ANOTHER WATER ELECTION
In a hotly contested election, Jeff Ollinger defeated Lloyd Johnson by a vote of 456 to 335 for an open seat on the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District board. This is only the 4th such election in Colorado’s history, but the 3rd in 3 years. About 4,500 people were eligible to vote.
COLORADO WATERSHED ASSEMBLY (CWA) TO MEET
On Sept. 7-8, representatives of over 40 watershed groups and agencies will meet in Frisco, CO, to share information about current and upcoming watershed issues, as well as highlight the activities of watershed groups throughout the state.
The Assembly was created to give watershed groups a stronger statewide voice, to serve as an ongoing mechanism to funnel more resources to watershed groups and to amplify their public outreach and educational efforts. To attend, contact Carol Ekarius, Colorado Watershed Assembly, P.O. Box 490, Hartsel, CO 80449, 719-837-2737 or email <cwn@coloradowatershed.org>
COLORADO CITIES BUY UP FARMERS’ WATER
Aurora is the latest Colorado Front Range city to buy shares in an irrigation district to supplement city water supplies, and some say it could signal the end of the Arkansas Valley’s most famous crop, Rocky Ford cantelope, and maybe of farming in general. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 23 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_755935,00.html>
BYPASS FLOWS
At recent meetings of the Western States Water Council and the Gunnison Water Workshop, there were discussions of the controversial issue of bypass flows as a condition for special use permits for diversions or impoundments on National Forests. In the context of federal projects, then-acting Reclamation Commissioner Bill McDonald stated, “The debate boils down to: Who has ownership of water rights appropriated for Reclamation projects, the water users or the federal government? What is the nature of that ownership? and What conditions, if any, may be applied under state law?” The Forest Service continues to assert its authority to require facilities on Forest Service lands to bypass flows as part of federal permitting requirements — though USDA has used such discretionary authority with restraint. This policy is currently under review by the Bush administration.
Another issue discussed by the WSWC is disagreement between the states and federal agencies over the application of the Winter’s Doctrine to groundwater. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to address the question.
KEYSTONE SNOWMAKING SPREADS METALS
A study released July 3 confirms that snowmaking at Colorado’s Keystone Ski Area is spreading zinc and manganese from the Snake River into previously untainted streams. The water diverted from the Snake River for snowmaking carries concentrations of several heavy metals exceeding state standards. But water quality in streams with runoff still met protective drinking water and aquatic life standards during the 2000 snowmelt and runoff season when the samples were taken. In some cases, concentrations of zinc were up to 10 times higher than in reference streams thought to be unaffected by snowmaking. Some data suggests the zinc has affected Camp Creek’s macro-invertebrates, a group of animals that includes aquatic insects like stone flies and caddis flies. In comparison with a reference stream, researchers found a decline in the density of species that are sensitive to zinc, although overall stream health is still rated as fair to excellent based on aquatic life indices.
Ted Zukoski of the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies said the findings confirmed earlier concerns about snowmaking. “This report indicates that Keystone’s snowmaking is polluting these two creeks without a permit, and they can’t do that,” Zukoski said. According to Zukoski, the release of the metals through the nozzle of a snowgun may constitute a point-source discharge of pollution under the Clean Water Act, something that could require a state-issued permit. From a report by Bob Berwyn for ENN.
ALP MITIGATION
Bureau of Reclamation has released a plan to mitigate the impacts of constructing the Animas-La Plata Project. The plan intends to replace the 1,600 acres of vegetation and 134 acres of wetlands that will be lost with the construction of the project. The schedule for the $373 million project calls for the project to be completed by 2006 but construction is not planned to start until land acquisition is complete in 2003. Reclamation says the acquisition of land will likely be the most expensive part of the mitigation efforts.
To preserve recreation in the Animas River, pumping of water will cease during competitive river events. The peak pumping rate out of the Durango Pumping Plant, which will be across the river from Santa Rita Park, will be 280 cubic feet per second. Minimum river flows have been established for various times throughout the year. If those minimum flows are not met, pumping out of the river will stop. The minimum flow rate for the river is 160 cfs in October and November, 125 for December through March, and 225 for April through September.
