HYDROLOGY
Snowpack in Colorado is at 58% of average, down from 65% last month. Reservoir storage is at 85%. The Upper Colorado River Basin is in the best shape at 69% while the Gunnison Basin is at 63%. The driest basin in the state is the Rio Grande at 48%.
THE FORECAST FOR COLORADO’S RIVERS AND STREAMS IS DRY
According to a report released by Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU), traditional irrigation practices, which account for 90 percent of the state’s total water consumption, municipal diversions, hydropower facilities and recreational uses such as snowmaking are a few factors contributing to the reduced water levels in Colorado waterways. “The report describes the growing threat to Colorado’s environment and economy from the depletion of our rivers and streams,” said David Nickum, executive director of CTU. “That’s a threat, obviously, to fish and wildlife, but also to the $1.3 billion that fishing and $122 million commercial rafting industry contribute to the Colorado economy.”
The 16-page report, “A Dry Legacy: The Challenge for Colorado’s Rivers,” describes conditions and flows in 10 rivers and streams representing every major watershed in the state, including the Colorado, Cache la Poudre, South Arkansas, North Fork of the Gunnison, Conejos, San Miguel and La Plata rivers. Portions of the Bear, Snowmass and South Boulder creeks are also included as case studies. The Colorado Division of Wildlife databases list more than 570 waters with low and fluctuating stream flows. On the Net at <http://www.cotrout.org>
YALE YIELDS IN CONFLICT OVER COLORADO MONUMENT WATER
Yale University has agreed to sell the Colorado ranch it bought in 1995 adjacent to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and to direct the profits and the land into a new national park. Denver Post; Jan. 25 [It was revealed that Yale University was a silent partner in the San Francisco partnership that intended to sell groundwater from the Baca Ranch to Front Range water providers and stands to double its investment in a proposed sale of the ranch to The Nature Conservancy. TNC intends to sell the Baca Ranch to the Park Service for expansion of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The sale price is $31.28 million.] <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E355057,00.html> <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E357757,00.html> <http://www.chieftain.com/sunday/news/index/article/1> <http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_956418,00.html>
WORK BEGINS ON ANIMAS-LA PLATA
Reclamation agreed last fall to pay $6 million to buy 6,000 acres in three tracts of land along the La Plata River near Red Mesa to fulfill mitigation requirements for vegetation, wildlife habitat and wetlands that will be lost when the A-LP project is complete. Purchase of one tract is complete, pending on a second and planned for the third. The first physical project of A-LP will occur this spring, when the Southern Ute Indian Tribe contracts for cultural mitigation projects at the reservoir site. Work could begin in summer on rerouting three gas pipelines that run through the area. The bureau’s Farmington Construction Office is taking the lead in designing the pumping station and reservoir and dam. A key unresolved issue is which agency will operate the A-LP project. Reclamation, the state and the San Juan Water Conservancy District have already been ruled out.
BILL TO STOP OPEN-PIT GOLD MINING
Dr. Colin Henderson, president of the Alliance for Responsible Mining, announced that a bill will be introduced this year in the Colorado Legislature to stop new open-pit cyanide heap-leach gold mines from being permitted in Colorado. Henderson said the bill “will safeguard Colorado’s valuable water resources from a destructive failed technology.” <http://www.chieftain.com/friday/news/index/article/10>
SUIT COULD LIMIT STATES’ USE OF COLORADO RIVER WATER
In just 50 years the Colorado River delta has gone from a “lush tropical wilderness” to a “moonscape of sun-baked mud” thanks largely to dams and water diversions in the U.S. Eight environmental groups have sued to force upstream states and cities to cut their take of Colorado River water and to leave some for the disappearing wildlife at the river’s mouth. “The Colorado ceases to exist here. Every drop of water has gone for cities, for farms.” — Jose Campoy, a Mexican biologist, surveying the barren mud flat that used to be tropical forest at the mouth of the Colorado River. If successful, the suit could essentially broaden the U.S. Endangered Species Act to include threatened habitats in areas abutting U.S. lands. Washington Post; 1/7 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/a6164-2002jan6.html>
DRAFT EIS
Reclamation has published a draft EIS for its Implementation Agreement (IA) in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The IA is needed to operate facilities in the Lower Basin in order to facilitate the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). The QSA is an agreement among several southern California water agencies establishing a framework of conservation measures and water transfers. Since Reclamation operates all facilities on the Lower Colorado River, the IA is needed to execute the QSA. Also included in the draft EIS is Reclamation’s Inadvertent Overrun and Payback Policy which establishes requirements for payback of inadvertent overuse of Colorado River water by water users in Arizona, California and Nevada. For a copy of the draft EIS contact Janice Kjesbo at 602 216-3864. Comments on the draft are due by 3/12 and should be submitted to Bruce Ellis, Environmental Program Manager, Phoenix Area Office, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 81169, Phoenix, AZ 85069-1169, or by fax to 602 216-4006 Public hearings are scheduled on 2/5, in Blythe, CA, 2/6, in Henderson, NV and 2/7, in LA, CA.
