A yearlong dispute between the U.S. and Canada over “Buy American” rules in the economic stimulus package has been settled. The deal will allow use of Canadian products in many local U.S. projects funded by the stimulus program. Municipalities receiving stimulus funding for water and sewer projects have complained that a shortage of products, including water filters made by General Electric, were causing construction delays.

Headlines
Officials in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin say it might be days before residents can safely drink water after a water main break Friday morning caused a pressure drop that’s still affecting the city.

The City Council in Johnston, Iowa has approved a detailed stormwater management plan that recommends nine priority projects — at a cost of more than $8.4 million — in an effort to improve water quality and quantity by reducing runoff and increasing infiltration.

Stimulus Spotlight
The town of Greenville, Wisconsin will receive $1.2 million in federal stimulus grant money to support its new water tower construction project and related water main work. The grant will pay for half of the cost of the project.

Federal stimulus funding for Ardmore, Oklahoma will help renovate part of a sewer line that is more than 50 years old. The city will receive $1 million for the project but have to cover any additional costs of the project which are expected to be $250,000.

Sewer Rate News
Carson City, Nevada
Montgomery County, Maryland
Orem, Utah
Rockport, Massachusetts

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s (MMSD) deep tunnels and two sewage treatment plants collected and cleansed more than 98.3% – or 72.2 billion gallons – of the sewage and storm water that entered regional sewers in 2009. The average annual percentage of total wastewater captured and treated by MMSD over the last 16 years is 98.2%.

Headlines
A road in Charlotte, North Carolina reopened yesterday after Public Works crews  fixed a water pipe that broke causing a sinkhole.  Crews made repairs overnight in the 12-foot deep hole, patching a sewer line that was apparently damaged when the roadway collapsed.

The Town of Franklin, North Carolina had two wastewater spills totaling 450,000 gallons last weekend as a result of the winter weather that affected Macon and surrounding counties.

Stimulus Spotlight
Tuesday morning marked the start of a more than $9 million upgrade to Greenport, New York’s wastewater treatment plant.  It was $4.3 million in grant money under President Obama’s stimulus plan that gave the project the boost it needed to become a reality.

City crews in Lima, Ohio started a sanitary sewer relining project Wednesday that is 75 percent funded by federal stimulus money. The $336,000 project involves repairing sewer lines with a new lining that adds 50 years to the pipe’s life. The city will also start work soon on two storm water projects and a sewer lateral project this spring, all of which involve some level of stimulus funding or loans.

Sewer Rate News
Detroit, Michigan
New Albany, Indiana
Weirton, West Virginia
West Branch, Iowa

Iowa Governor Chet Culver has announced that the Town of Clinton will be receiving $2.5 million from the state to help construct a new wastewater treatment plant and pump station. The award–which was made possible by a statewide construction program called I-JOBS–has spent $55 million in water infrastructure improvements across the state.

Headlines
A 16-inch main broke this morning in a residential area of Northridge, California, prompting a water-service interruption that affected nearby apartment residents.  Water from the broken main flooded the street several inches deep and surrounded three parked vehicles.

The city of Mt. Vernon, Illinois has applied for a $1.1 million low-interest loan from the state’s EPA to extend sewer lines into areas opened for development by a new overpass and interchange. The loan is expected to cover the entire cost of the project.

Stimulus Spotlight
The Town of Roslyn, South Dakota is making improvements to its water and sewer system with assistance from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act through a USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Direct Loan in the amount of $415,000 and a Grant of $873,000.

Farmington, New Mexico has awarded a bid for its first stimulus infrastructure project to a local construction company claiming it could create as many as five jobs. The city will pay more than $2.1 million to install pipes carrying drinking water in the downtown area.

Sewer Rate News
Columbia, South Carolina
Falkville, Tennessee
Moundsville, West Virginia
Sedona, Arizona

During the storms that rained on the San Francisco Bay Area a couple of weeks back, a total of 630,000 gallons of raw sewage spewed into the bay at 47 spots. Even worse, 170 million gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged from three East Bay Municipal Utility District “wet weather” overflow plants.

Headlines
Layton Hills Mall in Layton, Utah was closed Monday after a major water line broke Sunday and damaged electrical components, knocking out power to the building.

The city of Utica, New York is eyeing four sewer projects that will cost about $12 million. The proposed projects would be the first step toward a $150 million fix needed to keep overflow sewage and stormwater out of the Mohawk River.

Stimulus Spotlight
After receiving $5 million in federal stimulus money, the Long Branch, New Jersey’s Sewerage Authority is about to embark on a $19 million upgrade of a treatment plant, assorted pumping stations and many sanitary sewer lines.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has announced that all of its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for wastewater infrastructure are now under contract. The contracts are spread across 42 parishes, funding 55 projects.

Sewer Rate News
Cyrus, Minnesota
Hudson, New York
North Tonawanda, New York
Vacaville, California

In President Obama”s Fiscal Year 2011  Budget released today, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund received $2 billion and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund received $1.287 billion. The proposed budget levels for the SRF programs are $100 million less than each program is receiving for FY 2010, but near its historical highs.

Headlines
Sewer problems are plaguing a street in Gautier, Mississippi that has a lingering sewer smell that has affected residents for years after every heavy rain. The city is spending $12,000 to clean out a sewer line that affects the street and installing a liner in a sewer main at a cost of $100,000.

Gloucester, Massachusetts is set to borrow $20 million to pay for federally mandated sewer improvements — including a renovation of a wastewater treatment plant and continuation of a four-year-old combined sewer overflow project.

Stimulus Spotlight
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is planning to use money from the economic stimulus to replace part of the water system for the historic Onahu Lodge in the Kawuneeche Valley.

