Coyote Gulch

Thursday, November 9, 2006

AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference & Exposition

Here's a short report from the American Water Works Association's Water Quality Technology Conference & Exposition here in Denver. From the article, "Sustainable water resources, aging infrastructure, emerging contaminants and simultaneous compliance were just a few of the topics highlighted at the Opening General Session of the American Water Works Association's Water Quality Technology Conference & Exposition (WQTC) Monday at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Sally Gutierrez, national risk management research laboratory director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), discussed the importance of addressing challenges to sustainable water resources management, including population growth, urbanization, water scarcity and climate change. 'Sustainability of water resources is a global issue with tremendous challenges,' Gutierrez told a standing-room only crowd. 'It's important we look at those challenges to ensure the greatest possibility for future generations to enjoy clean drinking water.' Gutierrez outlined the practical challenges facing water utilities today, including more stringent regulations, emerging contaminants, aging infrastructure and security concerns. She also discussed EPA's interest in emerging contaminants like perchlorate and endocrine disruptors."
"colorado water"
6:34:33 AM

Democrats looking to the west to win national elections?
Will the Democratic victories out here in the West be enough to get a national focus on the region? Here's a article that looks at the prospects from the Denver Post. They write, "Tuesday's election results suggest that Democrats might want to stop sipping sweet tea and start donning cowboy hats if they want to keep winning national elections. 'The West has replaced the South' as a key region for the party to seek support, said Mike Stratton, a Denver-based Democratic strategist and adviser to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. 'It's an incremental thing. The trend is moving west.' That means Democrats likely will pay more attention to Western issues such as water, planning, environment and energy, he said. The Democratic Party already is giving the West more clout by slipping a Nevada presidential primary between Iowa and New Hampshire. And Denver is vying with New York to host the party's 2008 national convention. Democrats historically looked to the South, a region they dominated for a century after the Civil War, to put them over the top in national elections. Over the past 42 years, every Democrat elected president has been a Southerner. But Stratton pointed to Western Democrats' solid showing Tuesday as proof that the mesas and buttes of the West are more fertile soil for Democratic hopes. National Democratic chairman Howard Dean argued Wednesday that Republicans overplayed their hand on social issues in seeking Western votes. The West, he said, is 'not really Republican. It's more libertarian. But Republicans began to believe they had the right to tell everybody what to do in their private lives.' Former Democratic Montana Congressman Pat Williams said Westerners have a populist streak and are more worried about protecting their landscape than national leaders have realized."
"2008 pres"
6:20:21 AM