LOWER COLORADO RIVER MSCP
The Second Administrative Draft of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Plan is now available for download and review. You may download the document by following the link: <http://www.lcrmscp.org/files.html> .
There is no executive summary at this time. For those who wish a quick summary of the plan, look at the following tables: Table 4-1 provides the overview summary of impacts, compliance, and recovery measures by land cover. Tables 4-2 and 4-3 summarize the impacts, compliance, and recovery measures for each focus species (flycatcher, cuckoo, thrasher, razorback, and bonytail). Tables 7-1 provides a cost estimate for implementation of all MSCP compliance measures. Table 7-2 provides a cost estimate for implementation of all MSCP recovery measures. Table 7-3 provides the overall implementation cost of the MSCP.
HUMPBACK CHUB IN SERIOUS DECLINE
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center has determined that humpback chub in the Little Colorado River, “the largest and only known successfully reproducing population of their species” are in a “steeply declining trend” says ENS 12/11. Conservation group Living Rivers has warned the USFWS of the “plummeting humpback chub populations” and called for “major revisions” in draft recovery goals for the chub and 3 other species of endangered Colorado River fish, charging that recovery goals were designed to “please water and power interests” and are not based on sound science.
WATCHDOG GROUP FILES SUIT OVER WATER LAWS
The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit accusing Arizona officials of mismanaging the state’s water resources. The suit could reshape decades-old laws and affect the water rights of thousands of miners, farmers, and developers.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/01/01112002/ap_46096.asp>
ARIZONA TRIBES SHORTED IN WATER RIGHTS DECISION
Water is critical to the economy of Arizona’s Indian reservations, as well as to the state’s, but just as tribes were finally gaining some control over water rights, the state Supreme Court changed the rules. A guest column. Arizona Republic; Jan. 25 <http://www.arizonarepublic.com/opinions/articles/0125utter25.html>
FALLOWING LAND IN IMPERIAL VALLEY NO LONGER BEING CONSIDERED
Because of unanimous opposition within the Valley, Reclamation is no longer considering fallowing as an option for mitigating the environmental impacts to the Salton Sea for the transfer of water from the Imperial Valley to San Diego County. The transfer is part of the Quantification Settlement Agreement which is a component of California’s 4.4 Plan needed to reduce California’s use of the Colorado River. Reclamation’s decision leaves 4 other options still being considered with some costing as much as $1.6 billion. The option favored by some environmentalists is to dyke the Sea at the north and south ends and let the center go super-saline and would drop its elevation as much as 14 feet. There is skepticism that none of the 4 remaining options will work.
POWER PLANTS WOULD USE N.M. WATER FOR OTHERS’ ELECTRICITY
New Mexico exempts smaller generating plants from state review, a policy some worry will make the state an energy colony for neighboring states, at the expense of New Mexico’s water supply. Santa Fe New Mexican; Jan. 22 <http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news.asp?brd=2144&pag=460&dept_id=367951>
RIO GRANDE WOES
Due primarily to a decade long drought, the Rio Grande has once again been blocked from reaching the Gulf of Mexico by a sand bar. The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) cut through a 400-foot sand bar five months ago, but there are no immediate plans to dredge the river mouth again. “Perhaps if the flow were redirected to continue in the main channel in the river, there would be sufficient flows built up to go through the sandbar,” spokeswoman, Sally Spencer said. The river mouth reportedly went dry for several months in 1956, but storage available since the construction of Falcon and Amistad Dams in 1954 and 1969, respectively, have helped maintain flows along the Lower Rio Grande. The IBWC operates these international reservoirs, which are currently at their lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year. On December 8, the conservation pool at Amistad was only 30% of capacity and Falcon only 17%. Amistad is located 12 miles northwest of Del Rio, Texas. It covers 67,000 acres and is up to 200 feet (ft) deep. Falcon, downstream, is some 40 miles east of Laredo. It covers 78,300 acres, with a maximum depth of 110 ft.
