EPA will hold the fifth and final in-person meeting of the Climate Ready Water Utilities (CRWU) Working Group of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) on September 23, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT and September 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT in Alexandria, Va. The purpose of this meeting is to review and discuss final changes to the Working Group's report and finalize the document. The meeting is open to the public, and there will be an opportunity for public comment. It will be held in Salon A at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town, which is located at 1767 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 22314.
RCAP has a key role in the working group in one of the group's co-chairs - Olga Morales-Sanchez, a Rural Development Specialist with the Rural Community Assistance Corporation, the Western RCAP.
As a co-chair, Morales-Sanchezlends her knowledge of climate change to a larger discussion on preparedness and tries to guide fellow members through the challenges of getting water systems to be climate-ready. The working group’s goals are to devise strategies to help utilities adapt to climate change; identify climate change-related tools, trainings and products that address water and wastewater managers’ short-term and long-term needs; and incorporate mechanisms to provide recognition and incentives for the water sector to broadly adapt climate change and mitigation strategies into existing EPA Office of Water programs.
“Having worked for many years with a large number of utilities that are already experiencing the effects of climate change, Olga
understands the need for comprehensive planning and utility training to meet these challenges,” said Robert Stewart, RCAP executive director.
“Olga also brings to this group an intimate knowledge of the management and operations of small utilities—utilities that as a
result of limited resources could be most dramatically impacted by the effects of climate change,” Stewart added.
Jeff Cooley, a former employee of Community Resource Group, the Southern RCAP, also sits on the council. Now a Utilities
Division Operations Manager for the city of Vacaville, Calif., Cooley is also a member of the climate-ready water utilities working
group.