Monday, May 13, 2013

Sewage – In the Spirit of Regional Cooperation

On Wednesday, May 8, the executive leadership from the four largest local jurisdictions gathered at the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments (MWCOG) to celebrate a watershed moment – pun intended - in regional cooperation: the signing of the Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) for the operation of the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The parties to the agreement include the District of Columbia, DC Water, Fairfax County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC).

COG board member Penelope Gross said, “I think this is the closest thing we’ve had to Middle East peace in the region.” She was joking, but there is some truth to that; getting all of the signatories to agree to the details of the new IMA – to update the existing agreement from 1985 - has been an arduous, decade-long process with lengthy, complicated negotiations.

But the document that emerged from that process will govern the collection and treatment of wastewater at Blue Plains for the next 99 years, with the participating jurisdictions sharing the annual capital and operating costs of $822 million. As the COG announcement put it, “The pact ensures service for 2 million area residents and 18 million annual visitors, cleaner rivers and a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and also supports regional growth and development for the next 40 years.”

So, there is a lot to celebrate, not the least of which is the collaborative spirit that pushed the agreement across the goal line. In the end, I think there several things that made the difference between success and failure. First, the parties realized there are real economies of scale and savings that come from collectively supporting 1 large facility rather than many smaller ones. Blue Plains provides 43 percent of the wastewater capacity for the region and does it at close to half the cost compared to the national average. That saves everyone money including our rate payers.

Second, the agreement was developed using a very data driven approach that allows us to equitably divide up the capital and operating costs so every jurisdiction pays their fair share.

And lastly, we have a Board of Directors that doesn’t operate along strict jurisdictional lines. It is a regional body and makes decisions based on what’s best for the region as a whole, and that is why the Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) is done and we’re now focused on implementation.

While all this might not sound exciting enough to make the evening news, it did, generating some great coverage on local television (below) and in the Washington Post: Blue Plains sewage pact is a rare success of cooperation in the D.C. region.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Staying Grounded

If I had to pick one recent day that encapsulates a Day in the Life of DC Water, a good candidate would be Tuesday, April 9. In the span of a few hours we celebrated the launch of one of the most ambitious and expensive projects in our history, and then met with ratepayers who will have to pay for that construction for many years to come. It was a good reminder that we need to be accountable, to ensure the benefits of our work aren’t overshadowed by the costs to our customers.

The temperature soared and a blue sky hung over Blue Plains when we gathered that afternoon for the official naming of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will dig the Blue Plains Tunnel. With a large crowd looking on, Mayor Gray did the honors, christening “Lady Bird” by breaking a bottle of DC tap water against her cutterhead. It was a great event and drew the attention of the public and many media outlets including the Washington Post (DC Water unveils giant tunneling machine to help cut sewage spills during rainstorms).

The massive size of that cutterhead - which is 26 feet in diameter and fronts a machine that’s more than a football field long (443 ft.) and weighs 1300 tons – gives you a sense of the enormous scope of the Clean Rivers Project. After she’s lowered into a 140 foot deep shaft at Blue Plains, “Lady Bird” will dig more than 4 miles along the Potomac River and up the Anacostia to the Main Pumping Station next to Nationals Stadium. Her work could end there, but the Clean Rivers Project will just be getting started with as many as 4 additional tunnels planned to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. These massive tunnels will store sewage and storm water until it can be pumped up and treated at Blue Plains.

What many people don’t realize is that this project is required, mandated by the consent decree signed in 2005 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice and the District of Columbia. And while there’s no denying the benefits – reducing CSOs by 96 percent and greatly improving the quality of the water in our rivers – this work is not cheap; the Clean Rivers Project is expected to cost $2.6 billion.

The federal government is contributing some money towards the project, but the lion’s share of the burden falls squarely on the shoulders of DC Water’s ratepayers, and primarily our customers in the District of Columbia. That is the message I carried to the Ward 8 Town Hall meeting held that night, just a few miles from the site of the naming ceremony.

Our rates, which have already doubled in the last 4-5 years, will continue to rise for the foreseeable future and most of that increase is tied to the huge investment we are making in our infrastructure.

The graphic below – which I shared with the residents of Ward 8 and the audiences at each of our town hall meetings – shows the estimated average residential monthly bill for FY 2014 compared with the current and previous years. As you can see, we anticipate an 8.8 percent increase for our ratepayers, including the cost of the Clean Rivers Project.

Average Residential Monthly Bill (FY 2012-2014)

DC Water does help thousands of residents pay their bills each year through our Customer Assistance Program, but regardless of income level, we have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure we are not wasting our ratepayers’ money. We need to be efficient and innovative, and continue to pursue grants and other federal funding for capital projects like Clean Rivers.