Texas irrigators claim that the effects of the drought have been exacerbated by Mexico’s failure to comply with the 1944 treaty, under which it owes Texas some 1.4 million acre feet (af) of water. Under the 1944 treaty, Mexico is to release 350,000 af of water to Falcon and Amistad reservoirs, which supply Texas irrigators and Mexican water users in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Spencer said that the IBWC believes that there is sufficient water in Mexican reservoirs to address the deficit. Ongoing binational meetings are being held to move toward a solution, with Mexico having agreed to repay 600,000 af of water by July 2001, and the full deficit by October 2002. Mexico has released some 345,000 af. Chihuahua Governor Patricio Martinez insists that the water debt will be paid, but says, “We don’t have enough water in our reservoirs, and our position is the same, we cannot release or pay something that we don’t have.”
FISSION ADVISORY?
Native Americans who fished in the Columbia River may have been exposed to much more radiation from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than previously thought, according to a draft report prepared for the federal government. Earlier research estimating the exposure rates for people living downwind of Hanford assumed that people ate about 90 pounds of fish per year during the 1940s and ’50s when radioactive iodine contaminated fish. But the new research suggests that members of tribes along the Columbia may have been eating more than 500 pounds of fish per year.
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134395478_hanford25m.html>
LAWSUIT TARGETS ESA ENFORCEMENT
Environmentalists are ready to file two lawsuits charging that “export pumps used to redirect water” from California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for agriculture and urban users are exceeding take limits designed to protect winter-run salmon and delta smelt says Greenwire 1/14. Earthjustice, which is representing NRDC and 4 state groups, says that the problems with Delta smelt are particularly urgent because they have a one-year life cycle and “even one especially bad year could wipe out the species.”
NEW EVIDENCE IN COHO DELISTING
A coalition of conservation groups has “submitted a set of detailed biological arguments to the NMFS to buttress the argument for keeping ESA protection exclusively for wild, naturally producing coho stocks” says Trout Unlimited 12/19. After the NMFS declined to appeal a judge’s decision to delist Oregon coastal coho on the grounds that they were identical to hatchery fish, the groups intervened to provide the scientific information needed to counter the ruling which “falsely perpetuated the myth that biological differences between wild and hatchery coho do not exist.”
MORE ON SALMON GENETICS
Maine’s wild Atlantic salmon remain genetically distinct despite more than a century of fish-stocking, aquaculture escapes, and other threats to the species, according to an independent report prepared by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The report undermines the claim by Maine Gov. Angus King (I) and others that Maine salmon were genetically diluted and therefore did not merit protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. More than a year ago, the species was declared endangered in eight Maine rivers, much to the consternation of aquaculture and agriculture industries, which worried about the economic impact. Shortly thereafter, the state appealed the listing.
<http://www.portland.com/news/state/020108salmon.shtml>
BAD SCIENCE IS STILL BAD SCIENCE
“After more than a year of additional study,” the Army Corps of Engineers has released a biological assessment which maintains that a huge Columbia River dredging project would have “minimal” impact on salmon and may “even benefit fish” due to expanded habitat restoration, says SF Gate, AP 1/3. Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, however, says the plan is little changed from earlier versions and that “it was bad science the first time the corps recommended the dredging in 1999, and it’s still bad science.”
WATERSHED PLANNING
According to the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE), 31 watershed planning groups across the state have applied or submitted notices of intent seeking funding to make streamflow recommendations for rivers and creeks within their jurisdiction. This amounts to half of the 62 recognized basins in the state. There are efforts underway in 39 basins to develop grassroots plans for managing watersheds to meet both human and environmental needs. During the 2001 state legislative session, DOE was authorized to award up to $100,000 to each watershed planning group to help set stream flows in their basins. The process involves local governments, Indian tribes, state agencies and other agricultural, environmental and recreational interests in determining how much water is needed, “regardless of season or rainfall,” to protect fish and other instream uses.
