[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO KEVIN SHAFER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 23, 2009

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
Mr. Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan 
Sewerage District (MMSD), on being named the new President of the 
National Association of Clean Water Agencies, NACWA. MMSD provides 
sewage treatment services and maintains watercourses for 28 
municipalities, including nearly all of Milwaukee County and portions 
of four surrounding counties, serving a population of about 1 million.
  Mr. Shafer joined MMSD in 1988, as the Director of Technical Services 
and four years later became MMSD's Executive Director. Before joining 
MMSD, Mr. Shafer spent six years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
and nine years with a private engineering firm serving as area manager 
of the Milwaukee office.
  Mr. Shafer has formulated numerous innovative MMSD programs including 
the Sweetwater Trust, a broad stakeholder group to enlist regional 
cooperation to protect the watersheds of the five-county Milwaukee 
metropolitan area through both structural and non-structural means. 
Further, under his direction, MMSD has invested in permanently 
protecting waterways from flooding and stormwater pollution runoff, by 
providing conservation easements to nearly 2,000 acres of undeveloped 
land. This program, called Greenseams, is a national model for green 
infrastructure in water pollution control. Mr. Shafer's innovation for 
both the environment and the economy is exhibited through a project to 
construct a landfill gas pipeline allowing MMSD to use a renewable 
source of methane gas in its treatment plant operations, while saving 
customers an estimated $148 million over 20 years.
  Mr. Shafer is an active leader on behalf of municipal wastewater 
agencies at the national level, helping to formulate sound federal 
water resource policies and legislation. He has served on the Board of 
Directors of NACWA since 2003, participating on numerous committees 
including the Clean Water Funding Workgroup and the Executive Committee 
of the Board. He has appeared before Congress on behalf of NACWA.
  Mr. Shafer is an exceptional leader and a public steward of water 
resources. He has devoted his engineering career to the protection of 
these environmental resources for current and future water users.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues of the 111th Congress to join me 
in congratulating Kevin Shafer on becoming the President of NACWA. 
Under his leadership, I have no doubt that NACWA will continue to lead 
the advocacy effort for national policies to protect and preserve the 
Nation's water resources for future generations.

                          ____________________