The Clean Water America Alliance will host an award ceremony to recognize the 2012 U.S. Water Prize winners. A broad array of national water and environmental leaders will attend this invitation-only celebration. A hand-crafted, water-inspired, ceramic art work commissioned from internationally acclaimed potter Miranda Thomas will be presented to the awardees: by alphabetical order – PepsiCo Frito-Lay, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Philadelphia Water Department, Project WET Foundation, Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The Clean Water America Alliance will announce the 2012 winner(s) of the U.S. Water Prize as a special feature during the Virtual H20 conference on February 21. President Ben Grumbles will introduce this year’s winners and feature their award winning nominations during the webcast.

Already a hot topic, the friction over “fracking” is shaking up even more with recent quakes in Ohio and other areas. The “shale rush” trend, prompted by technology breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing over the last decade, has raised questions about environmental and public health impacts. Water is a particular concern.

The Clean Water America Alliance is mobilizing a network of leaders representing an array of research foundations, federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to unite for Sustainable Integrated Water Management (SIWM). The goal is to reach points of consensus, sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and begin to develop an action plan that will lead to the advancement and implementation of “One Water Management.” In addition, this action-oriented network will work hand-in-hand with research institutions to analyze best practices, support demonstrations, and test decision-making tools for utilities. The Alliance will organize the first meeting of leaders, potential MOU signatories, by invitation only, on February 10, 2012, in Washington D.C., at the Dupont Hotel. This meeting will be supported by the Water Environment Research Foundation. The strength of this network may act as the basis for research funding decisions over the next 2-5 years in SIWM.

In a webcast designed to present an overview of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Christopher Harto of Argonne National Laboratories, Washington, DC, will describe the generic process with a focus on correct procedures for drilling and installation of wells, injection of fracking fluids, recovery of natural gas, and methods for disposal of recovered fracking fluids and formation water. Carol Collier of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will discuss the proliferation of deep natural gas recovery wells in the DRBC, the opportunities and challenges these present for residents of the DRBC, and potential positive and negative impacts of this proliferation on the management of water and ecological resources in the DRBC.