In addition to instream flows, local watershed groups have undertaken tasks such as identifying pollution sources and designating important fish and wildlife habitat. DOE will make its own instream-flow determinations where watershed planning groups opted not to set flows. Either way, final flows must be set by DOE through the state rulemaking process. For more information, visit: <www.ecy.wa.gov/watershed/index.html>
COLUMBIA RIVER FISH KILL COULD CONTEST KEY CANADIAN LAWS
Canadian officials are investigating B.C. Hydro’s role in a fish kill last summer on the Columbia River in southeast B.C., a case with implications for the province’s revenue and the nation’s fisheries. National Post; Jan. 9 <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/national/story.html?f=/stories/20020109/1076543.html>
TROUBLED WATERS RUN DEEP
A wide-ranging report by researchers from Oregon State University and U.C. Berkeley found that Klamath Basin conflicts over protecting endangered fish were fostered by “decades of government inaction, lack of leadership and a community fragmented by race and geography” says the Oregonian 12/20. Those interviewed cited “misuse of scientific work,” the absence of federal coordination, biased media coverage, “intimidation by vocal farm supporters and racial undercurrents in the treatment of Native Americans” as contributing to the failure to “reconcile the basin’s tensions.”
GROUPS VOW ANOTHER SUIT OVER WATER IN OREGON’S KLAMATH BASIN
Environmental groups have filed notice that they’ll again sue the Bureau of Reclamation if the agency doesn’t file a plan to distribute Klamath River water by April 1, a suit similar to the one last year that shut off irrigation to area farmers. Boulder Daily Camera (AP); Jan. 25 <http://www.bouldernews.com/news/statewest/25lwate.html>
GOVERNMENT FLOATS PLAN TO FULLY SUPPLY KLAMATH BASIN FARMERS
The Bureau of Reclamation proposed Monday making full water deliveries to Klamath Basin farmers this year after a summer of conflict over government efforts to protect wild fish. The plan must be reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its impact on endangered suckers and by the National Marine Fisheries Service for its effect on threatened coho salmon.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/01/01292002/ap_klamath_46259.asp> <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/01/01312002/reu_water_46272.asp>
KLAMATH WATER FIGHT BOILS OVER ONTO INDIAN RESERVATION
The battle over Klamath Basin water last summer revealed racism against the Klamath Tribes that is now surfacing as armed intimidation. Spokesman-Review; Jan. 13 <http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=011302&ID=s1084308&cat=section.regional>
BOISE-AREA’S GROWTH WILL STRAIN WATER SUPPLIES
Southeast Idaho’s water supply is a delicate balance among competing uses, but continued growth is all but guaranteed to result in shortages, perhaps in as little as two years in parts of Boise. Idaho Statesman; Jan. 13 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/daily/20020113/FrontPage/207891.shtml>
A NEW RESERVOIR NOT AN OVERWHELMINGLY POPULAR SOLUTION
One option for a greater water supply would be another reservoir, though adamant critics say conservation would do far less environmental damage. Idaho Statesman; 1/14 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/daily/20020114/LocalNews/208154.shtml>
BULL TROUT CRITICAL HABITAT SETTLEMENT
The USFWS has agreed to designate critical habitat for the threatened bull trout in four Western states in response to a lawsuit brought by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Swan says OregonLive.com, AP 1/17. According to the agreement the designations will occur over the next three years and include populations in the Columbia and Klamath basins, Puget Sound, Nevada’s Jarbidge River and the St. Mary’s-Belly R.
WESTERN WRITER UNDERWRITES DAM CLEANUP
Stephen Ambrose has pledged to donate $250,000 to help remove an aging dam near Missoula, Mont., at the confluence of the Clark and Blackfoot rivers, and clean up the 6.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment behind it. The Milltown Dam and its reservoir constitute the terminus of the nation’s largest Superfund site and the final resting place of decades of mine waste. The debate about what to do with the dam and the reservoir has been heated, with environmental groups in favor of removing both and restoring the riverbeds, at an estimated cost of $120 million. The company responsible for the cleanup, Atlantic Richfield, prefers a $20 million initiative to strengthen the dam and leave the sediment untouched. The U.S. EPA will issue a decision in the spring. Ambrose is siding with the greenies, calling the cleanup a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to help the environment.
