The Urban Water Council

By Paulo R. Heyman

Lynn Mayor Pat McManus and Wilmington Mayor James Sills, Co-Chairs of the Urban Water Council (UWC), convened this year’s meeting of the Urban Water Council (UWC) during the Winter Meeting. The UWC is open to all Mayors and provides a forum for discussions on issues impacting how cities provide and protect water and wastewater services to their residents, businesses, and institutions. Water and wastewater infrastructure are top issues in the “New Agenda for American Cities.” Mayor McManus stated that the UWC is a place where Mayors can learn how to cut the cost on meeting these standards and other water issues by forging public/private partnerships and passing on the savings to their citizens.

Mayor McManus led discussions on the capital expenditures required of cities in order to meet new compliance standards. McManus said that the City of Lynn will save $450 million over 20 years by taking advantage of a long-term public/private partnership resulting from a competitive procurement bid process. Mayor McManus pointed to other cities utilizing public/private partnerships to gain real cost savings while meeting federal clean water mandates.

Charles Fox, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water at the Environmental Protection Agency, informed mayors at the session of the capital shortage that exists, also known as “gap analysis.” Mr. Fox indicated that current need outstrips funding by hundreds of billions of dollars. Fox stated that nothing short of serious Congressional action is needed to close the “gap.” Combined Sewer Overflows, for example, needs to be debated in Congress. An estimated $70 billion is needed to deal with the issue.

Monrovia Mayor Bob Bartlett  asked Mr. Fox to elaborate on methyltributyl ether (MTBE) being used as an oxygenate in gasoline. MTBE decreases carbon dioxide emissions emitted when gasoline is burned, but poses a health risk if leaked into water supplies. Mr. Fox described that MTBE is among the nation’s largest production chemicals. He said that the scientific literature indicates it poses a minor public health threat, and that phasing it out of production would take some time.

Mayors Sills and Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic also questioned Mr. Fox on the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) issue. The Mayors were concerned about the costs involved with meeting the EPA’s rules, and what legislative proposals might be helpful.

Mr. Fox indicated that EPA assumes the Best Management Practices (BMP) for sewer overflows would be acceptable in the foreseeable future. He also indicated that EPA favors public policy along the lines of the current State Revolving Funds (SRF) approach, but with some allowance for “principal forgiveness.”

UWC Co-Chairs Mayors McManus and Sills concluded by commenting on the UWC plans for year 2000. The UWC will hold a training seminar on March 29th in the Boston area. This seminar is intended to introduce Mayors to the benefits of public/private partnerships, and will include presentations by Mayors that have struck successful long-term partnerships.

Mayors McManus and Sills also announced that the UWC would hold its “Urban Water Summit” this year in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Summit will take place on October 5-6, and will include discussions on partnerships, CSO’s, watershed management, and other water-related issues.