Water Well Journal

September 2015

Water Well Journal

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Industry NEWSLINE NGWA Announces 2015 Groundwater Industry Award Winners T he National Ground Water Association congratulates the recipients of its 2015 Awards of Excellence, Outstanding Groundwater Project Award, and Divisional Awards, which will be presented this December during the Groundwater Expo and Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former National Ground Water Association President Scott Fowler, CWD/PI, has received NGWA's top honor as recipient of the Ross L. Oliver Award for outstanding contri- butions to the groundwater industry. Fowler, president of Dahlman Pump & Well Drilling Inc., Burlington, Washington, served as NGWA's president in 2008 and received the Associ- ation's Standard Bearer Award in 2012. Other 2015 NGWA award recipients follow. Awards of Excellence • Sorab Panday, Ph.D., GSI Environmental Inc., Newport Beach, California—M. King Hubbert Award for major science contributions to the knowledge of groundwater • Robert Cleary, Ph.D., Princeton Groundwater Inc., Tampa, Florida—Special Recognition Award • John "Jack" W. Henrich, MGWC, CVCLD, Bergerson- Caswell Inc., Maple Plain, Minnesota—Standard Bearer Award Outstanding Groundwater Project Awards • CDM Smith Inc., Luxor and Edfu Groundwater Lowering at Antiquity Sites—Groundwater Protection Award • Layne Christensen Co., Scavenger Well Couple for Chloride Management in Baton Rouge, Louisiana— Groundwater Supply Award Divisional Awards • E. Scott Bair, Ph.D., Kitty Hawk, North Carolina— Keith E. Anderson Award for outstanding contributions to NGWA's Scientists and Engineers Division • James "Jim" Jackson, Alloy Machine Works, Houston, Texas—Manufacturers Division Special Recognition Award • H.A. "Bill" Mills, 2M Co., Billings, Montana— Supplier of the Year Award To learn more about NGWA Awards, visit www.NGWA.org/Awards. Energy Department Lowers Diesel-Price Forecast for 2015 The U.S. Department of Energy lowered its 2015 forecast for U.S. diesel prices 2 cents to $2.86/gallon but held its 2016 projection at $3.03, according to Transport Topics and Bloomberg News. Gasoline's average price is projected to average $2.48/gal- lon in 2015, the DOE's Energy Information Administration said in a monthly short-term energy outlook released in June. The motor fuel will average $2.55/gallon next year. U.S. gasoline demand is projected to climb 1.9% to 9.09 million barrels/day this year because of rising employment and lower prices, according to the report. Consumption is projected to slip by 0.2% in 2016. U.S. crude oil production will climb to a 45-year high in 2015 before slipping next year. U.S. output will advance 8.6% to 9.47 million barrels/day this year, the most since 1970, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on July 7. Monthly output is expected to continue moving lower through early 2016. "While U.S. crude-oil production is expected to decline over the months ahead, total output in 2015 is on track to be the highest in 45 years," EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski told Bloomberg News in an emailed statement. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark oil, will average $55.51/barrel this year, the report showed. Prices will average $62.04 next year. West Texas oil dropped 46% last year as supply grew. Prices fell 0.4% to $52.33/barrel on July 7. "The forecast decline in U.S. monthly oil production through early 2016 is the result of low oil prices, which pushed oil companies to reduce the investment in drilling that resulted in the lowest number of rigs drilling for oil in nearly five years," Sieminski said. June Home Sales Climbed to Highest Level in Eight Years B loomberg News reports sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed to an eight-year high in June as momen- tum in the residential real estate market accelerated. Closings on existing homes climbed 3.2% to a 5.49 million annualized rate, the most since February 2007, as reported by the National Association of Realtors on July 22. Prices rose to a record amid tight supply. The housing market has picked up in recent months as more jobs and historically low mortgage rates boost demand. Faster wage growth will be needed to help housing continue its recovery and become a bigger contributor to growth this year. Estimates for the pace of sales in the Bloomberg survey projected a gain to a 5.4 million pace in June. Forecasts ranged from 5.2 million to 5.52 million. Compared with a year earlier, purchases increased 9.6% in June on an adjusted basis. The median price of an existing home rose 6.5% from June 2014 to $236,400, the highest on record before adjusting for inflation. The number of existing properties on the market rose to 2.3 million in June, compared with 2.28 million at the end of May. The median time a home was on the market was 34 days, the fewest in records going back four years. Purchases of existing homes increased in all four regions of the country, led by a 4.7% gain in the Midwest. The housing market has strengthened, bolstered by a job market that's added almost 3 million workers to payrolls over waterwelljournal.com 10 September 2015 WWJ

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