A CHRISTMAS GIFT

The photograph above shows a small segment of the Rio Grande river just south of Taos, New Mexico. The river simply is one of the countless millions of waterbodies that cover the earth, ranging from oceans to creeks to puddles to huge underground aquifers.

All of this water, in one form or another, is a gift. But, obviously, not all share in this gift, for one reason or another. So, this Christmas season perhaps water can become a much needed gift for some.

Organizations such as Water For People* and many churches have programs which fund and construct water wells and systems in villages located in developing countries. These programs seek to make the gift of clean water possible, but depend upon the generous resources provided by those who already receive the gift of water.

But wait, there is more! Another gift may be possible. It is ironic that many who already share in the availability of clean water fail to actually drink sufficient amounts of water for good health. So, this Christmas perhaps each of us can also give to ourselves the gift of water.
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* see waterforpeople.org

OWNING WATER?

According to a recent report, a wastewater utility in Texas has asserted that it owns treated effluent from its facility and retains ownership even after the effluent is discharged into a river.* The ownership claim was made in an application for a "bed and banks" authorization to help support uses of the river.

Ownership of water, or the lack of ownership, can be a complicated and inconsistent issue across the United States. And, ownership of water does not necessarily mean control or permitted use of water.

For example, in Texas it appears that ownership and control of water depends upon the source of water. Groundwater below land is the property of the landowner, but withdrawal of the water is subject to controls by the state. Surface water is owned by the public and controlled by the state. Storm water is the property of the landowner until it enters a natural watercourse.

Another example is the use of Lake Michigan as a drinking water source. The water may be held in trust for the benefit of the public, but withdrawal of water is subject to control by a US Supreme Court decision in the case of Chicago area; state allocations; an international compact, and other law.

Still another example may be the ownership of a tract of land on which there is a wetland. Te landowner may own the wetland, but may be prohibited from draining or developing it by federal or state law.

If a water utility takes raw water from a source, whether groundwater or surface water, and treats the water to USEPA standards, does it "sell" the treated water delivered to a customer? A sale would imply ownership of the water first by the utility and then by the customer. Some oourts have held that a utility does not sell water. Rather, its charges are for providing a service--finding source water, treating it and delivering it to a customer. In turn, it would appear to follow that a customer has use of the water but not ownership.

Along the same lines, when a drinking water customer flushes wastewater delivered to a sewer, does the wastewater utility (often the same utility that delivered the drinking water) acquire ownership if the influent? Or, does the utility merely provide and charge for a service--receiving and treating wastewater to enable it to be delivered to a waterbody?

In many ways, issues of use or control of water may of greater importance than ownership. At best, the issue of ownership would seem quite fluid.

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*"Water Rights...Even After It Leaves The Pipe?",
WEF Magazine, Nov. 2014, p.19

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. TURKEY

In a few days, most Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day with a robust turkey dinner. My mother, like millions of other mothers, always roasted a hearty turkey for the occasion.

One year in my childhood, however, that routine almost changed. My grandfather had raised a goose. This was no ordinary goose. In addition to a constant companion for scraps at the dinner table, the goose was an attack security guard which challenged all who approached. It also was obese, tipping the scales at 30 pounds when any respectable grocery store goose was lucky to weigh about 10 pounds. My grandfather surely knew how to fatten fowl. As Thanksgiving approached that year, Gramps decided to gift the Monster Goose for our celebratory meal. My mother discreetly emptied the freezer, laid the goose to rest, and dashed to a store for a customary turkey.

Speaking of well fed turkeys, I found an interesting court decision on feeding the birds.* For several years, General Mills had sold a turkey farmer feed for his turkeys, on credit. The farmer gave the seller a promissory note for the amount owed. When General Mills sued the farmer for non-payment of the note when due, the farmer counterclaimed for alleged damages alleging that the feed was inadequate, causing damage to his flock. The primary issue at trial was whether the feed contained vitamins required by turkeys. As the court put it, "Vitamins are essential to growth and life in men and turkeys."

