comment on a proposal to introduce a revised guideline for lead in drinking water.

The Water Brothers, TVO’s award-winning eco-adventure documentary series, returns for its fourth season Fridays at 7:30 p.m. EST beginning March 3rd. Hosted, written and produced by Tyler and Alex Mifflin, the series explores how we can better protect our planet’s most precious resource. In season 4, The Water Brothers takes audiences to the Amazon to demonstrate the vital role trees play in the planet’s water cycle, investigates stealth technology aimed at stopping illegal fishing in the South Pacific and looks at how one of the most popular cuisines in the world may be due for a revolution.

Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) posted on the Environmental Registry, January 18, 2017, notice of a regulation that will, if approved, apply a new charge to apply to facilities that take groundwater for the purpose of producing bottled water that is packaged in plastic bottles or other types of portable containers. According to the Ministry, the proposed new charge would be a separate and distinct regulatory charge from the existing water charge under Ontario Regulation 450/07 (Charges for Industrial and Commercial Water Users) of the province’s Ontario Water Resources Act.

British Columbia’s Oil & Gas Commission (OGC) announced the launch of its Groundwater Review Assistant (GWRA) - a web-based tool that assists with the retrieval and compilation of groundwater-related information to support projects requiring hydrogeological review or assessment. The GWRA allows users to specify a location of interest and search radius to define the area for data retrieval. Based on these specifications, the GWRA retrieves data from public provincial databases and compiles the data in a userfriendly report. According to the OGC, the GWRA will be useful in the preparation of groundwater licence applications; the completion of risk assessments; the development of groundwater protection programs; and site assessment or remediation programs.

A number of CWWA utility and consulting engineering members are active in ISO TC 251 – Asset Management. The group has recently launched a website so that people interested can be kept up to date.

The site includes some interesting background documents from international partners which will likely be of value to our members. We encourage everyone to visit the site.

Joining one of CWWA’s technical committees is the best way to take advantage of your CWWA membership. Committee members are front and center in developing CWWA’s position statements on key federal policies and legislation and CWWA’s own positions on national technical issues.

View the upcoming events from our member organizations and partners.

Water Canada

Halifax regional council’s Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee (ESSC) will pursue a mandate that anything built in its Cogswell Interchange redevelopment be powered by energy captured from a nearby wastewater treatment facility, reducing fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Water Online

For years, I’ve been standing on my deck in San Francisco, looking south to Silicon Valley for innovation in water efficiency. But I’m starting to realize that I might have been gazing in the wrong direction. Maybe I need to turn around and look north, over the spires of the Golden Gate Bridge, toward the Emerald Triangle in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, the hotbed of California’s newly legalized commercial cannabis production.

Treatment Plant Operators

Communities in California and Arizona could be more drought resistant in the near future, as both states are looking at enacting regulations for direct potable reuse (DPR) — where treated effluent flows directly into a drinking water supply rather than using an environmental buffer (indirect potable reuse). And those new regulations likely will mean new training and certifications for the treatment plant operators working in drought regions.