Spokane Area Facility Tour and Social

If you’re looking to learn more about wastewater treatment for Spokane County or meet other water professionals in the Spokane area, please join us for a tour of the Spokane County Regional Water Reclamation Facility followed by a social gathering at the nearby No-Li Brewhouse on June 22, 2023.

The tour will begin at 3 pm and the social will start around 5 pm. Feel free to come to both or just stop by for either part. If you’re interested, please sign up here – registration is free to PNCWA members and $5 for non-members.

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Learning Hour Panel: Staffing Challenges and Solutions for Clean Water Agencies

Hosted by the PNCWA Utility Management Committee

Date & Time:  July 26, 2023 @ Noon to 1 PM

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WAVE Program: Meet the Cohort

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance at the 2023 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.

Angela Smith

Chief Operating Officer for Minority Construction Group LLC| Portland, OR

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President’s Message - May 2023

2023 PNCWA Awards Program


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PNCWA2023 Message from Conference Chair

To My Fellow Water Professionals: 

On behalf of the PNCWA2023 Conference Committee, I am thrilled to gather with you all this fall as the PNCWA annual conference returns to Puget Sound. Tacoma and the Greater Tacoma Convention Center will host our four-day celebration of clean water this September. This year’s conference focuses on “Catalyzing a Sound Future for Water.” We hope that your time in Tacoma exposes you to innovative approaches to solving problems, expands your connections with other clean water professionals, and inspires you to tackle the pressing water challenges facing our communities. 

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Leadership Corner: Introduction to Design Thinking

Greetings from the Leadership Development Committee! For those of you who are not familiar with the Committee’s work, we seek to develop leaders for the Association, our organizations, and our community. We hold workshops on leadership throughout the year. We also encourage each other through sharing articles, podcasts, blogs, and books on leadership. One book that I really like was introduced to me by our friends at Rogue Water at one of their Catalyst events. Designing Your Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans introduces design thinking to live, learn, and succeed in our work lives. The concept is thinking like a designer. What exactly does that mean?

Design thinking includes:

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Stormwater Learning Hour

Wednesday, May 17, 12 pm Pacific/1 pm Mountain
Abbey Rhode and John Goetz III of Clean Water Services (CWS) will present our approach of combining engineering, ecology, and partnerships to remove a channel spanning fish passage barrier in Gales Creek known as the Balm Grove Dam. Our technical approach includes detailed project monitoring and data analysis, academic research (eDNA and soils), extended site preparation, funding acquisition, embracing stream function, collaborative contracting as well as hosting multiple public meetings. Using data to drive project management decisions we are refining our approach by combining engineering and ecological disciplines in streams with cobbles, gravels, and fine-grained, cohesive clay soils and hope to share lessons learned along the way.
Registration required!
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2022 Oregon Region Excellence in Service Award

The Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association Oregon Region recently presented the 2022 Oregon Region Excellence in Service Award to Carolyn Clemons for her many years of Eastern Oregon Section leadership. This award is presented annually in an ongoing endeavor to recognize members who have made outstanding contributions of service to water quality professionals within the Oregon Region of PNCWA. Congratulations Carolyn!

WAVE Program: Meet the Students

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance at the 2023 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.

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National Water Policy Fly-In Recap

PNCWA Participates in Water Week 2023 by Sending 8 Members to Washington DC

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Government Affairs Committee Update

May 2023

Federal:

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President’s Message April 2023

WATER WEEK 2023 | APRIL 23-29

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CALLING ALL FUTURE LEADERS!

The PNCWA Nominating Committee is currently accepting nominations for the following positions beginning in September 2023:

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Webinars to Watch For: Bioenergy and Co-Digestion

Don’t forget to sign up for the Bioenergy and Co-Digestion webinar! This webinar, hosted by the Sustainability and Biosolids Committee, is on April 25th from 1-3 pm (PDT) and will cover the following topics.

  • Overview and trends of organic diversion regulations. 
  • Impacts and opportunities for utilities. 
  • Planning for accepting source-separated organics. 
  • Trends and barriers to recovering energy and resources from SSOs. 
  • Cost/Benefit model and case studies.

The webinar is free to members of PNCWA and only $10 for non-members. CEUs are actively being pursued in this webinar.

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Stormwater Learning Hour

Thursday, April 27, 12 pm Pacific/1 pm Mountain

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Leadership Corner: Gallup CliftonStrengths Workshop

One key to success is to fully understand how to apply your greatest talents and strengths in your everyday life. A person’s talents – those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that come naturally – are the source of your true potential and power.

Please join us for an energetic and highly interactive Gallup CliftonStrengths workshop where you will have an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of your talents and how to use them in your everyday life.  As part of your registration, you will receive a CliftonStrengths assessment code and complete the assessment prior to the workshop. We will explore how to develop talents into strengths and uncover how to aim your talents at career goals. Your participation in activities, discussion, and discovery, as well as listening to our panelists discuss how their Strengths have shaped their career experiences, will prepare you to create your own Strengths-based development plan.

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WAVE Program: Meet the Students

  

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance at the 2023 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.

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Get Involved: Join the Collections Systems Committee!

The Collections Systems Committee (CSC) facilitates the advancement of standards and methods used for the design, construction, operations, maintenance, and management of wastewater collection systems in the Pacific Northwest. We are looking for members who are willing to join the committee and take ownership of some of our smaller projects (such as setting up webinars, pre-conference workshops, etc.). We are an active committee, and we rely on the engagement of our members to increase our impact.

Meetings are held online on the 3rd Friday of odd months (the next meeting will be May 19th).  If you are interested in joining, please visit: https://www.pncwa.org/collections-committee

Highlighting Past PNCWA Scholarship Recipients

Daniel Isenberger was a 2018 PNCWA Scholarship Recipient while attending a Multi-Disciplinary 2-Year Water Quality Program at Umpqua Community College. During his attendance, he was able to work for a variety of Clean Water Utilities in the Southern Oregon Region through various Cooperative Work Experiences and be an active Member of PNCWA.

After graduation with an Associate’s Program in Water Quality, he returned to Eastern Oregon for seasonal ranch work before transferring to a Colorado-based College that offered an Undergrad in Water Management Technology. 

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Government Affairs Committee Update

Idaho

  • Updates to Idaho HHWQC for Arsenic:  The updates to Idaho’s human health criteria for arsenic were negotiated under Docket No. 58-0102-1801 and published as a proposed rule under Docket No. 58-0102-2201. The pending rule was adopted by the Idaho Board of Environmental Quality on May 26, 2022, and will be submitted to the Idaho Legislature for review during the 2023 legislative session. The pending rule includes the rule as initially proposed along with revisions in Subsections 210.01.b., Footnote k, and 210.03.e. and is available here. Once the pending rule is approved by the Idaho Legislature, DEQ will submit the rule to EPA for review.

Oregon

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