Nearly $16 million in economic stimulus bonds will be used to improve water systems in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The first part of the two-pronged water project would establish a water main using $11 million of the bonds.

Sewer Rate News
Livonia, Michigan
Pima County, Arizona
Temple, Georgia
Worcester, Massachusetts

In Alameda, California a 24 inch main broke early this morning flooding a road that had water as deep as 3 feet. Crews also needed to rescue a driver, whose Dodge Neon became stranded in the standing water.

Headlines
Residents and businesses in a section of Jersey City had reduced water pressure yesterday following a water main break. An estimated 2,000 customers were afected by the leak.

Police in Gilbert, Arizona advised drivers to avoid an intersection where a water main broke. There was no immediate word on what caused the break.

Stimulus Spotlight
Stimulus money and other government dollars will fund the construction of San Juan County’s $3.2 million sewer line extension project in Kirtland, Arizona will create new construction jobs.  The new sewer line is funded with about $900,000 in federal stimulus funds in addition to grants awarded by the EPA and the state’s Environment Department.

The Housing Authority of the City of El Paso, Texas is moving forward with two projects to replace obsolete water and sewage lines.  Both will be funded entirely with federal stimulus money.

Sewer Rate News
Cherokee, Iowa
New Albany, Indiana
Onondaga, New York

In Texas, the Tarrant Regional Water District has received $101.6 million in financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board to help with the design and planning of a 179-mile pipeline that will bring more water from East Texas to the Metroplex.  The $1.9 billion pipeline is a joint project with Dallas Water Utilities.

Headlines
Residents and businesses in a section of Jersey City, New Jersey had reduced water pressure this morning following a water main break. Full service is not expected to be restored until some time tomorrow.  An estimated 2,000 customers are affected by the leak in the 30-inch main.

Westville, Illinois officials praised their gas and water workers on Tuesday for their efforts in repairing five separate water main breaks in the past three weeks.  The 80-year-old water mains beneath the streets had broken in recent weeks, requiring emergency repairs.

Stimulus Spotlight
The EPA mandated the city of Zanesville, Ohio replace combined sewers where, when the storm flow exceeds the pipe’s capacity, they discharge to the river.  Although the project will cost a combined $30 million, the city did get some help from the government.  The city applied for and received funding from the stimulus program for three different projects that were sewer related.

A $15 million sewer system overhaul in Medford,  New Jersey is advancing this month with the help of federal stimulus funds.  The revamp of the town’s 41-year-old sewer plant is intended to make wastewater treatment more efficient and reliable for its 5,100 customers.

Sewer Rate News
Davenport, Iowa
North Kansas City, Missouri
Norton Shores, Michigan
West Cape May, New Jersey

Three water main breaks today in Los Angeles have kept the city’s Public Works department busy. Since September 1, the city has recorded more than 35 major ruptures in its water system where streets were flooded and the pavement buckled.

Headlines
Public works crews were busy for hours in Stowe,  Pennsylvania after a water main ruptured.  The 24-inch main likely ruptured because of  excess pressure in the system, and approximately 55 customers were without water until the main could be repaired and the water was found safe for consumption.

A water main break in Nederland, Colorado closed the towns’s middle school and high school after both buildings were without water service.

Stimulus Spotlight
Federal economic stimulus funding for two local wastewater projects were formally approved Monday, when the state released $185 million for projects across Massachusetts.  North Attleboro is getting $441,000 to detect and fix leaks in its sewer system and Dighton-Rehoboth Regional schools will receive $650,000 for a new sewage treatment facility.

The town of Batavia, New York has received $850,000 in money from the economic stimulus to upgrade more than 10,000 feet of lines in its sewer district. Work should begin in the spring and will take about a year to complete.

Sewer Rate News
Edwardsville, Kansas
Great Falls, Montana
Olney, Illinois

Today, the City Council of Jackson, Mississippi was expected to ask the state legislature for money to start replacing its aging water lines so that they have fewer breaks. During the recent cold weather, the city had 150 water main breaks.

Headlines
The North Carolina Department of Natural Resources is looking into large area sewer spills that occurred in Johnson County due to the heavy rainfall on Monday.

Despite problems with its newly expanded wastewater, Buffalo, Missouri is only one of three municipalities in Missouri to be nominated for the state’s Wastewater of the Year award.

Stimulus Spotlight
State and local officials were in Putnam, Connecticut yesterday to announce that two federal stimulus-funded water and sewer projects would create 110 local jobs.

Provincetown and Wellfleet, Massachusetts will receive the lion’s share of almost $30 million in federal stimulus grants for local water and sewer projects on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

Sewer Rate News
Brownsville, Texas 
Madison Township, Ohio
Monmouth, Illinois
Sheffield, Ohio

Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal (D) announced today the release of $6.6 million in federal stimulus money to reduce sewer overflows affecting rivers in the cities of Springfield and Chicopee.

Headlines
An early-morning water main break in Walnut Creek, California caused the subsequent break of a natural gas line, prompting the evacuation of a few homes.

A water main break sent thousands of gallons of water flowing onto the street, flooding several homes and businesses in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday.

Stimulus Spotlight
Lake Hamilton, Florida has received a welcome surprise, a $190,000 grant from the economic stimulus to install new water lines. The new lines will replace older lines that break frequently.

After talking about it for 30 years, Barre, Vermont is close to replacing its century-old sewer lines. Stimulus funding would pay for 95% of the $15 million project, but the city has to come up with 2% of the road construction money, plus another million dollars to replace old sewer pipes. That’s a $1.8 million bond voters will be asked to approve on Town Meeting Day.

Sewer Rate News
Gerber, California
Sioux City, Iowa