ANR report says Vermont needs $156 million a year for clean water

A report by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, released today, says that the $17.6 million put in by state and federal agencies this year is barely a tenth of what Vermont needs to improve and maintain water quality across the state. The ANR estimates the annual need to be $156 million.
The State Clean Water grant program began in 1957 and over the prior 55-year period, the state and federal governments have appropriated approximately $696 million for municipal clean water system improvements, according to the Water Quality Remediation, Implementation, and Funding Report. While most of the money has come from federal sources, Vermonts share has been nearly $230 million. In 2012, the state contributed $10.5 million, while federal grants totaled $6.9 million.
The report states: "To achieve clean water, Vermonters need to fundamentally shift our collective thinking, set a statewide goal to achieve sustainable, high quality water, prioritize actions, and develop dedicated funding streams for these high priority clean water initiatives."
The ANR report suggests 16 possible "tools" for financing a statewide Water Quality Trust Fund. However, this slew of taxes and fees on a wide range of revenue sources falls far short of what is needed, even in the unlikely event that they were all enacted. See Table Below.
Executive Summary
Access to clean water is an integral part of the quality of life in Vermont. Often, however, the public assumes that clean water is readily available and cheap.
As a result, there is insufficient funding federal, state, and local dedicated to addressing water pollution problems. The needs are significant, including abatement of agricultural pollution, control of stormwater runoff, and completion of critical maintenance at wastewater treatment facilities.
To achieve clean water, Vermonters need to fundamentally shift our collective thinking, set a statewide goal to achieve sustainable, high quality water, prioritize actions, and develop dedicated funding streams for these high priority clean water initiatives.
Abundant water within Vermonts streams, rivers, lakes and ponds is among the States most precious resources.
Vermont has some 7,100 miles or rivers and streams, 300,000 acres of wetlands, and 812 lakes and ponds, totaling over 230 thousand acres. Sustaining and enhancing these water resources is not a short-term proposition to be measured in months or even a handful of years. Rather, it requires a continuous process of planning, developing, implementing, evaluating and adapting management strategies to ensure clean water throughout Vermont.
Vermonts water serves innumerable purposes. Households, schools, day-care facilities, and hospitals use water for drinking, washing, cleaning, and watering of gardens. Fishing, swimming, and boating draw thousands of tourists to our state each year. Commercial uses, ranging from agricultural operations to high-tech industries depend on clean water. The collective activities of more than 600,000 Vermonters are not without impact on our water resources. Stormwater runoff from the roofs of our homes and our driveways contributes small amounts of pollutants, such as dirt, road salt, sand, oil, antifreeze, pesticides, and fertilizer, that are washed into streams en masse when it rains or as snow melts. The cumulative impact of this pollution is significant. Similarly in an agricultural setting, rain washes soil and manure off of crop and hay lands and barnyards and ultimately into nearby streams. Unstable streams, partly due to the incremental development on floodplains, increase river bank and bed erosion and the associated water pollution from sediments and nutrients. Inadequately treated wastewater, whether it comes through a septic system or a wastewater treatment facility, contributes to damage to our state waters and can also adversely affect public health.
Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in the 1970s, Vermont and the rest of the nation have made significant gains in controlling water pollution through permit requirements that manage discharges from point sources.
The State and federal government undertook a shared responsibility to provide Vermonters with clean water, investing over $600 million for wastewater treatment. That investment continues to pay substantial dividends to public health and safety, local economies, and the environment.
Over time, however, nonpoint sources of water pollution from our land use activities have grown in significance in Vermont and nationally. Municipalities are confronted with polluted runoff from paved and unpaved roads, parking lots, and lawns. Municipalities are facing unprecedented needs associated with aging sewer pipes and water and wastewater treatment facilities. Farms are facing similar challenges, as farmers are being asked to make pollution control investments at the same time they are seeing lower milk prices and higher fuel costs.
There are increasing federal requirements for action on Lake Champlain, Lake Memphramegog and the Connecticut River, as well as 18 stormwater runoff impaired streams across the state.
Nationally, we need to once again elevate in the publics consciousness the importance of making clean water a priority for sufficient resources in federal, state and local budgets. Our success in Vermont and elsewhere in restoring and preserving clean water for this and future generations will depend on three outcomes:
1. Controlling nonpoint sources;
2. Continuing to provide wastewater treatment;
and,
3. Raising the publics conscience that clean water is vital to our public health and economy, worthy of a shared responsibility, and an absolute priority for public investment.
Faced with these challenges, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 138 in 2012 which directs the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (VANR) to prepare a Water Quality Remediation, Implementation, and Funding Report. Our report, contained herein, investigates options to more effectively meet the States clean water investment needs. The Act also directs attention to how the State should establish a shoreland program to restore and protect lake health.
The report contains three chapters. The first chapter describes the municipal and statewide clean water challenges in 19 categories of need that cover runoff from stormwater and our rural road network, aging infrastructure of wastewater treatment and drinking water supply, the agricultural sector, flood resilience through river/floodplain/and wetland management, and lake shoreland protection. Each need includes annual costs for a ten year planning horizon and recommended actions. The total annual need in Vermont is estimated to be $156 million.
The second chapter analyzes 17 possible financial tools for generating additional revenue using ten separate criteria. This chapter also describes options to modify six current programs to offer greater support for the States clean water goals. The final chapter evaluates seven options for administering a statewide water quality trust fund and includes a description of existing statewide and regional organizations and how these organizations could play a greater role in delivering clean water programs throughout the state.
-----------------------
(1) Point sources are, any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include agricultural storm water discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture. 33 U.S.C. § 1362(14).Water Quality Remediation, Implementation, and Funding Report, Draft 12/14/12
(2) Nonpoint sources of pollution are sources that do not meet the Clean Water Acts legal definition of point source. Examples include runoff from developed areas, construction sites, and agricultural operations. Nationally, nonpoint source pollution is the leading causes of water quality degradation.
(3) Freedman, P., V. Bierman, J. DePinto., Hard Lessons, Simple Truths. Water Environment Federation. 2007, http://www.limno.com/pdfs/2007-01_Freedman_Hard_lessons.pdf.
Source: ANR 12.14.2012.http://www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/erp/docs/VANR_Act_%20138_DRAFT_Rep...