Both sides presented extensive testimony by scientists and turkey farmers on the feed. The judge, however, was impressed by a 13 year old girl named Barbara. "She raised a little flock of turkeys on plaintiff's feed and on the witness stand related her experience....Truth, innocence and brightness adorned her even as a mantle. Her turkeys,'cabined,cribbed,confined,'grew and thrived and topped the market on plaintiff's feed."

The court held that the feed sold the farmer was in accordance with the seller's representations, and the alleged losses sustained by the farmer were due to infectious diseases, not the feed. Judgement on the note was awarded to plaintiff.

For many years, U.S. Presidents have been presented with a live turkey for their annual Thanksgiving dinner. In accordance with established tradition, presidents then issue an Executive Order granting the turkey amnesty. Thereupon, the saved turkey is sent away probably eventually to be consumed by someone else. No doubt, the White House then munches on a different roasted turkey for Thanksgiving. So, in the end, what does the Executive Order accomplish? It kills two birds with one stone?

What does all this turkey talk have to do with water? Well, turkey leftovers can make for delicious soup.

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* General Mills v. Clark, 52 F.Supp. 244
(W.D.Mo.1943)

WHO DO YOU BLAME FOR CLIMATE CHANGE SEVEN MILLION YEARS AGO/

According to a recent report, scientists now believe that the Sahara desert formed seven million years ago due to climate change.*

A large sea called Tethys formed some 200 million years ago between what were then the African and Eurasian continents. Then, about 100 years later, the sea began to contract, and about 5 million years ago it wound up divided into the current Mediterranean, Caspian and Black seas.

Scientists found that, when Tethys was its old, large self, it facilitated rainfall over North Africa due to temperature differences between its warm water surface and cool surrounding land. These temperature differences allowed moisture fro the Atlantic to be carried over the area. When Tethys began to shrink, it created a climate change which resulted in much less rainfall on the Sahara area, thus ultimately causing a desert.

United Nations reports now assert that climate change is occurring due to human activity. global warming being man-made. So, who caused the climate change that created the Sahara desert? If the age of its formation is correct, it arose about the time that early mankind allegedly evolved. Do we blame them or chimpanzees?

In a way, water created a climate in North Africa, and water also changed that climate. Rainfall resulted from temperature differences involving the sea, and rainfall ceased when the water in the sea contracted. It is thought that Tethys contracted when squeezed by the two continents approaching each other. Who do we blame for that?

As I write this, most of the United States is buckling under an invasion by the arctic vortex for the second year in a row. It is bringing heavy snow, sub-freezing temperatures and high winds--all abnormal compared with historical data. The only warming I am experiencing is micro-warming belching from a much burdened home furnace as I squint out the window at a premature, autumnal winter scene.
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*"Sahara May Be Twice As Old As Thought", Science News,
November 1, 2014, p. 12

DEALING WITH RISKS

As discussed in the prior post, water and wastewater utilities can be exposed to several different types of risk in their operations. What measures or strategies may be available to utilities to deal with or to mitigate such risks?

* Ratemaking. It is obvious that efforts to control risks to operations likely will require expenditure of funds, and the primary source of funds generally is operating revenue produced from rates for services rendered. The adequacy of revenue to fund, for example, new infrastructure, or security measures, or new sources of supply, is dependent upon rates which recover all revenue requirements--all the costs of service.

Revenue will not be adequate if rates are not reviewed and adjusted frequently to assure that all costs are being recovered. Further, unless there is some local legal impediment that permits recovery only of operating expense , the costs of service to be recovered should include depreciation expense and/or other cost items necessary to fund reserves such as renewal and replacement reserves.

Many municipal-owned water and wastewater systems have been built initially by developer contributions of cash or plant during growth periods. Unless adequate reserves have been recovered through rates over subsequent time, such systems will face difficulty in funding replacement infrastructure when the need arises.

Depending upon the nature of a proposed expenditure to deal with a risk, a utility may be able to consider the amortization of the cost in rates over a relatively short period of tine.

* Debt. Incurring debt, typically by means of a bond issue, has been a traditional funding mechanism for municipal-owned utilities. Of course, the feasibility of this mechanism is dependent upon the sufficiency of revenues produced by rates. Payment of debt service is a cost of service. In addition to bond issues, utilities may be able to participate in low interest revolving loan programs available on the state level.

