Progress Report 2015
Clean Water
Living with Drought
EPA is supporting state, tribal and local government actions to respond to the persistent drought in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Marshaling Resources to Conserve and Adapt »
Water has always been precious in the arid Southwest – and the severe drought that has plagued the region continues to magnify its value.
EPA's response to the drought is targeted at making the region more resilient to current water supply shortfalls, as well as long-term water shortages expected due to a changing climate. The drought response strategy employs regulatory and non-regulatory activities in addition to strategic use of financial support.
Priorities include promoting the expansion of water supply sources via recycled water and captured stormwater. EPA is also encouraging the use of WaterSense products, which are certified to be at least 20% more efficient without sacrificing performance and have resulted in national savings of over 750 billion gallons of water.
In addition, given that in California over 200 billion gallons per year are lost via leaks in drinking water distribution systems, EPA is promoting expanded use of water loss control audits to identify the magnitude of leaks and other sources of water loss, and help develop strategies to minimize these losses.
Water Utilities Adopt New Tools »
In September 2014, EPA conducted a workshop in Fresno for local water utilities, including tribal utilities. Participants discussed potential impacts associated with climate variability – including drought – and identified short- and long-term planning actions and funding resources to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The workshop included an overview by EPA of auditing to assess and control drinking water distribution system losses, as well as activities led by EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities program, which has been engaged with utilities across the Pacific Southwest to help develop strategies for adapting to water supply shortfalls.
In addition, the Tuolumne Utilities District shared lessons learned from their successful 2014 drought response. In late 2013, TUD, located in Sonora, Calif., recognized that their water sources could reach unprecedented low volumes in 2014. TUD adopted a goal of reducing water use by 50%, and prohibited outdoor landscape watering as a key measure.
Public outreach and coordination with a variety of stakeholders were key to TUD's drought response, along with distribution of water-efficient fixtures and rebates for purchase of low-flow toilets. The district also recycles 100% of its treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation. By June 2014, the Tuolumne district had met its goal and become a model to be included by EPA in a national Drought Response and Resilience Guide.
Other utilities have realized water savings in more traditional ways. Fresno, Calif., has seen a 20% decrease in water use per capita since installing 110,000 water meters using $51 million in interest-free EPA State Revolving Fund loans. Most urban areas in the Pacific Southwest have long benefited from the use of meters and pricing structures that encourage efficient use.
Safe Drinking Water Act at 40
The landmark law passed in 1974 has brought clean, safe drinking water to the vast majority of Americans.
EPA Funding Supports Local Water Systems »
Over the past four decades, the Safe Drinking Water Act has enabled EPA and state and local partners to supply safe drinking water to 50,000 community water systems across the nation. More than 290 million people depend on these systems.
In 2014, 94% of the population served by community water systems in the Pacific Southwest received drinking water that met all health-based standards.
Under the Act, EPA established drinking water regulations for more than 90 contaminants, including microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, chemicals and radionuclides. Since EPA created the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) in 1997, more than $25.8 billion has been provided to more than 10,000 drinking water infrastructure projects nationwide, helping local water systems meet these national standards.
In one example, EPA provided a $1 million Drinking Water SRF loan for the Verdi Business Park water system, which was using well water exceeding the maximum allowable contaminant level for arsenic. VBP consolidated with the nearby Truckee Meadows Water Authority, which provides drinking water for 385,000 people in the Reno, Nev. area. The loan paid for construction of an interconnection, allowing VBP to shut down its wells.
To help meet the needs of Indian tribes, EPA created the Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside program, which provides funding for drinking water system infrastructure. Funds are awarded through direct grants to tribes or interagency agreements with the Indian Health Service. The funding, amounting to about $6 million in the Pacific Southwest in 2014, is used to address the most significant public health threats from inadequate drinking water infrastructure.
| State | Total Assistance Provided |
Amount to Disadvantaged Communities |
|---|---|---|
| California | $2 billion | $1billion |
| Arizona | $765 million | $39 million |
| Hawaii | $228 million | $32 million |
| Nevada | $189 million | $23 million |
| Source: Drinking Water National Information Management System | ||
In one example, EPA provided a $1 million Drinking Water SRF loan for the Verdi Business Park water system, which was using well water exceeding the maximum allowable contaminant level for arsenic. VBP consolidated with the nearby Truckee Meadows Water Authority, which provides drinking water for 385,000 people in the Reno, Nev. area. The loan paid for construction of an interconnection, allowing VBP to shut down its wells.