PIPELINE FROM SAN JUAN RIVER TO GALLUP, NEW MEXICO PROPOSED
The pipeline is intended to create a long-term, municipal and industrial water supply to improve the standard of living for current and future populations and to support economic growth of the Navajo Nation and the city of Gallup. The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project has evolved as a major infrastructure initiative to supply approximately 40,000 acre-feet annually.
Recognizing the severe water supply problems facing the Navajo Nation and the city of Gallup, the Navajo Nation and the city agreed in 1998, to partner with the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to proceed with planning and developing the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act is proceeding. [A concern with this proposal is that it is likely to exceed New Mexico’s and Arizona’s share of the Upper Colorado River Compact allocations.]
STATES LOOK TO PROTECT WATER INTERESTS
At recent congressional field hearings, seven Western states dependent on Colorado River water agreed to give up some of their current water allocation in order to “help wean California from taking more than its share” says the SF Chronicle, AP 7/9. The states also want to make sure that they are “involved in discussions with Mexico this September about delivering more water” to help endangered species in the Colorado River Delta. At the hearings, Utah Rep. Jim Hansen also asked the states if they wanted “state-level peer review” of any ESA listings, saying the “act has gotten out of control.” Salt Lake Tribune; July 10
UPPER COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY PROGRAM
Although low water years are a part of the life cycle of the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker, the Recovery Program is taking proactive measures on major rivers throughout the Upper Basin to ensure that the fish will have sufficient water. The Recovery Program has agreements for reservoir storage of 34,250 acre-feet of water in Ruedi, Wolford Mountain and Williams Fork reservoirs. Water may also be available from Green Mountain Reservoir later this summer. This water is available to help meet the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s target of 810 cfs during dry years for the 15-Mile Reach, a short section of river in western Colorado between the town of Palisade and the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers in Grand Junction.
Utah’s revised razorback stocking numbers will be 8,230 fish per year (split between the middle and lower Green River) for five years.
For bonytail, Utah’s plan will propose stocking 6,300 fish (~200 mm) into each of three areas: the middle Green, lower Green, and lower Colorado River. The recovery goals call for two populations of bonytail in the upper basin, but we know the least about this species, so the stocking plans will basically aim at 4 populations.
There is no incidental take statement on the Tusher Wash diversion because FERC exempted the hydro facility from the licensing process.
The Service has asked FERC to rescind the exemption based on new information and go through a full licensing process; however, FERC may argue that there is no ongoing Federal action. Since both pikeminnow and razorback go in the canal, this legally constitutes “take” under the ESA. The question is whether the Program is willing to accept a certain level of “take” which we know is occurring because the fish go in the canal and are potentially stranded there.
The O&M costs are being evaluated at the Ouray National Fish Hatchery because they seem high compared to the Grand Valley facility.
BINATIONAL CO RIVER DELTA SYMPOSIUM
On 9/11-12, in Mexicali, Mexico, the US and Mexico will host a symposium to explore international laws and institutions; the plumbing and distribution system; and ecological and scientific information. The two countries have invited over 300 participants, half from each country, to improve the knowledge base of expert stakeholders and decision-makers.
The symposium is the initial implementation of Minute 306 of the river treaty between Mexico and the US. The Minute “establishes a framework for cooperation by the United States and Mexico through the development of joint studies that include possible approaches to ensure use of water for ecological purposes in the delta and formulation of recommendations for cooperative projects, based on the principle of an equitable distribution of resources.”
TRIBAL WATER
On Oct. 9-12, there will be a symposium on the settlement of Indian reserved water rights claims. The symposium will be held in St. George, Utah at the Holiday Inn. The primary meeting format will be panel discussions with presenters who have been involved in negotiated settlements representing tribal, state, and federal governments, private groups, and others. The meeting is sponsored by the Western States Water Council and the Native American Rights Fund.
