ILLINOIS WATER ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Volume 26, No. 3 - Fall 2005

As we transition from one Director to another, IWEA momentarily has three Directors, so we are sharing the space in this issue. My report will highlight meetings of the House of Delegates which occur at the beginning and end of the annual WEFTEC Conference. On Saturday Toby and I were representing IWEA and on Wednesday Chuck replaced Toby.

One of the highlights of the Saturday session was the approval of new student chapters. Thanks to the hard work of Greg Cargill and his Student Chapter Committee, IWEA accounted for 40% of the new student chapters! The new chapters were formed at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign and at the Illinois Institute of Technology and were co-sponsored by Central States, IWEA and the Illinois Section of AWWA. There was also some lively debate over a recommendation to "sunset" the Safety and Occupational Health Committee. After much concern expressed by several member associations (MAs), it was decided to appoint a special task force to review the role of this committee and report back for further consideration in 90 days. After that debate concluded, there was another controversy over proposed amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws. The summary information presented to the Directors implied that the right of the House of Delegates to review and approve future recommendations to sunset other committees was being eliminated. However, one delegate finally pointed out that this review function was still assured by a different clause, which remained unmodified. It's a good thing he found that clause, because we were already running over a half-hour into lunchtime.

The afternoon was spent discussing key strategies for the future direction of WEF. Toby attended the one on WEF and MA Communications and served as a recorder for his session. Chuck participated in the one on Future Visioning and I chose Technical Products and Services. Each group developed some key strategies that will be assigned by the Long Range Planning Committee to various WEF committees for follow-up.

The Wednesday House of Delegates meeting went more smoothly. The Strategy Group reports were summarized and we learned that next year the strategies will be developed in a joint session with the Directors and the Committee Leadership Council. Incoming WEF President Michael Read (Pacific Northwest WEA) summarized his key goals for next year, including a new look at WEF's membership structure and global mission.

New Director Corley on
WATER, WATER, WERF and Term Limits

WEFTEC® 05 was a huge success not only thru the turnstiles but on the exhibit floor as well. Water was the opening theme of President Lynn Orphan, the Las Vegas transplanted "cheesehead" engineer completing her year as president. Her theme that "Water is Water" was apparent at the Monday onset and in the awards/gavel-passing ceremony Tuesday, November 1. The WEF initiative "Water is Life, and Infrastructure Makes It Happen" was introduced and will be rolled out in the spring of 2006. "Water for People", a funding organization for the world's water-poor areas, has become the official WEF charity. These two, far from separate, blend the idea water is a necessity to life, a resource and commodity we must protect, clean, reuse and provide where it is scarce.

Some of the highlights include the near record setting crowd of 18,110 in attendance as of noon Tuesday. The 221,650 square feet of exhibit space sold is a record. And 199,000 square feet of space is already booked and sold for 2007 in San Diego.

Washington DC is a very accommodating site with a much-improved feeling of safety and better transportation in the central city compared to past years. New buildings abound and most government buildings are in various states of rehab and repair as well. Local eateries are plentiful with choices that reflect the local tastes, foreign influences and the prolific chain establishments. Hotel distances were not so great as to prevent walking to and from the convention center, unless one considers my lodging venue. (I'm still trying to find someone to blame for the reservation.)

The workshops Sunday were well attended, as were the technical sessions. Even more than expected turned out to hear about rotting barley straw. Sessions were filled with studies and information on membrane technology, nutrient removal, water quality, CSO/SSO, design, automation, Asian recovery and a plethora of other important topics. One unique session included an entire afternoon devoted to water and wastewater infrastructure reconstruction in Iraq. In that session, the most common and recurring theme was the dedication and degree of accomplishment of the Iraqis, their engineers, operators and workers.

It was by no means an overriding issue, but there were some comments on the place of WERF (Water Environment Research Fund) in WEF and the projects it tackles. There seems to be a sense that it needs to fund projects that could produce results of a more practical nature. An expanded availability of its results might spur more contributions from a wider base.

Finally, we discussed "term-limits". It is only due to this that I am a Director. Oh, that's right, there was an election, but discounting that, follow along with me. Factually, Toby Duckett has met the WEF and IWEA requirement of a term-limit. I know it is not because of his lack of dedication, interest, accomplishments, respect, and notoriety here or at WEF. Toby has been a Director IWEA shall use as a standard and one that I will surely find difficult to replace. Nevertheless, with the input of Toby, the IWEA board, committees and members, I will try. So, thanks Toby. Your IWEA dues have been paid over and over.