A Small Utility’s Blueprint for Scalable Biosolids Drying

For small utilities, biosolids management can be a balancing act. Storage fills up during wet seasons when land application, or the use of biosolids as a soil amendment, isn’t possible. Scheduling depends on external haulers or the availability of local farmers. Advanced solids processes that address these challenges typically have high costs and require complex project delivery approaches that don’t scale down directly with capacity.

Unlock the Adventure: Join Our Quest for Water Scavenger Hunt!

Explore Portland and the Fall Conference with our Second Annual Quest for Water Scavenger Hunt

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance at the 2025 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation.

Save the Date! Fall Communications Camp, October 23 in Vancouver, WA

The 2025 Fall Communications Camp will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 23, in Vancouver, WA. The City of Vancouver is excited to host the camp at its Water Resources Education Center at 4600 SE Columbia Way. Learn more about the Water Resources Education Center here.

The Camp will include a tour of the Education Center and Vancouver’s Marine Park Water Reclamation Facility, presentations on ADA website language and access requirements, a case study on communicating wastewater capital projects, and a discussion of water utilities' use of AI, tools, and policy considerations, among other topics. More details, including the full agenda and registration details, will be published later this summer.

What account does a permit holder need?

On May 14^th, water quality permits, like NPDES permits for sewage treatment plants, went live in DEQ’s Your DEQ Online (YDO).  This means that cities and special districts who have these permits can set up accounts for themselves in YDO and link to their permits.  We have a schedule of training to roll out that will eventually let these permit holders use YDO to submit discharge monitoring reports and other required reports and submit renewal applications online.

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2025 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants.

March Stormwater Learning Hour

Stormwater Tree Wells

Stormwater Committee Quarterly Newsletter

Perspectives on Integrated Planning Webinar

December 12, 10:00 - 11:30 AM Pacific

Greetings from the Leadership Development Committee!

For the October book club discussion, we’ve selected two books Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman, and Primal Leadership- Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. These books introduce the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) and how EI helps a leader to be effective and inspire a diverse group of people.

The WAVE program offers a 5-part workshop series focusing on the water and wastewater industry, networking, leadership skills development, employment opportunities, and professional presentation experiences. WAVErs have a unique opportunity to learn from water and wastewater leaders across the Pacific Northwest, practicing critical leadership and communication skills, and developing a strong network of peers and mentors over the course of the year, culminating in presentations at the PNCWA Annual Conference. Most of the WAVE cohort will be first time attendees at this year’s conference in Boise, ID on Sept. 8-11, 2024, and we want to support and welcome them to this awesome community!

Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPDq – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.
• On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in San Francisco v. EPA.  The case calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a critical question—whether the Clean Water Act allows EPA (and authorized states) to imposed generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. 

Save the Date!

The 2024 Fall Communications Camp is happening from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on Thursday, October 24 in Spokane, WA. A big thanks to Spokane County for graciously being our host at their Water Resource Center at 1004 N Freya St in Spokane. Learn more about their Water Resource Center here.

Please join us for a meeting to re-establish the PNCWA Inland Empire Section! At this meeting we will officially elect a new Section Board and discuss plans for the Section. Everyone in the Inland Empire area is welcome to attend, no previous membership or knowledge of the organization is required.

The meeting will be on July 11th from 2pm to 3pm. You can attend in person at 1004 N Freya St, Spokane, WA or virtually via a Teams meeting. Please email Hannah Thomascall for the Teams link or for more information.

Meet the 2024 WAVE Cohort!

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants. Here is a quick introduction of Andrew, Curtis, Faron, and Carson - learn more about them in the PNCWA blog!

Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPDq – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.
• EPA released a revised draft MS4 NPDES stormwater permit for Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington for public comment.  The 2024 draft permit proposes6PPD-q monitoring requirements using draft method 1634 related to both wet weather discharges and surface water.  The comment period is open until June 27, 2024.
• On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in San Francisco v. EPA.  The case calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a critical question—whether the Clean Water Act allows EPA (and authorized states) to imposed generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. 

Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPDq – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.
• EPA released a revised draft MS4 NPDES stormwater permit for Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington for public comment.  The 2024 draft permit proposes6PPD-q monitoring requirements using draft method 1634 related to both wet weather discharges and surface water.  The comment period is open until June 27, 2024.
• On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in San Francisco v. EPA.  The case calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a critical question—whether the Clean Water Act allows EPA (and authorized states) to imposed generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. 

Meet the 2024 WAVE Cohort!

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants. Here is a quick introduction of Victor, Michelle, Mia, and Georgina!

PNCWA SW Committee Quarterly Newsletter

During the first half of 2024, the Stormwater Committee successfully hosted three Stormwater Learning Hours, supported a workshop at the PNCWA Spring Summit, and is currently in the middle of organizing a Service Event at the annual PNCWA Conference in Boise, ID! Please find information on our past and upcoming events below.

Good folks,

I wanted to write about a “hot topic” this month.