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Bonnie Lovelace,
Chief – Water Protection Bureau, Montana state, USA |
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Bonnie Lovelace has been the Chief of the Water Protection Bureau for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's Permitting and Compliance Division since January 1997. She oversees Water Quality Act requirements for water discharge permitting including MPDES, groundwater, non-point source, pesticides, 318 authorizations (turbidity), and 401 certifications (meeting water quality standards for a federal approval).
In an interview she raises issues which find echo in India as well. Water is recycled in Montana, yet, it is not used for household purposes. India also faces a resistance to use recycled water. Montana has recently passed a law for using this water for simple purposes like gardening, though the law is yet to be implemented.
Montana's experience is also interesting from the standpoint of individual usage of water. There, most of the households draw ground water and pay accordingly. Groundwater usage charges are hardly applied in India, thereby allowing huge extraction of water across the country. Interestingly, in Montana "water rights" are mostly accorded by the government for using water.
About the USA, she says that the water infrastructure in the country is aging and urgently needs attention. Sounds like India? Seems water still does not receive the attention it deserves at two of the world's biggest democracies.
How the water is supplied to households in Montana? Is it fit for drinking? Or, is some purification required?
The government in general does not supply all the distribution lines. Mostly people dig their own wells & draw water from ground. The water of most of the ground-water systems in Montana is fit for drinking except for the occasional need for a chlorination system. Surface water systems and groundwater systems under the influence of surface water sometimes require some treatment, including filtration and disinfection.
Is this water enough to meet the requirements of households & industry? Is there any law to check/control the extraction of ground water?
Montana is largely a rural state. While there are some public systems supplying industry needs in and around cities, many of the water systems for households and industry are provided on an individual basis. Home development may include drilling wells just for that household or an industry may drill a well for its use. Some industries use surface water as their supply. Most water use requires a water right to be granted by the state agency charged with that duty (Department of Natural Resources and Conservation). However, there are many wells that are exempt from the water right process-up to 35 gallons per minute or 10-acre feet per year. This exempt process provides plenty of water for a home.
What are the user charges per litre of water?
Water suppliers charge their customers based upon usage amount and the costs of maintaining the distribution system. Costs in Montana typically vary from $6( around 240 Rs) per month to hundreds of dollars per month. For example, I live in Helena, Montana, the capitol city, but not the largest city in our state, and pay about $40(1600 Rs) per month in the winter and about $90(3600 Rs) per month in the summer when we water our lawn.
Since ground water extraction is charged in Montana, what is the basis of such charges? Extractions of various households may differ, how does that count?
Groundwater extraction occurs in a number of ways in Montana. Firstly, individual wells drilled on private property are at the cost of the owner. There is no ongoing cost for the use of the water. There is cost for electricity to run the pump and if equipment fails, the owner will pay for repairs or replacement. Secondly, if an area of land is developed for housing with a shared water supply through a well, it is typically a public water supply well which is maintained for the group of houses (and, if any, commercial enterprises are associated with the development) by either the developer or an association of homeowners. The management of the public water supply well would include maintenance of the well and any distribution lines, water quality testing and financing. Financing would usually be a monthly charge for the connection, not necessarily the amount of water used. If the water supply were limited, water meters might measure the usage and the customer would be charged for how much water they used.
What is the per capita water consumption in Montana-for household purposes?
While this value may vary based on the community, the typical per capita usage is about 379 litre per day per person. For approving the division of land for development, we maintain charts of different activities and the expected water consumption to assure an adequate and dependable supply is available before the development may occur. At a minimum, (a) a single-family water system must provide a sustained yield of at least 38 litre per minute over a one-hour period, six gallons per minute over a two-hour period, or four gallons per minute over a four-hour period. For purposes of the minimum flows identified in rule, sustained yield must be based on water that is supplied from the aquifer, not from well bore storage; and
(b) a shared water system must provide a sustained yield of at least 57 litre per minute over a one-hour period or 38 litre per minute over a two-hour period.
How is sewage managed in Montana? Do you have Public sewage treatment plants or do small communities set up their own plants?
Sewage is managed in a number of ways, either by individual onsite systems at an individual home, through a community system for a group of homes or a large public system for a city or a town. An individual system at a private home usually consists of a septic tank and drainfield.
Do these treatment plants generate recycled water? How do you use this recycled water? Is it supplied back to the households?
Some treatment systems provide treated water that is suitable for application to the land for disposal or crop watering. Rates of application are determined by crop needs. To date, no system is using recycled water to provide for household needs. Montana's most recent Legislature passed a law allowing gray water to be used at homes for garden watering and other simple uses. The regulations to implement this new law are not yet finished.
Montana has elaborate guidelines for discharging waste water in rivers. How far are these complied with?
Montana's regulations for wastewater discharges to surface waters are consistent with national laws. For groundwater discharges, Montana is more stringent that any national requirements. We operate a permitting system at the state for discharges to our state waters that imposes effluent limitations, monitoring and any relevant operational constraints needed to keep our waters clean. Compliance is good overall, but some individuals may discharge without first obtaining a permit. Enforcement actions may occur if such dischargers are caught and do not get permitted properly.
