Plenary Panel on State of the States Wraps Up WateReuse Symposium

On Wednesday, September 11th, a panel of five state representatives from the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) and the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) discussed the state of the states at the conclusion of the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium. The members of the panel were:

  • Erica Gaddis, Water Quality Division Director, Utah Department of Environmental Quality;
  • Shellie Chard, Water Quality Division Director, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality;
  • Anita Anderson, Principal Engineer, Minnesota Department of Health;
  • Rebecca Roose, Water Protection Division Director, New Mexico Environment Department; and
  • George Garden, Chief Engineer, Division of Water Resources, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The panel reported out from the State Regulatory Summit that was held on Sunday, September 8th, prior to the Symposium. Topics covered included source water, agricultural uses and environmental flows, fit-for-purpose, potable reuse, produced water from oil and gas production, contaminants of emerging concern, public outreach and communication, and training. Discussions at the Summit were wide-ranging and pointed to many data gaps and policy gaps. Between Sunday’s State Regulatory Summit and EPA’s release of its Draft National Water Reuse Action Plan, ASDWA and ACWA are sorting through all of the different potential priorities and actions to determine potential next steps and priorities in the context of all of the ongoing water actions inside-the-Beltway.

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