* Grants. Certain governmental agencies, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, have given grants of funds from time to time for improvements to facilities. Of course, grant money tends to be limited.

* Joint Actions. Another possible way to mitigate risk is to engage in a joint action with one or more other entities-the notion that there is safety in numbers. For example, a municipality facing a costly upgrade of its water system could consider privatization- the sale of the system to a regulated investor-owned utility. Consolidation might result in economies of scale as well as a means to finance needed improvements. Or the municipality could enter into a public-private partnership with an investor-owned utility, whereby the town might retain ownership of the system, which would be upgraded and managed by the investor-owned utility.

A water system needing to upgrade its treatment facilities may find a better alternative in purchasing water from a wholesale joint action agency or a neighboring utility with available surplus capacity. In the same way, a wastewater utility may find it more efficient to deliver its wastewater to a larger regional treatment facility than to maintain its own plant.

WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITIES CAN FACE MANY RISKS

Many assume that water utilities and wastewater utilities are relatively risk free operations. After all, in the case of water, one installs a pipe in the ground or into a water body to collect some water, then somehow makes the water collected "pure", and furnishes it to customers in pipes, all of which is generally hidden from public view. The same is true for waste water-- when a toilet is flushed, that is the end of the matter. In actuality, however, water and wastewater utilities can be exposed to many challenging risks in their operations. Here are some examples:

* Aging Infrastructure. Utilities, particularly those in operation for some time, must deal with infrastructure that may be beyond its useful service life and requires repair, replacement and upgrade. Infrastructure work obviously is capital intensive and strains funding options for utilities as well as service reliability.

* Diminishing Sources Of Water Supply. As is evident in several areas of the United States, water utilities are experiencing reduced sources of supply, due to drought, excessive withdrawal of ground water or population exceeding available water sources. Hunting for more water or rationing water delivered to customers can be frustrating.

* More Restrictive Regulations. Compliance with governmental regulations is a constantly moving target for utilities. Moreover, compliance issues tend to impose the need for infrastructure and operational enhancements, necessitating increases in capital funding and revenue requirements, and resulting in unwelcome rate increases or revenue shortfalls.

* Contamination of Source Water. Recent examples of source water pollution include upstream industrial chemical spill and algae. While a water utility may not have caused a contamination, it faces the burden to provide safe water, which means it generally has to deal with the consequences of upstream contamination of its source water, no matter what.

* Leaks. Unaccounted water can be a real headache for utilities, particularly in areas where water supplies are limited. Finding leaking mains is not an easy task, but must be done.

* Main Breaks. Nothing is more troublesome than a main break that floods a street or nearby basements, particularly if it happens in the middle of winter.

* Vulnerability. In today's world, utilities face the risk of terrorism and vandalism. Security measures can be expensive and imperfect, but are necessary.

* Finished Water Quality. If a contaminant required to be removed is not removed in the treatment process, water and wastewater utilities become exposed for any adverse effects on customers or receiving streams, as the case may be.

* Conservation. Using less water may be meritorious. However, for water utilities, conservation can translate into revenue reductions and idle capacity, which in turn can translate into rate increases to customers for using less water--a public relations headache.

* Waste water Issues. Wastewater utilities face many of the risks encountered by water utilities, and have a few more of their own. For example, inflow and infiltration of storm water can cause sewer backups into homes and the need for excess flow bypasses of a treatment facility. Flushing into the wastewater system of certain products can interfere with biological treatment processes or be beyond treatment capabilities, such as the case of certain medications.

In my next posting, I will discuss how water and wastewater utilities may be dealing with the risks they may face.

A HARVEST OF FRUSTRATION

The year has passed quickly, from a mean-spirited Winter to a Spring that was an extension of Winter to a Summer that was a Spring, and now to Autumn. I watch my lawn disappear under a blanket of discarded leaves falling as a gentle rain of from tired limbs. Today, I came across a poem by Robert Frost, fitting for the season, called "Gathering Leaves":

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise
of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.

But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.

I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?

Next to nothing for weight;
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.

Next nothing for use,
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop.

What does this have to do with water and wastewater utilities? Substitute "regulations" for "leaves".