Some days the problems of the times we live in weigh on me, and signs of environmental degradation accruing in my lifetime are among these heavy mental burdens. I can see the indications in the world around me. Additionally, a fairly large number of the press releases and industry-specific articles I read in a given week touch on topics such as pollution, resource scarcity, climate change, severe weather, and infrastructure breakdown. So it is important for me to de-stress through creative work, through time with friends and family, by dancing or hiking, or by reading a good story. Another remedy I found out last week while attending the US Water Alliance’s One Water Leadership (OWL) Summit is to be in meaningful discussions with some of the best minds in the country, learning how they are applying their talents to find and implement solutions. We are all feeling the precariousness of things, but there are some people I’d rather share the rocky boat with.
The conference leaves me with news of a number of developments I can pass on to readers. Today I am going to choose one out of the intersection of water and energy, a nexus apparent in so much of what defines life in the developed world.
Some days the problems of the times we live in weigh on me, and signs of environmental degradation accruing in my lifetime are among these heavy mental burdens. I can see the indications in the world around me. Additionally, a fairly large number of the press releases and industry-specific articles I read in a given week touch on topics such as pollution, resource scarcity, climate change, severe weather, and infrastructure breakdown. So it is important for me to de-stress through creative work, through time with friends and family, by dancing or hiking, or by reading a good story. Another remedy I found out last week while attending the US Water Alliance’s One Water Leadership (OWL) Summit is to be in meaningful discussions with some of the best minds in the country, learning how they are applying their talents to find and implement solutions. We are all feeling the precariousness of things, but there are some people I’d rather share the rocky boat with. The conference leaves me with news of a number of developments I can pass on to readers. Today I am going to choose one out of the intersection of water and energy, a nexus apparent in so much of what defines life in the developed world. [text_ad] Power plants and other energy-intensive industries have a demand for, and an impact on, water. As does agriculture. And urban centers. All, therefore, are among those with a stake in keeping water sustainable. Most entities also have to achieve regulatory compliance. Companies that receive private investment money may need to meet stockholders requirements that they be environmentally responsible. This is not even close to being an exhaustive list of who the stakeholders are in protecting a watershed or waterway. Rather it is just the beginning of the story. The Electric Power Research Institute’s Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project, an interstate project with a robust list of collaborators, won the US Water Prize this year. We are about to run an article on water quality trading in Water Efficiency, so keep an eye open for it. In that article we talk primarily about thermal credits related to discharge of hot water from wastewater treatment plants, and ways to reduce the overall thermal load on the waterway. The EPRI project is dealing with nutrient pollution such as phosphorus and nitrogen (and our article does address this also), pollutants that lead to algae blooms and dead zones. EPRI Technical Executive, Jessica Fox, who presented at the OWL Summit, is featured in the video embedded below. [embed width="600" height="390"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4TOZFcTf5o[/embed] Fox explains that the idea for EPRI’s project was birthed in 2009 from the desire to deal with water sustainability in the basin taking economic, environmental, and social criteria into account. The team involved has worked on raising the bar on the modeling and the scientific standards for verifying results. The project really began, Fox says, in 2012 when three states, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana signed on. This is also the world’s largest water quality trading project to date. You can view an infographic here. There are those who say that trading programs such as these do not do enough because they don’t stop pollution from offending entities. In my view, they are powerful compromises that look at the whole picture, bringing action and results rather than gridlock, action and results that can facilitate further positive behavior. The market context is one that entities are operating in already, whereas litigation is a disruptive and cumbersome process. I am not an expert, that is certain, but I wonder if the pinch of having to pay to pollute may encourage reductions, and the gains of adding to earnings for not polluting may be motivating not only for limiting polluting practices, but in finding innovative ways of working.
Power plants and other energy-intensive industries have a demand for, and an impact on, water. As does agriculture. And urban centers. All, therefore, are among those with a stake in keeping water sustainable. Most entities also have to achieve regulatory compliance. Companies that receive private investment money may need to meet stockholders requirements that they be environmentally responsible. This is not even close to being an exhaustive list of who the stakeholders are in protecting a watershed or waterway. Rather it is just the beginning of the story.
The Electric Power Research Institute’s Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project, an interstate project with a robust list of collaborators, won the US Water Prize this year.
We are about to run an article on water quality trading in Water Efficiency, so keep an eye open for it. In that article we talk primarily about thermal credits related to discharge of hot water from wastewater treatment plants, and ways to reduce the overall thermal load on the waterway. The EPRI project is dealing with nutrient pollution such as phosphorus and nitrogen (and our article does address this also), pollutants that lead to algae blooms and dead zones.
EPRI Technical Executive, Jessica Fox, who presented at the OWL Summit, is featured in the video embedded below.
Fox explains that the idea for EPRI’s project was birthed in 2009 from the desire to deal with water sustainability in the basin taking economic, environmental, and social criteria into account. The team involved has worked on raising the bar on the modeling and the scientific standards for verifying results.
The project really began, Fox says, in 2012 when three states, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana signed on. This is also the world’s largest water quality trading project to date. You can view an infographic here.
There are those who say that trading programs such as these do not do enough because they don’t stop pollution from offending entities. In my view, they are powerful compromises that look at the whole picture, bringing action and results rather than gridlock, action and results that can facilitate further positive behavior. The market context is one that entities are operating in already, whereas litigation is a disruptive and cumbersome process. I am not an expert, that is certain, but I wonder if the pinch of having to pay to pollute may encourage reductions, and the gains of adding to earnings for not polluting may be motivating not only for limiting polluting practices, but in finding innovative ways of working.
