By Rich Anderson
September 29, 2003

G. Tracy Mehan, III, Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Water, was the keynote speaker at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2003 Urban Water Summit held in Chicago, September 10-12. Mr. Mehan began by praising Chicago Mayor Daley and the City's Water Agenda. Mehan recognized Chicago's efforts to conserve residential and industrial water use. He also recognized the difficulty the city faces in placing new water meters in over 350,000 homes.

The Assistant Administrator gave a historical perspective on EPA's work in the water area. Pointing out that EPA is driven by Congressional mandates, Mr. Mehan referred to EPA's water mission as the National Water Program. Past efforts centered on identifying and imposing technology-based effluent guidelines as an "end-of-pipe" approach to protecting the nation's waterways. The new thrust, according to Mehan, is focused on water quality based standards that consider the capacity of waterways and the risks to humans and sensitive ecosystems.

Mehan indicated that about 40 percent of the nation's waters are currently not meeting expectations. A large part of the problem is non-point sources that are not regulated as well as point sources (industry and municipal discharges). EPA has increased its focus on non-point sources. Mehan suggested that, "The National Water Program is playing without the ball", inferring that not enough is yet known about non-point source water pollution and how to best control it. He stated that non-point sources are not limited to roads and agricultural land uses, they also include deposition of air emissions. The President's Clear Skies Initiative, for example, would dramatically reduce mercury emissions from combustion sources, and this would reduce airborne mercury that deposits in streams, lakes and estuaries.

Mehan identified four major themes he is pursuing in his tenure to better achieve success in the National Water Program. First, the EPA will place greater emphasis on information as a policy driver, where currently there is a lack of needed data to make better decisions. Second, a comprehensive watershed management approach is required to ensure that decisions affecting one part of the watershed are complimentary with decisions affecting another part of the watershed. Third, more attention must be paid to water infrastructure. The U.S. devotes 0.05 percent of household income to water infrastructure. This is the lowest investment among developed nations. Even if Congress gave more money to cities to invest in infrastructure, the cities would still have to improve asset management to avoid water supply shortages or water quality problems.

Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer presented Mehan with a letter of commendation for the EPA's adoption of the new Water Quality Trading Policy. The Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at the Annual Meeting in Denver to support the policy. The trading policy provides incentives for cities to invest in water quality protection measures in the watershed that are cheaper but more effective than investing in water pollution controls at other points in the watershed. Palmer stated that this is the kind of flexible and intelligent approach to watershed management that will help cities provide adequate and safe water now and in the future.