Zeynep Erdal, the director of integrated water solutions for Black & Veatch, answers our questions about the main challenges facing the One Water movement in the United States today.

The architecture, engineering, and construction design firm HDR is working with more than two dozen water utilities to develop a One Water Planning guidance document aimed at helping the sector implement integrated water approaches.

Three governmental entities serving New Braunfels, Texas, recently launched One Water New Braunfels, a partnership that aims to promote collaboration and a more holistic approach to water management locally.

The City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is using "blue green systems" that combine green infrastructure and traffic calming measures to help manage stormwater and green the city's urban fabric.

In the latest development in a long-running regulatory process that began more than a decade ago, the State of California has released its proposed regulations for the direct potable reuse (DPR) of municipal wastewater.

A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 45 percent of U.S. drinking water supplies contain at least one form of the contaminants commonly known as PFAS.

Designed to use zero potable water for non-potable purposes, a newly opened sustainable development in San Francisco includes the largest blackwater treatment system in California.

Prompted in part by requirements to collect organic waste, some California wastewater utilities have begun using co-digestion, or the introduction of food and other organic waste materials into their digestion process. The City of Roseville has begun conducting co-digestion as part of a process to create renewable natural gas to power the city’s solid-waste collection fleet. Meanwhile, Monterey One Water recently announced plans to use co-digestion to boost the production of digester gas that, in turn, will be used to generate more electricity than its treatment facility requires.

The recently released 2023 Water Report from Black & Veatch reports that fewer than 20 percent of respondents claim to have developed One Water plans.

Looking to provide secure, sustainable water resources through the rest of the century, the City of Tucson, Arizona, is pursuing a holistic approach to water management, as outlined in the recently released draft version of its One Water 2100 Plan.

In what is expected to be the first facility of its kind, a Southern California water provider will evaluate the performance of advanced water treatment processes and carbon-removal technology at a pilot plant scheduled to begin operations next year.

By featuring One Water as the theme for its recently concluded Stewardship Week, the National Association of Conservation Districts is helping to raise the profile of holistic water management among students and the general public across the United States.

A recently published study of the affordability of water services in the United States found that nearly 20 percent of U.S. households have difficulty paying for services related to drinking water and wastewater treatment.

Engineering firms were recently brought on board to begin designing critical components of Pure Water Southern California, the ambitious plan to recycle up to 150 mgd of wastewater in the Los Angeles area.

New York City recently pledged to essentially eliminate untreated sewer overflows by 2060, an ambitious goal that will require the deployment of green and gray infrastructure on an even grander scale than is already planned.

Water providers in the Phoenix metropolitan area are exploring the possibility of implementing direct potable reuse to help secure water supplies in the future.

The City of Norman, Oklahoma, recently created a new division within its Utilities Department in order to better promote the One Water approach.

Lenise Marrero, the One Water Leader for Brown and Caldwell, answers our questions about the past, present, and future of the One Water movement.

A recent study estimates that outdoor water use and leakage from water mains constitute a significant source of phosphate entering the environment in areas where the compound is used to control lead and copper corrosion in distribution systems.

A pair of recent studies from researchers at Princeton University have found that wastewater collection and treatment systems emit nearly twice as much methane as previously estimated.

In her book Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America, Leila Philip makes a convincing case that beavers, at the very least, should be considered role models and potential partners in efforts to restore more natural hydrologic conditions in the highly modified landscapes that comprise so much of the United States today.

The City of Tampa, Florida, is updating its long-range comprehensive plan to reflect the city’s growing focus on integrated water management. Formally known as the One Water Chapter of the City of Tampa Comprehensive Plan, the document is set to be approved by the Tampa City Council in the coming days.

Inclusion, collaboration, innovative financing, and long-range planning all comprise critical aspects of the One Water approach, according to the speakers at a recent panel discussion conducted as part of the Texas Water Development Board’s Water for Texas 2023 conference.

This past November, Colorado and Texas took key steps toward promoting direct potable reuse (DPR) within their jurisdictions. In effect, the two became the first states in the nation to document their procedures for approving DPR.

Citing growing concerns about water affordability in the United States, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies is calling for federal funding for low-income water customer assistance programs, a stance that has the support of other key water-related organizations.

Austin, Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts, recently adopted new policies requiring greater use of green infrastructure within their jurisdictions. In Austin, the changes apply to most public and private development projects, while Boston’s new policy concerns curb extensions constructed by the city.

As part of efforts to educate the public about water issues, four local government entities and a nonprofit organization in Madison, Wisconsin, recently collaborated to provide a course and certification program that included a focus on the One Water approach.

To succeed, movements must take stock of their progress at regular intervals, learn from successes and failures, and make necessary adjustments. The same holds true for the One Water movement.

Modern societies seek to tame water, to direct and control it for whatever purposes they deem fit. This is hubris. In her highly engaging new book, Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge, the independent journalist Erica Gies goes to great lengths to illustrate this point.

Ongoing upgrades to West County Wastewater’s 12.5 mgd treatment facility also will include onsite energy generation capable of meeting nearly all of its power needs, long-term reductions in energy use, and a shift to Class A biosolids that will obviate the need to dispose of solids in a landfill.

Although nonpotable onsite water reuse approaches can benefit affordable housing residents in many ways, multiple barriers preclude the use of water reuse and other One Water practices, according to a report released in April by the National Wildlife Federation. At the same time, efforts to promote onsite reuse must be conducted in a manner that promotes, rather than impedes, housing affordability, the report says.

Seeking to expand access to safe drinking water and wastewater services in low-income areas throughout the United States, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced legislation on March 22 that would result in a survey of such needs across the country and an estimate of the capital costs to address those needs. Titled the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Sector Development Act (S. 3893), the legislation also would create a $250-million pilot program to expand options for providing decentralized drinking water solutions to low-income individuals and communities.

Two panels separately discussed some of the main issues concerning a One Water approach on March 8 at the 2022 WateReuse Symposium. Exactly what constitutes a One Water approach, motivations for utilities to adopt it, and challenges to implementing it all were discussed.

Population growth and water scarcity traditionally have spurred development in the water reuse industry. Although these factors will continue to prompt demand for the sector, a host of new forces, environmental as well as economic in nature, are expected to generate additional investment in reuse applications. This was the conclusion of various experts discussing the outlook for reuse during the 2022 WateReuse Symposium, held March 6 to 9 in San Antonio.

A recently released proposed guidance document from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would modify key elements of the financial capability assessment (FCA) process used to help set compliance schedules for certain large-scale infrastructure projects required by the Clean Water Act.

As green infrastructure continues to gain in popularity across the United States, the term itself has come to mean different things to different people.

A primary school in a water-stressed region of Texas features multiple One Water strategies to reduce potable water consumption, harvest stormwater runoff, treat and reuse water onsite, and achieve significant long-term savings.

A growing number of large, water-intensive corporations are focusing on water replenishment as a key indicator of their sustainability efforts.

Looking to develop an alternative water source that will relieve some of the burden on the Colorado River, water agencies in southern California and Arizona are partnering on planning efforts for a major recycled water program.