This Week In Water: Everybody’s Talking About The Clean Water Rule

After completing a price trend comparison between environmental products and traditional commodities, a long-time analyst of ecosystem markets says compensatory credits for wetland and species conservation are outperforming commodities like corn and farmland and even gold – giving a more literal meaning to the term ‘green gold.’

– Read it at Ecosystem Marketplace.

Nicolas Pascal, of the BlueFinance project, a data collection initiative aimed at developing finance mechanisms for marine conservation management, says market mechanisms have potential to fill a big part of a funding gap that exists in marine conservation. But its practical experience in coastal environments is limited: more know-how is needed to spur private investment.

– Learn more.

Following a report that found 81% of China’s coastal waters are polluted with nutrients and other forms of pollution, the government is launching ‘Sponge’ City pilots to take place in 16 cities. Focused on low impact development solutions for stormwater runoff, the pilots will implement certain techniques in order to use 70% of captured rainwater, providing a water source for drought-prone areas and reducing flooding.

– Get the full story from WEF’s Stormwater Report.

After a year of controversy and debate among environmentalists, farming interests, landowners and legislators, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers released a new rule this week which seeks to clarify which wetlands and streams are protected under the Clean Water Act. The rule has likely implications for a number of regulatory programs including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program and Section 404 wetlands dredge/fill permitting. The final rule will be published in the federal register in the next few weeks; analysts suggest that litigation over portions of the rule are likely in the future.

– Read analysis from Barnes & Thornberg, via Lexology.

Following passage of supporting legislation in the Arkansas state legislature this spring, decision-makers and environmental groups are assembling the pieces of a nutrient trading program in the Beaver Lake watershed. Legislators and the governor will select an advisory panel to regulate trades and guide program design – including whether trading will take the form of an offset system, exchange program, or compliance association. Meanwhile, the Beaver Watershed Alliance is busy identifying potential demand among utilities in the watershed.

– The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has coverage.

Given similarities between northern Europe’s Baltic Sea and the Chesapeake Bay in the United States, a consortium of Baltic-area institutions and the US Department of Agriculture joined forces to analyze the two bodies of water and develop best management strategies. One finding: flexible market-based mechanisms like water-quality trading were deemed the best method to achieve cost-effective pollution control.

– Learn more at the USDA blog.

Drought-stricken California farmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta agreed to giving up a quarter of the water they have rights to use, in part because they fear much larger cuts down the road as the state’s historic drought shows no sign of ending. Cuts will come through continuing water conservation – farmers have been keen to remind the state of their ongoing efforts – and letting land lie fallow.

– Read it at the New York Times.

The New York City Department of Environment released a report on progress made on three neighborhood-scale green infrastructure demonstration projects intending to curb the amount of stormwater flowing into the city’s sewer system. Results were good as the initiatives outperformed expectations, cutting flows to sewers by more than 20 percent.

– Learn more via WEF’s Stormwater Report.
– Read the report.

A new partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Coca-Cola Philippines and the Philippine Business for Social Progress group will secure safe drinking water in the Philippines’ Leyte, Iloilo, Maguindanao, Misamis Oriental and Basilan provinces. The partnership focuses on green infrastructure interventions like groundwater infiltration wells, permeable pavers, rainwater harvesting and storage, flood water diversion and storage, and watershed protection and restoration.

– Read more at the Manila Times.

A new online tool developed especially for the business community enables companies to assess the true cost of their water use and account for their water impacts. Creators, EcoLab and Trucost, say the Water Risk Monetizer is an adaptable tool that can be used by large and small companies alike.

– Learn more.

The City of Santa Rosa, California recently got a regulatory stamp of approval for a nutrient offset to the tune of $330,000. The city will pay Jackson Family Wines and their partner Krasilsa Pacific Farms for phosphorus credits generated through manure removal on a former dairy recently converted to vineyard. The offset represents 23,345 lbs of avoided phosphorus pollution (at around $14 per lb). The city will bank the credits for future compliance needs: thanks to the current drought and a wastewater reuse project, it hasn’t recently made any wastewater discharges that would trigger regulatory fines.

– The Press Democrat has the story.

Metropolises struggling to supply their inhabitants with a clean and steady supply of water can look to Boston and New York City. For these cities, watershed investment programs continue to deliver clean water requiring little filtration or pumping to city residents, thanks to conservation activities in surrounding rural areas.

– National Geographic has coverage.

Sri Lanka intends to be the first and only nation in the world with a plan to protect all its remaining mangrove forests. The country’s plan revolves around providing microloans to women for business training, and to guard the mangroves against ongoing deforestation pressures.

– The Guardian has coverage.

In order to build proper water infrastructure in Africa and ensure water quality and quantity through resilient ecosystems, water professionals in Tanzania are pushing for public-private partnerships to finance water stewardship efforts. “We must grasp the big picture connected to water and bring together investors, bankers, economic players and public officials to tackle the infrastructure deficit in new and creative ways,” says World Water Council President Benedito Braga.

– Read it at All Africa.