DESERT SHRIMP
It’s been nearly a decade in the making, but the Woods Brothers Farm is thriving with its “Desert Sweet Shrimp.” The farmers are using groundwater that is only 6 parts salt per thousand, or less than one-fifth the salinity of the shrimp’s natural habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. At least a dozen shrimp farms like Woods’ now operate in the South and Southwest. After some initial success in 1999 and 2000, Woods tripled the size of his shrimp farm last year to more than 50 acres of pond bottom in Gila Bend, AZ. Now a number of crop farmers looking to diversify are employing the techniques, growing the crustaceans and recycling the water to the fields to irrigate grain, fruit trees and other crops. A concern is whether there is enough groundwater to support shrimp farming.
FIRST FISH OF ESA RECOVERY
“The Apache trout, Arizona’s state fish, is on the verge of becoming the first fish to be recovered from the endangered species list” says the Arizona Daily Star 7/16. Once inhabiting 600 miles of state waterways, by the 1960s the fish was found only in 30 miles of streams. After its 1973 listing, anglers, conservationists, the federal and state governments began a recovery program that protected remaining native populations while using a hatchery stocking program to restore it in other suitable streams.
WATER TRANSFER
The Salton Sea Authority adopted a resolution supporting the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Facilitation Act which, in part, will allocate $60 million to mitigate proposed water transfers’ effects on the Salton Sea.
IID TO LINE MORE CANALS
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors approved a funding agreement with the state Department of Water Resources
to line additional portions of the All-American Canal and the Coachella branch of the canal. The agreement calls for DWR to reimburse IID for all costs up to $126 million associated with the canal-lining project.
The lining of the canal would conserve 67,700 acre-feet of water annually lost to seepage. This water would be made available to IID and other parties subject to terms and conditions of the Quantification Settlement Agreement. Under the Salinity Control Program, Reclamation has already lined 49 miles of the Coachella Canal, saving 132,000 af annually.
THREAT OF DROUGHT LOOMS OVER CALIFORNIA
Another dry year next year in California, coupled with the state’s ballooning development and population, could mean a drought with far worse impacts than any in recent memory. Boulder Daily Camera (San Francisco Chronicle); July 23
IRRIGATION THREATENS PECOS BLUNTNOSE SHINER
Plans by the Bureau of Reclamation to empty two eastern New Mexico reservoirs to provide water for the Carlsbad Irrigation District “could spell trouble” for the threatened Pecos River bluntnose shiner says the Albuquerque Tribune 7/12. According to Forest Guardians the action would dry up certain stretches of the Pecos River in violation of a lawsuit settlement that requires the “government to maintain a certain flow in critical areas” needed to sustain the fish.
SANTA FE’S LIMITS ON LAWNS COME DOWN TO POLICING
Santa Fe has enacted strict limits on landscaping around new houses to conserve ever-more-precious water, but enforcing the ordinance will come down to conscience. Santa Fe New Mexican; 7/27 <http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?brd=2144&pag=460&dept_ID=367951>
NORTON NIXES REFUGE WATER APPEAL
In a move that “could have implications throughout the West,” Interior Secretary Norton is recommending that the Justice Department not appeal an “Idaho court’s ruling that denies water rights for a federal wildlife refuge on the Snake River” says USA Today 7/23. The Wilderness Society says that this “rare instance” of the U.S. not vigorously fighting for wildlife water rights sets a “terrible precedent.” It undermines the 1908 Winters Doctrine holding parks and refuges have “implicit rights to enough water to satisfy the purpose for which the lands were set aside,” and sends a message to other states that if “Idaho got away with it, so can we.”
RECLAMATION FUNDING
The House Appropriations’ subcommittee on Energy and Water has marked up its FY 2002 bill. The bill would provide $842.9M for the Bureau of Reclamation, an increase of $26.3M over FY2001 and $23.2M more than requested. The Committee has provided the funding necessary to maintain, operate, and rehabilitate Bureau projects throughout the western United States and protect the considerable Federal investment in western water infrastructure.
