Welcome to Whidbey Island Water Systems Association, a resource for all who drink water on Whidbey Island!
Our members are Municipal, Group A, and Group B water systems, private well owners, and the operators, engineers, and others who serve those water systems.
Our quarterly member meeting are currently held via Zoom. The meeting invitation will be sent via our email list only. You must be a subscriber to the email list to receive the invitation email. Click here to subscribe!
November 17 we’ll hold our last webinar for the 2021 DWSRF Construction Loan Program. Join us for our MS Teams meeting from 10 AM to noon. The meeting link is available on the DWSRF Webpage.
Submit your application using the DWSRF on-line system, WALT. The program guidelines, application worksheet, EZ-1 Form, and WALT Users Guide are available on the DWSRF Webpage. Application deadline is November 30, 2021, at 11:59 pm.
NOTE: Pre-registration is required to access WALT. If you’re already in the WALT system, no action is needed. For WALT Pre-registration, please email dwsrf@doh.wa.gov.
| If you have questions about | Contact | Phone |
| Application or attachments | Sara J. Herrera | 360-236-3089 |
| Cultural/Environmental Review | Scott Kugel | 509-329-2117 |
| Scope of Work and Eligibility | Corina Hayes | 360-236-3153 |
| Scope of Work and Eligibility | Erika Lindsey | 360-236-3096 |
| Scope of Work and Eligibility | Nick Fitzgerald | 509-329-2213 |
| Underwriter / Loan Unit Manager | Mike Copeland | 360-236-3083 |
| Contract Manager | Eloise Rudolph | 360-236-3124 |
| Contract Manager | Dennis Hewitt | 360-236-3017 |
| Contract Manager | Brittany Cody – Pinkney | 360-236-3047 |
Customer Service Hours
Please forward this email to anyone who may be interested. Thank you.
You can also find this on our resources page
November 12, 2021
In This Issue:
President to sign massive infrastructure bill
We want to hear from you
EPA announces three more WIFIA loans
SAB PFAS Review Panel virtual meetings announced
EPA seeks NDWAC advice on M/DBPs rule revisions
Final LCR Revisions action at OMB for review
AWWA is streamlining our communications to you regarding upcoming webinars and is excited to introduce the NEWAWWA Webinar Digest!
| Reminder Call for Presentations Due This Week! It’s time to submit your Call for Presentation for the Evergreen Rural Water of WA’s 28th Annual Conference. We will be having an in-person conference at the newly renovated Yakima Convention Center, with the ability to stream virtually for those that are still under travel restrictions. This option will be available for speakers, as well. We would love to have you present in-person, but understand if that is not possible for you and will offer you to do a virtual presentation. We are seeking 1 to 3 hour presentations in the following categories: Water Distribution, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment and Utility Management. Please submit your presentation by Thursday November 18, 2021 |
| Evergreen Rural Water of WA | 360-462-9287 | www.erwow.org |
Infrastructure Bill Passes House; Water & Wastewater Funding Breakdown | WWD (wwdmag.com)
Of the $550 billion in new spending, $55 billion is allocated to drinking water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure funding.
Anyone can nominate someone in the water industry for an award. Fill out the Drinking Water Week nomination form online.
Some of the categories we use are below. Sometimes, we adjust categories for special situations.
Above and Beyond. Recognition for going above the normal call of duty and/or to provide assistance to neighboring water systems.
Commitment to Excellence. For those who continuously strive for excellence in providing safe and reliable drinking water.
Grace Under Pressure/Perseverance Under Adversity. For handling a crisis well, or for persevering under consistent challenges.
Lifetime Achievement. Reserved for those who are retiring.
Most Improved. This award is typically presented to water systems that overcome a bad situation and now provide excellent service.
Operator of the Year. To recognize an operator for their dedication and commitment. They also help educate and mentor others in the water industry, lending help and knowledge where needed.
Most Innovative. Presented to water operators/systems/organization that come up with innovative solutions for challenges they face. For more information visit our Drinking Water Week webpage
PFAS Update: We are excited to announce that after four years of hard work and coordination with utilities, communities, and other state and federal partners the Washington State Board of Health approved updates to Drinking Water Regulations for Group A Water Systems Chapter 246-290 WAC.
These updates helped clarify processes by which the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) addresses unregulated contaminants in public water systems. It also establishes PFAS state action levels (SALs) that require water systems to test for PFAS compounds and report to the state and their customers if PFAS detections exceed SAL concentrations.
These rules support public health by ensuring testing is completed at specific utilities across the state to understand risk areas to customers. It also supports utilities impacted by PFAS by using science-based rulemaking that enables:
Thanks to everyone who participated in this process, making this rule better. Due to comments received, we made many rule improvements through clarifying language, including processes to establish MCLs and SALs. We also updated the Lab Rule (WAC 246-390) and coordinated closely with Ecology to ensure DOH rule language aligns with Ecology efforts.
We are working to fund PFAS testing for utilities. We are also working with EPA on the details for laboratories to provide test kits very soon to water systems that volunteered for sampling. We don’t expect to find additional systems with detections over the SAL, but we won’t really know until we test.
Staffing: Our hope to get back to our normal work schedules did not develop as we wanted. We continue to support our agency’s first priority: the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
We again ask for your patience. Many of our staff members are still engaged in COVID-19 response activities. The pandemic has changed a lot in a short time. Staff members retired or left to pursue other dreams. We are reassessing our work environment, including continuing to telework, looking at changing office space, and moving to a paperless environment. We are also dealing with mental fatigue and supporting our staff to take time off to recharge.
We continue to provide coverage of essential duties, such as responding to drinking water emergencies. Routine business is happening at a scaled back pace. Planning and design reviews, pre-plan meetings, sanitary surveys field visits and reports, technical assistance, and complaint response are all taking much longer. There are delays in sending out reminders, late notices, and invoices. Emphasis has been on acute compliance; other violation letters are delayed. Data entry and management are delayed. We continue looking for opportunities to support our operators with limited resources. We acknowledge that our overall level of service is not what it used to be. We ask for your patience and commitment supporting the mental and physical health of our drinking water community, knowing your regulatory requirements, and not waiting to communicate with our office. If you need support or tools, please reach out to our office staff. We want you to know we’re doing our best to support you and our common mission of “Safe and Reliable Drinking Water.”