What water problems is Montana facing? How do you seek to resolve these?
A major water problem in Montana arises over water rights for basins that may be appropriated. We have a doctrine of first in time, first in right. So, someone with a water right established in 1895 can force someone with a water right established in 1965 to stop using water if there is not enough for all uses. This situation has historically been focused on surface water use for irrigation of crops. With the level of development for housing we see in parts of our state, the water rights are becoming more complicated. One complication is the interaction of groundwater and surface water and how groundwater use interferes with surface water in a stream. There is currently a legislative committee studying this situation with information from scientists and interested parties to discuss whether or not we need to amend our laws.
Another water issue in Montana involves water quality. After years of historic land practices that have affected our water quality, we have many water bodies and stretches of streams that are impaired for some designated uses (drinking water, fishing, swimming, for example). We are working to identify the sources of pollution and begin an effort to clean up our waters.
What water issues (water pollution, shortage, transmission loses, wasteful consumption etc) are a problem in the USA?
The USA is a very large country with highly diverse terrain. The water resource problems of one area may not afflict another area. There is plenty of water in some areas and drought in others. There is very clean water in some areas and not in others. However, some commonality exists. The infrastructure for water supply is aging in our country. Many older cities and towns need to upgrade their treatment and delivery systems. This applies to both drinking water and wastewater systems. Water conservation is an issue all Americans and, in fact, all citizens of the world, need to embrace. This can be accomplished through personal commitment, manufacturing of water conservation appliances (toilets, washing machines, for example), and low impact development. Additionally, the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and personal care products we all use are beginning to show up more frequently in our water resources. We need to develop ways to stop this change and to treat the waters already polluted. Most treatment scenarios and designs for wastewater never considered the need to treat for this suite of pollutants.
So there are water issues in USA, but the Presidential candidate race is on, and as it appears to people on this side of the globe, candidates are rarely discussing water. How do you account for this water-ignoring political system of the USA?
The American political races will include discussion of whatever is of most importance to the candidates and what they believe citizens want them to address. While water issues do not come to the forefront in any given race for office, the politicians that are in office are aware of the need to address water. Infrastructure improvements and how to pay to pay for them is the main item on water found in recent Congressional actions. Bills to make law changes and to address the environment also come up from time to time. Federal resources support federal, and to some degree, state, agencies that study water issues, develop water quality standards, enforce our environmental laws and develop ways to treat our waters. Larger issues that affect big portions of the U.S. get more attention. These include drought, disasters, energy development, changes in the quality of our offshore environments and many others.
Another aspect of water-borne disaster is extreme events. Asia had the Tsunami & America, Hurricane Katrina. A section of the people in India considers it retaliation by water as humankind encroaches upon its territory. Mumbai, our commercial centre, is largely an encroachment upon the Arabian Sea, and therefore is highly vulnerable to ocean-borne disaster. What is the situation in the US? Could you give an account of similar encroachments into the coastline, making coastal areas vulnerable in the USA?
There is no question that the USA has thousands of miles of coastline. We do have some regulation of what can be built on the coastline, but it differs from state to state. The same is true for building along rivers and lakes. Historically, many settlers in our country began their settlements along the waterways. Today, many communities are changing this trend. As old structures are torn down, only low impact
development may replace it. This kind of practice has a long way to go. I don't see this changing dramatically. However, the safety, design and buffer requirements may continue to improve.
Indian states often undergo interstate river water disputes over sharing of river water. How is the situation in US? Do you have river water disputes with states bordering Montana?
Disputes that cross borders occur in the US and between Montana and its neighboring states. An example of recent activity in a border dispute is occurring with the state of Wyoming to our south. A few rivers flow from Wyoming to Montana in an area that is being developed for coal bed methane extraction. In order to release the methane from coal seams, large quantities of water must first be removed from the aquifers. That water is typically discharged to surface streams. Because the water is often very salty, disputes over the impact of the salts to a number of resources is what the dispute is about-mostly irrigation and aquatic life in the streams. Montana has developed water quality standards to limit the impacts that others do not want to meet.
"The next world war is likely to be fought about water". What's your take on it?
Speaking only for myself, I do not really know if a war or wars would be fought on water. The American West certainly experienced water conflicts in our early history. Today, however, if the total impacts to water we are seeing in the environment continue, disputes could certainly abound. Where water flows across political boundaries, the earlier the governments and citizens can come to agreements regarding the quantities and quality of water available, the better for all. The day may come that all water must be treated to be used for human consumption. If that happens, what would have already happened to the planet?
Some more information:
http://www.wwn-online.com/articles/58605/
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/blog/index.php/2008/02/18/study-says-lake-mead-could-dry-up-by-2021/
Interview by Ashutosh Bhardwaj
Delhi
Feb 2008
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Copyright India Water Portal.
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