Cheryl MacKelvie

Funding for County-wide and Regional Funding Programs The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has opened a County-wide and Regional Funding Solicitation for counties or eligible partner entities to receive funding to implement county-wide or regional programs that address drought-related and/or contamination issues for state small water systems and domestic wells serving disadvantaged communities and low-income households. [...]

PIPES Act Introduced in House Last week, Representatives Lisa McClain (R-MI) and Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) introduced the "Protecting Infrastructure and Promoting Environmental Stewardship Act" (PIPES Act, H.R. 6591) to codify a flushability certification process for the marketing of single-use "flushable" wet wipes. The PIPES Act is complementary to the WIPPES Act (HR 4602) that requires [...]

Join us Feb 28 - Mar 1 for CASA’s 2022 Washington D.C. Policy Forum Time is running out! Make plans to join your clean water peers at the 2022 Washington D.C. Policy Forum on February 28-March 1. The D.C. Policy Forum provides an opportunity for you to discuss significant legislative priorities with federal leaders that directly impact [...]

$600 Million Available Statewide to Cover Unpaid Wastewater Bills from the Pandemic The State Water Resources Control Board has funding available to provide relief to wastewater agencies and wastewater billing entities for unpaid customer debt accrued during the Pandemic. The California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program covers residential and commercial customer debt accrued March [...]

Welcome New Associate Members! CV Strategies   Bloom Energy   EPA Announces $250 Million WIFIA Loan Awarded to USD In mid-January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $250 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the Union Sanitary District. EPA’s WIFIA loan will help fund upgrades to the District’s aging [...]

LIHWAP Water Systems Informational Webinar On Tuesday, February 15 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm and Wednesday, February 16 from 10:00am to 11:00am, the California Department of Community Services & Development (CSD) will be hosting informational webinars regarding the disbursement of the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) funds. LIHWAP provides financial assistance to low-income Californians [...]

2022-23 State Budget On Monday, January 10th Governor Newsom introduced his 2022-23 State Budget proposal. Revenues are again surging resulting in a projected $20 billion revenue surplus. Prior revenue forecasts released by the independent Legislative Analyst’s office projected a $31 billion budget surplus in 2022-23, creating an approximate $10 billion discrepancy in available discretionary spending. Beginning in March [...]

Join us in the Nation’s Capital 2022 holds great possibilities and opportunities for our federal legislative priorities. That’s why we urge you to join us next month at our Washington D.C. Policy Forum February 28-March 1. The event will feature an excellent program with speakers that include Congressional staff, reporters, and national water associations providing their perspective [...]

Department of the Interior Begins to Examine Compliance with New Buy American Mandates The U.S. Department of the Interior (USDOI) recently completed its initial review to determine which Federal Financial Assistance Programs are considered "deficient" for purposes of complying with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s (IIJA) buy American mandates related to manufactured products. Included in its [...]

UC Berkeley Wastewater Monitoring Team Makes Data Available to the Public Since the start of the pandemic, the COVID-WEB team at UC Berkeley, led by Prof. Kara Nelson, has been working with public health officials and wastewater agencies to monitor how much SARS-CoV-2 is excreted by people in California communities. Individuals infected with COVID-19 – [...]