MONEY FOR THE MINNOW
More than $12 million in federal money is expected to go toward efforts to protect the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow in the coming fiscal year, says Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. He has secured $12.2 million in a funding bill that will be considered by the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee. He is the ranking Republican on the committee.
The money would represent a large increase from the $3.75 million included in the current budget for efforts to help the minnow. The money would go to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The bulk, $4.7 million, would be used for habitat restoration, such as creation of eddies and pools favored by the minnows. Another $2.5 million would be used for water purchases; $2.18 million would go to create two natural areas where captive minnows can be held and bred; and $1.1 million would be used to study the fish and the river.
Also included in the funding would be $950,000 for water quality research on the suitability of upper Rio Grande regions as minnow habitat, $120,000 for removing non-native trees in the bosque and $2,500,000 for the purchase of water from current contractors.
CALFED FUNDING
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has introduced California Ecosystem, Water Supply, and Water Quality Enhancement Act (S 976). The bill’s intent is to manage the water flowing into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay, give the go-ahead for several major new water storage projects. The Bay Delta, the 153-square-mile estuary where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meet, is the beginning of two huge networks of dams, reservoirs, canals, tunnels, pumping stations and other facilities — the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. They are the center of California’s water supply system providing water to farmers and cities in central and southern California and San Francisco.
Feinstein’s bill would authorize a variety of infrastructure project to increase water storage, improve water quality and improve flood control. The bill would also provide a short-term increase in water supply for some users and expand environmental restoration projects in wetlands.
California Rep. George Miller, who has long been a champion for providing more water for fish and wildlife, has introduced his own bill (HR 2404), which would authorize numerous water reclamation, reuse, recycling, desalination and groundwater banking projects.
SUSTAINABLE SALMON FUND
The 9th Circuit affirmed an Alaska District Court decision holding that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) applied not only to the waters in which the United States has a reserved water right, but to all waters within the state. The Court said, “A fair reading of ANILCA leaves no doubt that Congress intended to shift regulatory authority over fishing in waters in the State of Alaska to the federal government in order to protect customary and traditional subsistence fishing by rural residents.” (See 16 U.S.C. 1302(a)). The court stated that “to protect subsistence fishing only in those portions of a body of water in which the United States maintains reserved water rights is not to protect subsistence fishing at all.” However, the Court reemphasized the state’s ability to regulate fishing, quoting ANILCA, “if the state enforces a rural subsistence priority through the exercise of its own sovereignty, Congress will return primary regulatory authority over fishing to state stewardship. See id. 3115(d).” The federal government does maintain the authority to step in and regulate where the state fails to do so.
Currently, the United States is trying to decide whether or not to appeal the decision. For the full text of the decision, see Katie John v. Norton, V-90-00484-HRH.
STOCKING PROGRAM RESUMES
Bowing to pressure from fishermen, the California Dept. of Fish and Game has resumed stocking trout in the state’s remote lakes says the SF Chronicle, AP 6/26. The stocking was to have been suspended for 3 years while scientists determined if the “trout might be eating the tadpoles of a rare amphibian,” the Cascade frog. Sportsmen “feared fishing would be seriously hampered” and the stocking was resumed after a preliminary review found that “on first blush, it looked like the Cascade frog was doing pretty well.”
IDAHO POWER PLANT TO USE WASTEWATER
Backers of a proposed power plant in north Idaho say they’ll use treated wastewater instead of Spokane’s aquifer for about one-third of the plant’s needs. Spokesman-Review; July 25
KLAMATH RIVER BASIN NEWS
FARMERS GET DISASTER AID
A fiscal 2001 supplemental appropriations bill has passed that includes $20 million in disaster aid for drought-stricken farmers in the Klamath Basin of northern California and southern Oregon. The language reflects a behind the scenes compromise whereby the direct economic assistance to some 1,000 farmers is characterized as “drought disaster aid” and not compensation liked to efforts to protect endangered and threatened fish under the ESA. It is hoped that the disaster aid will help defuse tensions in the basin where lawless wise-use militants have embarked on a campaign of intimidation and destruction of property in defiance of federal and local laws.
