Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this week that $2 million in conservation funds will be sent to Ohio to help implement conservation techniques that will help improve water quality.

Itron, Inc. recently announced that the water department of the City of Bismarck, N.D. has selected Itron to help modernize its water distribution system and will manage the system using the Itron network deployed by Montana-Dakota Utilities Company (MDU).

Last week, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved financial assistance for water and wastewater improvement projects. The assistance approved by TWDB will allow these communities to finance water system improvements and water treatment plant expansions.

Construction?s positive employment continued in July as the industry?s jobless rate declined to 7.5 percent from June?s 8.2 percent and the industry gained 22,000 jobs, the Labor Dept. has reported.

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2015 Chairman?s recommendation and explanatory statement for the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

Some states are not maximizing the use of Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, resulting in ?missed opportunities? to improve water system infrastructure, according to the U.S. EPA.

Across the country, cities and towns are giving green infrastructure techniques a hard look, but evaluating their very different benefits can be daunting. While traditional gray infrastructure is proven and dependable, it is usually expensive and rarely adds beauty to the landscape.