<http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=local&display=content/local/05-ambrose.inc>
EFFECTS OF EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL LINGER IN ALASKA
Oil from the Exxon Valdez, some of it nearly as fresh as when it spilled in 1989, still lingers on the once pristine beaches of Prince William Sound, harming sea ducks and otters. Surveys last summer by the National Marine Fisheries Service found there was twice as much oil remaining from the spill as had been predicted eight years earlier, said Jeff Short, a research chemist from the agency’s laboratory in Auke Bay, Alaska.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/01/01242002/reu_46221.asp>
REPORT SAYS MISSOURI RIVER THREATENED WITHOUT NATURAL FLOWS
A new study by the National Research Council that unless the Missouri River is returned to a more natural flow regime, its ecosystem will be irreversibly damaged and some species will become extinct. The report called for “immediate and decisive action” and echoed demands by environmentalists to recreate an approximation of the river’s natural ebb and flow. Great Falls Tribune (AP); Jan. 10 <http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020110/localnews/1446397.html> <http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309083141?OpenDocument>
IMPERILED FISH GETS EVICTION NOTICE
“In an unprecedented decision,” the USFWS has given the state of Kentucky authority to move a population of the ESA listed blackside dace so that a strip mine can destroy its stream habitat says the Louisville Courier-Journal 1/10. The small fish “could become the first creature protected by the ESA to be moved – – lock, stock and barrel” before a mining operation is even begun. The agency claims a 1996 policy prohibits it from stopping the mine merely because it would “jeopardize the continued existence of an endangered or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat” as long as “all other environmental laws are followed.”
VIRUS ATTACKING FARMED SALMON
The State of Maine ordered the eradication of 1.5 million farmed salmon in an effort to stop infectious salmon anemia. The eradication was ordered by the state and paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is the first federal indemnification program to eradicate a disease in farmed fish. It is considered the only way to control infectious salmon anemia that spread from Canada. The virus also threatens to spread to other areas of the coast, and could potentially infect endangered wild salmon. Infectious salmon anemia kills salmon and can spread from pen to pen if the fish are not destroyed. It does not affect humans who eat the fish. The fish being destroyed are too small to be cut into marketable fillets. They are being disposed of as fertilizer or as fish waste that’s ground into animal feed.
GE SALMON BAN PRIORITIZED
The Food and Drug Administration is prioritizing its consideration of a petition from the Center for Food Safety to “ban marketing and importation of genetically engineered salmon,” says Greenwire 1/14. A biotechnology firm wants to grow GE salmon that grow four to six times faster than normal off the coast of Maine and is applying for FDA approval. CFS wants a moratorium on all “commercialization of transgenic salmon” until a comprehensive environmental statement can be prepared including consultation with the NMFS on the “impacts GE salmon might have on wild salmon.” CFS contends the GE salmon could “harm endangered salmon through escapement, disease and pollution from feces and feed.”
NMFS “SHIRKED CONSERVATION MANDATE”
A federal judge has ruled that a “record of inaction and delay” by the National Marine Fisheries Service has resulted in a failure to conserve depleted New England groundfish stocks says the Boston Globe, AP 1/3. Conservationists successfully argued that the NMFS did not “adequately prevent overfishing or decrease bycatch fish unintentionally caught and discarded on 12 depleted stocks.”
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER
It was a family affair, but the significance was national: President Bush and his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, signed an agreement to guarantee that water captured by a $7.8 billion Florida Everglades restoration effort will indeed go toward reviving the national park. Because the state and federal governments have potentially competing interests in the project — the feds want to protect the park, the state wants water for business and agricultural interests as well — Congress mandated that both parties sign a water-use agreement. Although environmentalists have frequently expressed concern about the regulations guiding the restoration project, many green groups said they were pleased with the Bush-Bush agreement.
