The following is a transcript of the WaterWorld Weekly Newscast for January 23, 2017. Hi, I’m Angela Godwin for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you water and wastewater news headlines for the week of January 23. Coming up… Court upholds EPA water transfer rule Manual offers guidance for making wastewater projects more sustainable Scientists develop method to extract radioactive elements from water California water allocation estimate increases after winter storms Matt Damon talks water at World Economic Forum Last week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency when it deemed the agency’s 2008 ‘water transfer’ rule reasonable — reversing a previous 2014 decision. The rule permits government agencies to transfer water between waterbodies without an NPDES permit. The case centered around the transfer of water from the Schoharie Reservoir in the Catskills to Esopus Creek via an 18-mile-long tunnel that environmentalists maintain deposited dirty water into the popular trout-fishing stream. Eight other states, as well as several environmental groups, joined New York in opposing the rule. A dozen states, along with New York City, supported it. The Water Environment Federation’s Envision Task Force has released a tool to help the water sector apply the Envision® sustainability rating system to wastewater infrastructure projects. The Envision system and planning guide was developed in 2013 by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University. It provides metrics that can be used to compare the strengths of design ideas for infrastructure projects by awarding points and credits on 60 criteria in five categories related to sustainability. WEF’s task force assessed the system’s relevance to wastewater and in its new manual, “Applying Envision 1.0 to Wastewater Projects,” rates the applicability of each of the Envision credits. The manual also describes each objective, reasons for the relevance rating, potential areas in which to apply credits, as well as additional resources. To learn more, visit the Sustainability topic in the “Resources” section at wef.org. Researchers at Rice University and Kazan Federal University in Russia have found a way to extract radioactivity from water and that they say could help treat contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. Research shows their oxidatively modified carbon (OMC) material is highly efficient at absorbing radioactive metal cations, including cesium and strontium. According to lead researcher James Tour, the material leverages the porous nature of two specific sources of carbon: an inexpensive, coke-derived powder known as C-seal F, and a naturally occurring, carbon-heavy mineral called shungite found mainly in Russia. OMC can also trap common radioactive elements found in water floods from oil extraction, such as uranium, thorium and radium. As a result of recent heavy rain and snow in the west, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has increased its estimate of this year’s State Water Project (SWP) supply from 45 to 60 percent of most requests. The state isn’t quite out of the woods yet. DWR Acting Director William Croyle said: “Our water supply outlook is definitely brighter, but we still haven’t shaken off the effects of our historic drought.” Many in the state still depend on bottled water and some reservoirs remain low. DWR said that with more rain and snow in the forecast, it hopes to be able to increase the allocation further. Final allocations will be announced in April. In international news, last week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Matt Damon highlighted the need for clean water and sanitation in the world’s poorest areas. The actor was joined by Gary White, the co-founder of his non-profit organization Water.org, at a packed Q&A session to discuss why he wants to provide safe water to millions of people worldwide. “I mean leaving aside the fact that every 90 seconds a kid is dying because…