NORTON REJECTS GOD SQUAD
Interior Secretary Norton determined that a petition by Klamath irrigation districts to invoke a federal panel empowered to “overrule provisions of the ESA to protect vital human economic interests” was not warranted says the NY Times 7/14. In rejecting the petition, Norton cited the need to work for a “long-term solution, so we do not find ourselves struggling each year” with the chronic water shortages that have plagued the region. She noted that the “federal government was preparing to provide the farmers with $20 million in financial aid, as a short-term solution.”
SENATE REJECTS KLAMATH ANTI-ESA RIDER
The Senate by a 52-48 vote rejected a rider by Oregon Senator Gordon Smith that would have exempted Klamath basin irrigators from compliance with the ESA and in all likelihood led to the extinction of at least 2 species protected under the Act. Not only was the vote a victory for the imperiled mullet, but the fishermen, Native Americans, farmers and many others who depend on a healthy Klamath basin ecosystem for their livelihoods.
The vote was the first crucial test in an extraordinarily well-financed campaign by the administration and some Western legislators to use the plight of drought ravaged farmers as an excuse to begin dismantling the ESA piece by piece.
ECOSYSTEM CONTINUES TO UNRAVEL
Among the victims of the historic drought gripping the Pacific Northwest are the Klamath Basin’s 180,000 acres of federal wildlife refuges. The refuges are prime habitat for migratory birds on the “great migration corridor known as the Pacific Flyway” and the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states says the Oregonian 7/13. Because the refuges were created “after the federal reclamation project that supplies the farms” they are last in line to receive water and are “unlikely to get water until rain or snow arrives next winter.” With “80% of historic wetlands” already converted to farmlands, “biologists predict that more than 20,000 birds may die on the refuges from avian botulism in the fall.”
KITZHABER PROPOSES BEST AVAILABLE POLITICAL SOLUTION
Kitzhaber has proposed to “break the gridlock” by drawing down Upper Klamath Lake to provide additional water for farmers and Klamath River salmon fisheries reports the Seattle Times 7/19. Although the governor contends the plan would preserve the “future of agriculture in the Klamath Basin” while making a “significant commitment to habitat restoration for endangered species,” conservation groups say the plan falls “short of needs” for endangered mullet and threatened coho salmon and would jeopardize “Oregon’s largest freshwater marsh.”
HIGH PRICE FOR KLAMATH IRRIGATION
An op-ed in the Seattle Times 7/12 by former Oregon congresswoman Elizabeth Furse points out that the federal government’s “foolish and ill-conceived policy of replumbing the entire Klamath River system” to turn the arid basin into irrigated farmland, has come at quite a high price. Besides the basin’s native fish and wetlands that supported “one of the mightiest concentrations of migratory birds on the planet,” the “third-greatest” salmon and steelhead fishery in the U.S. was lost, costing an “estimated 3,700 fishing-dependent jobs.” The taxpayer subsidized government irrigation program was “even more devastating for the region’s numerous Indian tribes” whose treaty rights to have their fishing rights “protected for all time” were trampled, destroying the “backbone of their economy, culture and religion.”
IRRIGATION IRRITATION
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said that she had the legal authority to release a small amount of irrigation water for farmers to use in the Klamath Basin. All irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake has been cut off since April to protect endangered suckerfish and threatened coho salmon. Farmers said Norton’s decision to release water would do little good for their crops this season, and environmentalists said the move violated the Endangered Species Act. Other agri-business interests “clapped and cheered” as water reserved for imperiled wildlife flowed to “cattle ranchers who can use the water to green up pastures and hayfields” says the SF Chronicle, AP 7/25. “None of the water is expected to reach the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.” Interior Secretary Norton’s authorized release of Upper Klamath Lake water is a clear violation of the USFWS’s April 5, 2001 Klamath Biological Opinion say ESC sources 7/26. The non-discretionary “Terms and Conditions, Section III, Part 1, Page 35” expressly state, “When water is available in excess of that required for Upper Klamath Lake, Tule Lake and the Klamath River for other ESA purposes, the Bureau shall provide water to the Lower Klamath NWR for use in the maintenance of wetlands and other habitats and associated waterfowl populations necessary to support wintering bald eagles.”
