Member Update (MU03-20)

*To:*	Members & Affiliates*
*From:*	National Office
*Date:*	October 29, 2003
*Subject:*	WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH FOUNDATION’S 2003 RESEARCH NEEDS SURVEY
*Reference:*	MU 03-20
Attachment:	- WERF 2003 Research Needs Survey (pdf, ~200 KB)

AMSA Urges Public Agency Members to Complete WERF Research Needs Survey
The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is in the process of establishing its research priorities for 2004-2005 and the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) is working closely with WERF to ensure that publicly owned treatment work (POTW) priorities are voiced during this process. The attached WERF 2003 Research Needs Survey provides AMSA’s public agency members with a unique opportunity to prioritize their research needs. AMSA member input from the survey will then be used to help set the agenda for an upcoming meeting of WERF subscribers and its WERF Research Council to discuss and prioritize research topics. If your agency has already completed this survey through its participation in WERF, you do not need to complete it again.

Survey Completion Deadline Is November 21, 2003!
Because of the usefulness of the survey information, AMSA and WERF request that you fax the completed survey by November 21, 2003 back to representatives of both organizations. AMSA’s representative, Chris Hornback, can be reached by fax at 202/833-4657. The WERF representative is Stephanie Freno who can be reached via fax at 703/299-0742. Although the survey form is expected to be relatively easy to fill out, it may require the expertise of a number of agency staff and, as such, AMSA urges you to get started on it as soon as possible so as to meet the November 21 deadline. The survey is attached to this Member Update and also may be downloaded from AMSA’s website at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/membcomm/memupdate/mu03-20a.pdf. Again, we are requesting that your completed survey be faxed to both AMSA and WERF.

The survey will provide important information on what the highest priority research areas for your agency are — from biosolids to wet weather and technical water quality issues. The survey will also help WERF and AMSA determine which issues within each of the broader areas are top POTW priority research projects and, therefore, top candidates for research funding. The survey is largely self-explanatory but if you have any further questions please contact AMSA’s Chris Hornback at chornback@amsa-cleanwater.org or by phone at 202/833-9106.

* This Member Update is provided to private affiliate members for information only.