To help meet the needs of Indian tribes, EPA created the Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside program, which provides funding for drinking water system infrastructure. Funds are awarded through direct grants to tribes or interagency agreements with the Indian Health Service. The funding, amounting to about $6 million in the Pacific Southwest in 2014, is used to address the most significant public health threats from inadequate drinking water infrastructure.
Focus on California
Protecting surface waters and wetlands across California is key to maintaining healthy ecosystems and diverse habitats in the Golden State.
A Healthier San Francisco Bay »
Sandpipers and dowitchers take flight at former salt ponds in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
San Francisco Bay, once plagued by chronic water pollution from 30 cities surrounding it, is continuing its progress toward ecological health, thanks in part to an array of restoration projects and enforcement actions in the bay's watersheds.
Since 2008, EPA has issued grants totaling more than $36 million for 29 projects to restore wetlands and water quality along the bay's shoreline and tributaries. EPA funding was matched and leveraged by state and local partners for a grand total of $145 million.
Some of the projects involve wetlands in the South Bay, in partnership with the California Coastal Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other state and federal agencies, which are managing the largest tidal wetlands restoration effort on the West Coast.
There, the focus is on restoring former salt evaporation ponds to tidal flats, wetlands, transition zones and open water to support an ecosystem for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, Ridgway's rail (formerly known as California clapper rail) and other birds and mammals, while providing flood protection for nearby communities.
Seven projects in the North Bay are preventing further riverbank erosion, which contributes excess sediment to the Napa River. Five more in the South Bay are reducing mercury, polluted runoff and trash in two of San Jose's major watersheds, the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek.
Meanwhile, settlement of an EPA enforcement action with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and seven East Bay communities commits $1.5 billion over the next 21 years to assess and upgrade 1,500 miles of sewers, eliminating millions of gallons of sewage discharges into the bay.
At the Port of Redwood City in the South Bay, an enforcement action against scrap metal recycler Sims Metal Management led to a $189,500 fine and measures to investigate and clean up toxic metals from Sims' operation. See additional enforcement highlights »
Protecting Vernal Pools »
Vernal Pool in California
California's climate and geology make it an excellent host to vernal pools – now-rare seasonal depressional wetlands that fill with rain for variable periods from winter to spring, but are completely dry for most of summer and fall.
These unique wetlands of California – 90% of which have been destroyed – are key to the survival of rare and endangered plants and animals.
In the Central Valley, EPA took two separate enforcement actions against individuals who destroyed more than 100 combined acres of vernal pool wetlands. One ranch owner in Tehama County who destroyed 80 acres of vernal pools was required to pay a $300,000 fine and provide $795,000 in mitigation to preserve vernal pool habitat in the Sacramento River basin.
In the second case, a food and nut distributor near Merced in the San Joaquin Valley destroyed 33 acres of vernal pools, and as a result has agreed to pay a $160,000 fine and purchase a 94-acre conservation easement, valued at approximately $1 million, to preserve high-quality vernal pool habitat. Together, these actions will preserve more than 500 acres of vernal pool habitat.
EPA also presented awards to Dr. Bob Holland and Carol Witham to recognize their decades of work in leading California's vernal pool science and protection efforts.
EPA Spotlight
WENDELL SMITH
Throughout his 43-year EPA career, environmental scientist Wendell Smith has made enduring contributions to protecting public health and the environment for Indian tribes and communities in the Pacific Southwest.
Smith's ability to cultivate long-term partnerships based upon trust, integrity and cultural sensitivity – and to influence national policy to secure more tribal resources – has been key to helping tribal governments establish programs to protect their water resources. He is personally responsible for expanding Clean Water Act program coverage in the Pacific Southwest from one tribe in 1990 to more than 100 tribes in 2014.
Smith has mentored dozens of EPA's tribal grant project officers and has served since 1998 as a founding member on the regional Labor-Management Partnership Council.