Ceres, a nonprofit organization focused on environmental sustainability, analyzed nearly 40 companies regarding their water risk management finding that less than half evaluate risk throughout supply chains while 60% assesses water risk at their own production sites. Coca-Cola and Unilever scored some of the top marks but, overall, Ceres stressed the need for collaborative efforts that build water security and healthy watersheds to ensure sustainable water supplies.

– Learn more from National Geographic.

Rather than construct underground tunnels to store sewage-rainwater overflow, Washington D.C. will use green infrastructure, which will allow pollution to filter slowly back into the ground through practices like green roofs and porous pavements, to manage its stormwater overflows. The bad news however, is the plan could take up to five years to implement-meaning more raw sewage flowing into D.C. waterways.

– Read more at the NRDC Switchboard blog.

The US city of Detroit is investigating green infrastructure to ease the stormwater overflows that are currently overwhelming the city’s aging sewage system. Officials are backing a pilot project that would divert stormwater running off impervious surfaces into a nearby constructed wetland. The potential cost-savings associated with green infrastructure, which figures prominently in the Detroit Future City visionary framework, are a major draw for the cash-strapped city.

– Learn more from the Detroit Free Press.

The Nature Conservancy – Arlington VA, USA

The Global Affairs Policy Associate supports The Nature Conservancy’s conservation goals by working with multi-disciplinary teams, focal area teams and TNC’s field offices to develop and implement a strategy to advance policies, partnerships and agreements at the global, regional and national levels. She/he will support The Nature Conservancy’s work in providing expert advice on climate finance to the Government of Peru as COP President in the lead up to Paris and as co-chair of the Green Climate Fund’s board. She/he will also work as part of the Global Freshwater Team to advance and implement the policy and financial components of the Conservancy’s strategy around sustainable hydropower development.

– Learn more here.

Conservation International – Virginia, USA

The intern will help with various outreach materials, including peer reviewed publications that need to be completed as part of the IKI EbA solutions project. This exciting project, which aims to improve the understanding and use of the ecosystem-based adaptation in three geographies (South Africa, Philippines and Brazil) is ending soon and we are in the process of combining and summarizing all the information gathered. Work will include the search for references to be included in outreach materials, manuscript editing and formatting and preparation of a brochure that will include the results of the project.

– Learn more here.

River Basin Management 2015 is the 8th Conference in a series of conferences which marks the growing international interest in the planning, design and management of river basin systems. Changes in the landscape, use of the land and climate conditions lead to a continuous revaluation of river basin management objectives. This requires the development of better measuring tools as well as the use of increasingly accurate computer software. The objective of this series of conferences is to bring together practitioners and researchers in academia and industry in the hope that their interaction will foster mutual understanding and lead to better solutions for river basins. 17-19 June 2015. Coruna, Spain.

– Learn more here.

The World Forum on Ecosystem Governance is modeled after the World Economic Forum, but with a focus on the planet’s natural capital. The Forum will periodically bring together world specialists and leaders to promote more effective governance to respond to ecosystem threats. The first event is the High Level Consultations from 25-27 June 2015 in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China, followed by the Young Professionals’ Academy on 27 October 2015 in Beijing, China. The Technical Roundtable Discussions will be held 28-30 October 2015 in Beijing, China and will build around the guidance provided by the High Level Consultations. The World Forum on Ecosystem Governance is a partnership of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), the Chinese State Forestry Administration (SFA), and the Beijing Municipal Government. The 1st World Forum on Ecosystem Governance will serve as a pilot for an expanded Forum in 2017. 25-27 June 2015. Guiyang City, China.

– Learn more here.

SER (Society for Ecological Restoration) 2015 in Manchester aims to be the major restoration event of the year. Building on recent successful world congresses and regional meetings such as SER Europe 2013 in Finland, we hope to attract a large number of academics and practitioners who will share good practice and network successfully in one of the homes of the industrial revolution. The title: “Towards resilient ecosystems: restoring the urban, the rural and the wild” should provide something for everyone, whether working in highly urbanised, ex-agricultural, or natural wild environments. We mean this conference to be as inclusive as possible and are keen to showcase not only the important scientific developments, issues and solutions, but also the cultural, educational and artistic aspects of restoration ecology. We are hosting a wide range of different types of events during the conference period, with pre-conference training workshops, conference symposia posters, workshops, and oral presentations, as well as half day field trips to see landscapes at first hand. 23-27 August 2015. Manchester, United Kingdom.

– Learn more here.

The 8th World ESP conference’s central theme is ‘Ecosystem Services for Nature, People and Prosperity’. The conference will pay special attention to the public and private sector dialogue on how the ecosystem services concept can be used to support conservation, improve livelihoods and engage the business community. We especially encourage delegates from businesses to attend the ESP conference in order to discuss challenges and opportunities in using the concept of ecosystem services to achieve conservation and sustainable use of our ‘natural capital’ within a market-context. The conference will provide an excellent platform to engage with experts who can generate solutions to these challenges and start making a difference in practice. 9-13 November 2015. Stellenbosch, South Africa.

– Learn more here.