NEWS: White House, blue future? Northeast Ohio leaders to help frame national discussion on water issues

How will the new White House prioritize the water needs of America's future?

Northeast Ohio's water sector leaders will contribute to that dialogue August 9, kicking off a series of nationwide listening sessions focused on developing a set of national policy priorities for the 45th Presidential administration.

The US Water Alliance is convening One Water for America Listening Sessions in as many as 12 different US cities this year, and Cleveland is hosting the first thanks to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and other partners. Cleveland Metroparks Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek will host the opening event Tuesday, August 9.

According to the US Water Alliance, the sessions are intended to gather diverse perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, guiding principles and policy priorities to secure a sustainable water future for all.

Each session will convene a cross-section of leadership from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in a guided discussion, intended to help the new President's team recognize the critical role that water plays in advancing economic competitiveness, creating environmental sustainability and social equity.

Some of the participants include the Sewer District, the Cleveland Water Alliance, The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Division of Water, local watershed groups, Cleveland Metroparks, NASA, and dozens more.

Follow tweets from the event using #OneWaterUS and our official account @neorsd.

#SewerDebate: The 2016 election is about to go down the drain April 26, and for a good reason.

We want to make sewers great again.

Our first-ever #SewerDebate will take place on Twitter all day Tuesday, April 26. You will be able to cast your votes in a series of Twitter polls throughout the day as we pose water and infrastructure questions about the four leading Presidential contenders.

The questions will help us know what the electorate thinks about the priorities and water-quality-related habits of Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

The series will also allow followers to share their opinions on a variety of topics regarding the work it takes to protect natural water resources around the country, and important discussion as we prepare for Infrastructure Week May 16.

Join the #SewerDebate and cast your votes April 26 with @neorsd and our @WallyWaterdrop on Twitter.


#SewerDebate Tweets

GREEN: 6 ways green infrastructure takes root locally and regionally

Protect. Enhance. Preserve. Restore.

These goals are at the heart of the sweeping Green Infrastructure Policy that guides the projects we pursue and helps quantify their benefits to our region.

"The policy demonstrates a commitment," said Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Deputy Director of Watershed Programs. "It lays out a future where green infrastructure is integrated across our program areas to lead the most effective applications of this technology."

Defining green

Definitions of "green infrastructure" can vary across cities and agencies, but the Sewer District embraces two clear definitions as follows:

Project Clean Lake green infrastructure
Related to our 25-year combined sewer overflow consent decree
The range of stormwater control measures that use plant/soil systems, permeable pavement, or stormwater harvest and reuse, to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to the combined sewer system.

Wet-Weather Program green infrastructure
Stormwater source control measures that store, filter, infiltrate, harvest and reuse, or evapotranspirate stormwater to increase resiliency of infrastructure by reducing stress on wet-weather drainage and collection systems which increase co-benefits in support of healthy environments and strong communities.