Meet the 2024 WAVE Cohort!

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants. Here is a quick introduction of Victor, Michelle, Mia, and Georgina!

PNCWA SW Committee Quarterly Newsletter

During the first half of 2024, the Stormwater Committee successfully hosted three Stormwater Learning Hours, supported a workshop at the PNCWA Spring Summit, and is currently in the middle of organizing a Service Event at the annual PNCWA Conference in Boise, ID! Please find information on our past and upcoming events below.

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. This month, you get the opportunity to meet the WAVE Leadership Team for 2024, who have been working hard to continuously improve the WAVE program. Here is a quick introduction of our fearless chair, Asa, and our three awesome leaders, Angela, Juliana, and Anu!

PNCWA Participates in Water Week 2024 by sending 5 members to Washington DC

The National Water Policy Fly-In, part of National Water Week, took place the week of April 8, 2024. Water Week provided water sector professionals to come together in a forum to hear updates from our national water advocacy organizations and key federal officials and members of Congress about ongoing and emerging policy initiatives occurring at the federal level. The event culminated with Fly-In participants engaging with congressional lawmakers and staff from their respective home States

Date and Time: June 20, 2024 Tour at 4:00 PM, Social at approximately 5:15 PM
Hosts: PNCWA Utility Management Committee, Lower Columbia Section, Students and Young Professionals, and Clean Water Services. Tour led by Jeff Hart. 

Join the Utility Management Committee, in partnership with the Lower Columbia Section and the Students and Young Professionals on a tour of Clean Water Services’ Fernhill Wetland in Forest Grove. There will be time afterward to socialize with old friends or make new ones at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove.

Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPD – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.

Good folks,

I wanted to write about a “hot topic” this month.

Student Design Competition. We are looking for volunteers to help out with judging the competition and will involve the following tasks, review of design notebook, attend video call where teams present project, submission of graded rubric for each team, debrief call to discuss team grading/score. If this s something you would be interested in, please reach out to Sam Nieslanik at Sam.Nieslanik@kimley-horn.com.

Learn More

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants. Here is a quick introduction of Theresa, Celeste, Max, and Mo.

Theresa Passe

The Leadership Development Committee is excited to continue our book club discussion series on April 18th from 11:00 am to noon PT. We’re reprising the January discussion with Designing Your Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The book introduces design thinking to living, learning, and succeeding in our work lives. The concept is thinking like a designer. What exactly does that mean?

Design Thinking Includes:

Join us for a tour and social on April 17th, 2024, at the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board (HARSB)! Starting at 3 pm, we’ll tour the facility then head over to Bees Knees Whiskey Bar at about 5 pm for a social gathering. If you’re interested, please register here – it’s free for everyone! The tour will provide 0.2 CEUs for Washington and Idaho, pending approval. This event is hosted by the Students and Young Professionals Committee, but everyone is welcome to attend.

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants. Here is the first round!

Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPD – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.

The Mentoring Program pairing survey is now open and is scheduled to close end of the day on Monday, March 18th. This program is a great way to network, share with and learn from others in the industry. The survey will help to match participants with an appropriate protégé/mentor to fit what each party wants to get out of the program. Each mentor/protégé will be notified of their pairing via email, and the journey begins as soon as each mentor/protégé accepts the pairing and commits to developing the relationship! Teams are encouraged to meet at least once each month, but we leave it up to the mentor and protégé to set their own goals and determine which method(s) of communication work best for them. Please fill out the online pairing survey below and spread the word to your organizations. For any questions, reach out to Lauren Tetzloff or Almi Mansaray. 

Mentorship Pairing Survey

Oregon

• DEQ is asking for public comment on proposed rule amendments for the draft TMDL and Water Quality Management Plan for the Willamette Subbasins to address temperature impairments. DEQ will consider comments received by 4pm on Feb 23, 2024. A public hearing will be held Feb 16, 2024 at 9am. View the rulemaking page for more information.

Hi everyone and welcome to the Stormwater Committee! This article is the first quarterly newsletter from the Stormwater Committee to provide information on past and upcoming committee events.

2023: A Year in Review

Join us for a tour and social on April 17th, 2024, at the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board (HARSB)! Starting at 3 pm, we’ll tour the facility then head over to a bar (TBD) at about 5 pm for a social gathering. If you’re interested, please register here – it’s free for everyone! The tour will provide 0.2 CEUs for Washington and Idaho, pending approval. This event is hosted by the Students and Young Professionals Committee, but everyone is welcome to attend.

Please consider supporting the cohort through participation or sponsorship!

The WAVE program engages students and emerging professionals from diverse backgrounds with the water industry through a series of workshops and attendance of the 2024 PNCWA conference. The workshops focus on the various paths within the water industry, networking, skills development, employment opportunities, and conference preparation. Each month until the conference, we will highlight our participants and the program. Logo, company name Description automatically generated.