BACKSTROKE TO THE FUTURE
Christopher Swain of Eugene, Ore., plans to swim all 1,243 miles of the Columbia River to call attention to what he describes as “a contaminated beauty.” The feds are now investigating the river for sources of mercury and other nasties. Swain, who works for Columbia Riverkeeper, will embark on the 160-day swim next summer; in the meantime, he’s in fundraising mode, trying to raise $1 million for protection of the river. The Columbia won’t be the first river Swain has practiced his backstroke on: In 1996, he swam 210 miles from Vermont to the Atlantic Ocean to raise the public profile of the Connecticut River. From the Daily Grist, straight to the source: Eugene Register-Guard, Dylan Darling, 25 Jul 2001 <http://www.registerguard.com/news/20010725/1d.cr.swimmer.0725.html>
IDAHO POWER AGREES TO WATER RELEASE
Idaho Power Co. has reached an agreement with the NMFS to “operate its Hells Canyon hydroelectric dams at full capacity” in order to increase flows in the Snake River to “aid the migration of the ocean-going salmon” says the Idaho Statesman 7/12. The deal avoids a “legal dispute over water among the federal government, the state and private interests” and how much is required to protect endangered fish.
IDAHO IRRIGATORS AGREE TO LEAVE WATER IN LEMHI FOR SALMON
Idaho farmers have signed a deal with state and federal officials to keep a minimum flow in the Lemhi River to protect migrating salmon. After the river dried up last year, officials threatened to file charges under the Endangered Species Act. Spokesman-Review; 7/19 <http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=071901&ID=s994025&cat=section.idaho>
MISSOURI RIVER DIVIDES DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS
The two top Democrats in Congress are fighting over management of the Missouri River again this year, with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota pushing for changes in the flow regime and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri opposing them. Billings Gazette (AP); July 5 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/testdex.php?section=local&display=content/local/riverfight.inc>
FARMED FISH PARASITES DEVASTATE WILD SALMON
Fish farms are likely the cause of a devastating outbreak of sea lice that threatens millions of juvenile wild salmon around northern Vancouver Island, according to local experts. The outbreak was discovered in the Broughton Archipelago about a month ago. An estimated 400 million wild salmon smolts will likely die as a result of the infestation.
Sea lice are one of the most serious problems facing the salmon farming industry worldwide. Outbreaks on farmed salmon are common and are known to cause high mortality. Major outbreaks have occurred in Norway, Scotland and Ireland, where farmed salmon operations have been in place for years and wild salmon stocks have crashed.
B.C. INDIAN DIVERS TO COUNT ESCAPED SALMON
Sixty B.C. tribal members will be trained to snorkel provincial rivers, count spawning salmon and distinguish Atlantic salmon escaped from coastal fish farms. Vancouver Sun; July 5 <http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/news/010705/5057912.html>
CANADIAN WATER FOR THE SOUTHWEST?
President George Bush says he wants to talk to Prime Minister Jean Chrtien about piping Canadian water to the parched American southwest. “Our nation must develop a comprehensive water strategy, particularly as these western states continue to grow,” Mr. Bush told The Globe and Mail in a meeting with a select group of foreign reporters at the White House.
Ottawa says it’s against the practice of bulk water exports. Under NAFTA, water is exempted from rules that require an open two-way trade in commodities. However, the agreement states that once Canada starts trading in bulk water, free-trade provisions will kick in, requiring open trade to continue. That could limit the power of federal and provincial governments to restrict water exports. This is believed to be the first time that Mr. Bush has raised the issue of Canadian-water imports. Nor do Canadian officials recall former president Bill Clinton ever speaking on the issue.
TAKING THE “FORCE” OUT OF ENFORCEMENT
The U.S. EPA is moving ahead with plans to slash federal environmental enforcement programs and shift enforcement resources to the states. But the agency’s own inspector general and analyses of EPA data by the Environmental Working Group have shown that many states seem to have little interest in enforcing the nation’s clean air and water laws. The Bush administration plan would cut EPA enforcement staff by 8 percent while providing $25 million in new enforcement grants to the states. Rep.