So, while we celebrate the start of Lady Bird’s 24,000 foot journey through Potomac Clay 100 feet down, we need to stay grounded and constantly mindful of our duty to be accountable to and open with our customers. Our work is in the public eye – subject to scrutiny – and that’s the way it should be.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Search for the Perfect Water Drop

They were probably the most unusual job interviews we’ve ever conducted at DC Water. Each of the candidates was asked to don a large foam suit covered in blue fabric and - as the announcement described it – “showcase their talents and perform some non-verbal movement.”

That might not sound all that appealing to you, but it did draw about 2 dozen people who auditioned in late February to become Wendy or Wendell the Water Drop, the official mascot of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water). The tryouts also attracted a fair amount of media coverage including Fox 5 and The Washington Post.

The talent pool included a professional clown, a few folks with backgrounds in theater, dance and music, and several young men and women with previous mascot experience performing at high school and/or college sporting events.After all, mascots are most often associated with sports teams – even the Olympic games – not water utility companies. (Having said that, I’m confident our Water Drop would give any racing president a run for their money. Bring it on Teddy!) But mascots are about marketing. Professional teams use them to put more paying customers in the seats. We deploy Wendy and Wendell to entertain children and adults at community events, and to educate them about our product, tap water. Marketing.

So, while the interview process was unorthodox, the job is an important one. The Water Drop mascot is a continuation of the effort we launched 3 years ago to rebrand the authority with a new name, logo, tagline, website and image. We are working to win the hearts and minds and palates of the District’s residents, workers and visitors and tout the benefits of DC tap water: it is high quality, convenient, environmentally friendly and affordable.

We’ve made great strides by upgrading our aging infrastructure and adopting innovative technologies to ensure we are consistently providing clean, safe water to our customers day in and day out. Our product is excellent, but still, not everyone knows or believes that. The lead controversy at the beginning of the last decade had a lasting impact on the public perception of tap water in the District. Turning around that perception is an ongoing effort and requires innovative approaches to promote tap water.

Ultimately, we want every customer to positively and confidently embrace his or her tap water and a cute, cuddly mascot on our side can’t hurt.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

A Cleaner Water Act

I have often spoken about my twin convictions the Clean Water Act is both one of the great success stories of progressive government and also in dire need of an update. Finally, I have published an article that explains my thoughts in that regard in the on-line journal Democracy, which outlines a practical approach to updating the statute to continue achieving cleaner water into the future while avoiding enormous expenditures for very marginal gains. I like to think that the article is a relatively quick read, and fairly easy to review and understand. I welcome any comments or thoughts in return!

By the way, I want to address directly the concern I have heard from some that any proposal to modify the Clean Water Act would open it to attacks by much harsher critics with much different motives. Anyone in the country, and particular here in Washington, DC, is aware that much of our political debate has been polarized, and that a discussion of ideas seems to be dominated from advocates coming from extreme positions. I present this article not because I have a corner on wisdom, but am able to develop a set of practical ideas based on nearly 25 years in the water field from virtually every side (private, federal, state, non-profit, utility, academic). Those of us with practical and rational ideas must step-up and add them to the marketplace or else the debate will continue to be dominated by the fringes.

A Cleaner Water Act (Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Winter 2013)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

DC Water and our Customers!

I have often spoken to audiences about how similar DC Water is to a private company. Our ratepayers to me are parallel to stockholders, and we have to do everything we can to maximize the service and efficiency of what we offer them. While not providing dividends or profits, we can translate improved financial performance into reduced pressure to increase rates, or even perhaps a reduction. For fiscal year 2012, for example, DC Water will allocate part of our net surplus to providing a rate rebate.

Parallel to considering our ratepayers as stockholders, we should consider them as customers as well. Our main product is clean water, which we deliver to every dwelling and building in the District 24 hours a day. In this case, we do compete directly with other companies -- in this case huge bottling corporations that have convinced the public that paying high prices for drinking water in a plastic bottle makes sense. I believe that bottled water is an appropriate choice in some cases. I also firmly believe that bottled water is a choice that is made far too often, with significant negative consequences to people, our city and the planet. On an economic front, we know that bottled water often costs a hundred times more than water from the tap. A pint of water from the tap costs pennies - yet the same amount costs several dollars or more in a bottle. We also know that bottled water is rarely any safer than tap water, and is usually less frequently tested and monitored. Finally, we also know how much energy is taken to extract water from the ground, bottle it in plastic (which must be manufactured), ship around the world - and then the bottle is discarded thereafter.

Bottom line is that DC Water is determined to compete for each and every customer who has a choice to drink our water for pennies, or spend so much more for water in a bottle. Part of that competition is demonstrating that our water tastes just as good. Last summer we held taste tests all over the District. The result? DC tap water was rated either better, or indistinguishable from bottled water, just about 2/3rds of the time. Given how much less expensive it is, and how much less consequence it has on the environment, we think the choice is clear.

Drink DC Tap!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Relief for Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Hurricane Sandy, Response and Aftermath