<http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/florida/digdocs/008528.htm> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21666-2002Jan9.html>
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT PLUMMETS UNDER BUSH
According to figures released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), cases referred by the EPA for criminal prosecution under the Clean Water Act dropped by 53% during the first 9 months of 2001. EPA stated that about 40 percent of its criminal enforcement staff would be moved to non-environmental security tasks. “We can expect even greater declines in 2002 with the new agency leadership’s pledge to de-emphasize environmental enforcement,” says PEER analyst Jessica V. Revere. The PEER enforcement analysis of 2001 is available at: <http://www.peer.org/fedenforce.html#EPA>
NO COMMENT FROM INTERIOR
Interior Secretary Gale Norton failed to submit comments from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service blasting a proposed Army Corps of Engineers plan to relax wetlands protection rules. As a result, the Army Corps will announce its final version of the plan today without any input from the wildlife service, which claimed the proposal lacked any scientific basis and would “result in tremendous destruction of aquatic and terrestrial habitats.” DOI spokesperson Mark Pfeifle said Interior ran out of time to submit formal comments, a situation he blamed on lack of staffing due to the failure of the Democrat-controlled Congress to confirm assignments. But critics say Norton’s suppression of the comments is consistent with her record of neglect of environmental concerns and efforts to curry favor with industry.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40646-2002Jan13.html>
ARMY CORPS REVOKES SOME CLINTON-ERA RESTRICTIONS ON DEVELOPERS IN WETLANDS AREAS
The Bush administration revoked some requirements imposed on developers during the Clinton presidency, including one requiring them to restore or create an acre of wetlands for every acre they fill. The Army Corps of Engineers issued regulations Monday allowing developers to seek “nationwide permits” that would allow speedy government approval of their projects if their impact on streams or marshes is considered minimal. [Nationwide permits do not require public notice and do not receive public comment.] <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/01/01152002/ap_46133.asp>
CONTAMINANTS IN DRINKING WATER
Drinking chlorinated tap water puts pregnant women at a higher risk for miscarrying or bearing children with birth defects, according to a new study by two environmental organizations. The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group and U.S. Public Interest Research Group studied water quality data from thousands of water utilities before publishing their findings yesterday. Chlorine is used to disinfect polluted drinking water, but when added to some organic matter it can form compounds called trihalomethanes that are linked to cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects. The Chlorine Chemistry Council disputed the findings of the new study and reiterated the importance of chlorine in disinfecting water. But EWG’s Bill Walker disagreed: “Wouldn’t it be smarter to simply prevent the pollution of the water in the first place?” <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/0> 1/09/MN133946.DTL
RESEARCHERS TAP WATER AS SAFE SOLVENT
Replacing solvents in food and pharmaceutical processing with plain water could reduce costs and eliminate some environmental problems, say University of Arkansas researchers Ed Clausen and Julie Carrier. Clausen, professor of chemical engineering, and Carrier, associate professor of biological engineering, presented their findings recently at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Conference on Food Engineering.
<http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/01/01222002/s_46000.asp>
CRYPTOSPORIDIUM STANDARDS STRENGTHENED FOR SMALL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS
EPA has tightened drinking water requirements for small drinking water systems from Cryptosporidium and other disease-causing microorganisms. For those smaller drinking water systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people, this final rule has the same protective requirements already in place for large systems. EPA is now requiring small systems to use the best available technology to further ensure the safety of the nation’s drinking water supply. This final rule requires 99 percent removal of Cryptosporidium through enhanced filtration. Cryptosporidium spores cannot be eliminated by commonly used disinfectants, such as chlorine, and must be captured through enhanced filtration techniques. Cryptosporidium, found in animal wastes, can cause intestinal problems and possibly death in some vulnerable populations.
Small systems have three years to come into compliance with the enhanced filtration requirements. Technical and financial assistance is available to the states and utilities. EPA estimates that the annual cost of the rule will be $39.5 million. The average annual household cost is estimated at $6.24. Ninety percent of households will experience costs of less than $15 a year. Additional information on the “Final Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule” is provided at <http://www.epa.gov/safewater> under “What’s New.”
CONTAMINATED AQUIFER COULD BE CLEANED WITH CORN STARCH SUGAR
A new technology for cleaning up hazardous waste using a sugar made from corn starch has won a $830,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. Thomas Boving, an assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Rhode Island, with colleagues from the University of Arizona, the Colorado College of Mines, and the University of Texas-San Antonio, has developed the innovative system to quickly and economically remove a wide range of toxic materials from groundwater using a substance called cyclodextrin.
<http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/01/01222002/s_46040.asp>
EPA AMENDS REGULATIONS TO REDUCE RUN-OFF FROM ABANDONED COAL MINES
The guidelines for these sites will provide incentives to remine abandoned sites instead of mining new land. Under the new rules, remining operations will be required to implement strategies that control pollutant releases and ensure the pollutant discharges during remining activities are less than the pollutant levels released from the abandoned site prior to remining. Upon completion, the operators will reclaim the land to meet the same standards currently imposed on active mining areas. More information about coal remining is available at <http://www.epa.gov/ost/guide/coal/>
EPA ANNOUNCES NEW TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
President Bush will include $21 million in his 2003 budget for a new EPA initiative to protect, preserve, and restore waterways across the country. This effort was announced by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman during a visit to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. President Bush will include $21 million in his 2003 budget for a new EPA initiative to protect, preserve, and restore waterways across the country. The Administrator announced as part of this community-based initiative, EPA will target up to 20 of this country’s most highly-valued watersheds for grants. EPA will be working cooperatively with state governors, tribes and other interested parties on this initiative. This program will also support local communities in their efforts to expand and improve existing protection measures with tools, training and technical assistance. For more information, visit <http://www.epa.gov/>
NO POLICY NO PROBLEM
An administrative law judge has approved the discharge of treated sewage water into a biologically diverse cave ecosystem “after state regulators were unable to decide….whether they had a policy in place to allow degradation of a stream when they approved the plant” says the Tennessean 12/19. Environmentalists claim the treated sewage water would harm a cave ecosystem at Tennessee’s Fall Creek Falls State Park which is “globally significant for its many species that include the blind Southern cave fish.” The discharge permit, approved in May 2000 “marked the first time the state board had approved degradation of a good-quality stream.”
