Steve Wilson posted on September 04, 2010 07:59
I Was At ERWoW This Week
I attended the Evergreen Rural Water of Washington Fall Conference this week in Vancouver WA. The opening session speaker was Denise Clifford from the Washington Department of Health, and as it so happens, the current President of ASDWA. Here is the gist of what she had to say to the operators in attendance.
Things Are Going To Change
Apparently, Washington State has major budget issues. I can understand that, coming from Illinois (second only to California in state debt). On top of that problem, they have an unusually large number of water systems, with 3975 regulated community water supplies with less than 1000 connections (Wow!) Because of the number of systems they have, compliance and the ability to oversee their compliance program is really going to be a struggle. So, they have sat down and looked at what needs to change, and how they need to approach compliance issues, so that they can maintain state supervision of their drinking water program.
Two Big Changes
The first change is going to be in their approach to compliance. We've been talking about capacity development for years, and helping water supplies become sustainable, but in Washington State, its going to become an active program aimed at helping those systems succeed at staying in business. Many small community systems in Washington, and everywhere else for that matter, still think the government is going to pay for their upgrades, and they can keep running business as usual. Those systems are going to find themselves in a real hole, because there just isn't going to be the money available to expect government help, systems are going to have to find a way to make it on their own, and that means being financially responsible for their own upgrades.
The second change that Washington is planning is a shift in the fees that water supplies pay to the state. Fee's haven't been raised in nearly 20 years, and because of state budget cuts, to really have an active program aimed at helping systems have the capacity to succeed, they are going to put the funding for their program on those that are receiving their services, the water supplies in Washington. The reality is this, water supplies can help pay to keep the compliance program with the state of Washington, or the state can give up their primacy and the federal government can come in and run it for the state.
Capacity Development Program
The way DOH is approaching their program changes is to look at systems having the financial, managerial, and technical capacity to succeed. Denise said that the technical capacity and the technical ability of their operators is already there, its the managerial and financial capacity that they plan to focus on. I think they've hit the nail right on the head. The problems that keep coming up all over the country are small systems that either have decision makers (boards, mayors, etc) that aren't willing to support their operator financially because they don't really understand the value of their water system and refuse to raise rates, or those same decision makers just not understanding how to run a system or manage the issues that are necessary to be successful. I think Washington is going to end up leading many other states down the same path.
Putting Compliance On The Backs Of The Systems
The rate structure they are considering calls for a small increase in the flat system fee, then an additional fee based on the number of connections you have, around $1.50 per connection, capped at $100,000 for the big systems. Everyone's first thought about higher fees and fees based on size of system is that its the state taking more money to do the same work. I think that isn't seeing the big picture. DOH wants to create a program that is sustainable so that they can count on resources being there to maintain their programs to really support their systems and operators. In the past, budget cuts forced them to stop doing direct trainings and workshops with operators. Thats one example of a direct service that provides benefits, and something that every state should do that Washington had to cut.
A program based on user fees is much more stable, and also gives the systems more leverage, if you will, because they are buying into the program. They are asking for input from systems, and are doing a survey to do just that. It's your chance to get involved and have a say.
Times are a changin', as they say, and you can either change with it or have someone come in and do it for you.