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said, “The president’s cuts take the environmental cop off the beat.” Washington Post, 7/22 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32200-2001Jul21.html>
GULP OF MEXICO
The Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, where nutrient pollution from farms in the Midwest has choked off fish life, is bigger this year than ever before, according to university researchers. Stretching from the Mississippi River delta to Texas waters, the 8,000-square-mile, low-oxygen area is forcing crabs and other bottom feeders to the surface. Environmental groups are struggling to get the Bush administration to act on the recommendations made by a Clinton-era task force to reduce fertilizer and animal-waste runoff into the Mississippi River. New Orleans Times-Picayune, 7/27 <http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/newsstory/dead27.html>
18 MONTHS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY
The Bush administration has taken steps to delay moving forward with a Clinton-era rule to improve water quality in more than 20,000 lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers across the country. The rule, issued in June 2000, requires states to determine the total maximum daily loads of pollution that bodies of water can handle and make plans to decrease pollution accordingly. Critics like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattleman’s Beef Association say the rule could cost businesses billions of dollars annually, and they have sued to prevent it from being implemented. The U.S. EPA asked a federal court to postpone action on the legal challenge for 18 months, while it attempted to make the rule more acceptable to critics. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5248-2001Jul16.html>
THE BROWN LAGOON
Lagoons of animal waste from large factory farms are threatening drinking water and recreational waters across the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Clean Water Network. The groups want new lagoons to be banned and existing ones to be phased out within the next five years. The U.S. EPA this month is weighing whether to impose tougher pollution rules on hog, poultry, and dairy farms.
But don’t get your hopes up — the agency under President Bush hasn’t been supportive of tightening clean water rules. Industry representatives say more restrictions on the lagoons could drive some farms out of business. From the Daily Grist, Kansas City Star, 7/24 <http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/local.pat,local/3accd866.724,.html>
USGS LAUNCHES NEW SITE FOR NATION’S WATER DATA
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), launched its new, online National Water Information System (NWISWeb) opening the doors to more of the 100 years of water data collected. <http://water.usgs.gov/nwis> allows users to access several hundred million pieces of archival and real-time data. Included in the new real-time data is a streamflow map at <http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch> .
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS ON-LINE
EPA recently announced the availability of water quality standards information for the public. A new web site and database will enable users to obtain the full text of water quality standards and to perform searches for specific information on standards. Go to: <http://www.epa.gov/ost/wqs> .
From there you can click on your state or click on the Water Quality Standards Database. The database includes information on designated uses for only 16 states so far, but others will be added.
A GIS-interface database with water quality information is also available at <http://www.epa.gov/waters> .
EPA’s Watershed Assessment, Tracking and Environmental Results (WATERS) information system is available for a limited number of states. It allows users to connect and display important water quality information on maps in their geographic context. Specifically, WATERS uses the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) to display key water quality information about the quality of surface water bodies, the designated use of a waterbody, and waterbody impairment.
EXXON VALDEZ SPILL WON’T GO AWAY
Researchers are finding that oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill still contaminates beaches barely six inches below the surface says Nando Media 7/16. “Of 4,428 pits dug or surveyed on more than 50 beaches through July 6, about 450 contained surface or subsurface oil.” According to a principal investigator, “it’s going to be around here for decades.”
Training Workshop
RESTORING STREAMS, RIPARIAN AREAS, AND FLOODPLAINS IN THE SOUTHWEST: Improving Landowner Assistance; Incorporating Scientific Advances
October 29-31, 2001, Crown Plaza Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico
For Information Contact: Institute for Wetland Science and Public Policy, The Association of State Wetland Managers, P.O. Box 269, Berne, NY 12023-9746; 518-872-1804; Fax: 518-872-2171; E-mail: <aswm@aswm.org> . Visit their website at <www.aswm.org> for the agenda and speakers.