NEW PROPOSAL TO TURN TOXIC WASTE INTO DRINKING WATER
Ion Resolutions, a private research group, has a proposal to transform the toxic waste from the Berkeley Pit, the largest Superfund site in the country, into a drinkable reservoir. ARCO and Montana Resources, the Pit’s owners must be convinced to abandon their current $24 million project, which treats the water with lime to remove metals. This plan is supposed to be implemented in the spring.
<http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/12/12212001/s_45921.asp>
EPA RECOMMENDS MAJOR REDUCTION IN PERCHLORATE SAFETY LEVELS
Rocket fuel waste is found to be much more hazardous to human health than previously thought. The EPA’s draft risk assessment <(www.epa.gov/ncea)> recommends a provisional perchlorate reference dose (RfD) equal to a safe drinking water concentration of 1 part per billion for adults. The Agency had previously recommended a range of safe doses equal to a drinking water concentration of 4 ppb to 32 ppb.
Too much perchlorate can impair functioning of the thyroid gland, which controls growth, development and metabolism. Fetuses, infants and children with impaired thyroids may suffer mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech, or deficits in motor skills. At higher levels of exposure, perchlorate is known to cause cancer.
GIANT ICEBERGS, SEA ICE TOO MUCH FOR ANTARCTIC PENGUINS
A combination of massive grounded icebergs and a record amount of sea ice in Antarctica’s Ross Sea has blocked entire colonies of penguins who are trying to return from their feeding grounds in the open sea to their breeding areas. The result is expected to be a significant reduction in regional penguin populations; one colony is in danger of extinction. A NASA remote-sensing instrument aboard the Terra Earth Observing Satellite is capturing the unfolding ecological disaster affecting hundreds of thousands of penguins at Earth’s southern tip.
<http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/01/01102002/s_46027.asp>
NEW SEDIMENT INVENTORY
EPA is releasing for review a draft version of “The Incidence and Severity of Sediment Contamination in Surface Waters of the United States, National Sediment Quality Survey: Second Edition.” This report to Congress identifies areas in the United States where data suggests that the sediment is contaminated at potentially harmful levels. The report also assesses changes in sediment contamination over time for areas in the United States where sufficient data exists. The first National Sediment Quality Survey report was released in 1997. This report will be the first update to the 1997 report. EPA is requesting comments on the draft document by March 8, 2002. EPA will issue a final report after considering comments received. EPA is requesting comments on the draft document by March 8, 2002 to improve the report before releasing the final report. EPA expects to publish the final document in the summer of 2002.
You can view or down-load the draft report from the EPA web site at: <www.epa.gov/waterscience/cs>
URBAN LAKE MANAGEMENT
Techniques 12, the last printed edition of the Center for Watershed Protection’s journal called “Techniques” was recently published. This special issue is devoted to exploring how development impacts urban lakes and reservoirs and examining techniques to reduce these impacts. You can order this special issue at: <http://centerforwatershedprotection.goemerchant7.com/>
SILENCED RIVERS
International Rivers Network in association with Zed Books/St Martin’s Press has just published an expanded edition of “Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams.” Called “a truly dazzling book,” by celebrated writer Arundhati Roy, this new edition of McCully’s now classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries. The book explores the wide-ranging ecological impacts of large dams, their human consequences, the organization of the dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies in promoting large dams. In this new edition, the author tells the story of the rapid growth of the international anti-dam movement, and suggests alternative methods of supplying the services supposedly provided by large dams. The book is now available for $25 plus shipping and handling from IRN <www.irn.org> , and from bookstores.
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