ACWA Announces State Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker

ACWA has announced the release of its new Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker. Members of the ACWA/ASDWA/EPA Nutrients Working Group developed this tool over the last three years to include robust national metrics that demonstrate state actions taken to reduce nutrient loads in conjunction with the development of nutrient criteria. This tool goes beyond the EPA metric for state progress on establishing nitrogen and phosphorus criteria for lakes, estuaries, and flowing waters.
Two questions about drinking water are included in the Tracker. One of the questions is for EPA to provide (for state review) the number and percent of public water systems in the state and the population they serve that violated the nitrate MCL in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The other question is to provide the state’s best estimate of the number and percent of public water systems actively operating to meet the nitrate MCL (e.g., via treatment or blending).
ACWA is asking state and EPA clean water programs to provide responses to the Tracker questions in Survey Monkey by November 1, 2017. ACWA will then review the results and publish a report by April 2018.  ACWA will also distribute EPA’s data for state review upon availability. State drinking water programs will want to reach out to their state Clean Water Act counterparts to coordinate and provide input on the drinking water questions. Here is the Tracker PDF for preview. For more information, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire at mpmcguire@acwa-us.org or 202-756-0604.