Date
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Time
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location Name
KICC M107 (Level 1)
Name
Making Water a Positive to Promote Economic Development
Track
Industrial Pretreatment
Description

Industry and commerce are increasingly developing manufacturing, data centers, and high-tech facilities in the US to address supply chain needs, support the energy transition, and support the ever-growing digital world. Industrial and commercial development presents a variety of benefits including job creation and increased tax revenue but it also creates risk for utilities. Industry and commerce typically approach states and municipalities early in the development process, seeking service pricing and incentives. At this point, they typically have little work done on utility needs, so there is high uncertainty around the utilities and services they need. Developers move quickly, meaning they do not provide much advance notice to municipalities. Some of the risk factors associated with these developments include: • Poor definition of water supply and wastewater discharge needs • Incomplete information on their waste streams • Sewer Use Ordinances that were developed before these types of facilities were envisioned • Lack of published effluent limitations for key pollutants • An increased need for TDS management and water reuse programs Municipalities can increase their attractiveness for development and reduce the risk from giving early cost estimates by implementing best practices that are focused on reducing uncertainty, increasing “speed to market,” and being cost competitive. To address this, water and wastewater municipal best practices will be outlined to support preparedness and implementation of these incentives to industrial and commercial development. This presentation provides an overview of approaches for water and wastewater utilities to be more prepared to effectively respond to developers in a manner that reduces risk and uncertainty. Examples of best practices include municipalities advancing preparatory work to be able to respond quickly, having resources that understand industry and how they use water and create wastewater, understanding potential stakeholder issues, and at times investing in specific infrastructure that enables development. A case study will be presented to demonstrate how a municipality’s preparedness using these best practices encouraged an industrial manufacturer to select that municipality for their facility.