SPECIAL SESSION ON DROUGHT
In the special session last month the Colorado legislature adopted two measures:
SB 1 by Sen. Owen & Rep. Hoppe, provides $1 million annually from the severance tax trust fund to the Colorado Water Conservation Board during droughts for emergency water augmentation for farmers.
Sen Res 03 by Sen. Tupa, is a non-binding Senate resolution on water conservation calling for a prohibition on covenants mandating bluegrass lawns or banning xeriscaping. It also calls for state agencies and universities to reduce water consumption by 10% by 2010 and to implement landscaping plans using best management practices.
A proposal to add as much as $10 billion for new dams and water projects died in a Colorado Senate committee, with critics arguing it was too big for a rushed special session. But it was a pro-development measure that made more political progress in three days than growth-management policies have made in three years. 7/11&15 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3322> <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E731453%257E,00.html>
COLORADO NEEDS, DREADS HEAVY RAINS
Colorado officials are torn between hoping for heavy monsoon rains to fill depleted reservoirs and concern that storms will cause mudslides in burned areas that will make impoundments too dirty to use. Denver Post; 7/7 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E731453%257E,00.html>
FIRE DAMAGED WATERSHEDS GETTING FUNDING
The Forest Service has allocated $24 million for immediate remediation of federal land in the Hayman Fire, southwest of Denver. Private landowners are receiving federal assistance from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and numerous other sources for emergency watershed remediation. Colorado is expected to receive $2.4 million in federal EPA nonpoint source control funding. Normally, these funds are distributed on a competitive basis. The Governor, though, can request these funds to be used in forest fire areas.
COLORADO NEEDS FORWARD-THINKING WATER PLANS
A proposal to bolster Colorado’s water storage and transmission facilities has met with early criticism all too typical of water debates. Denver Post; July 9 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E417%257E719927%257E,00.html>
COLORADO DEALS WITH DROUGHT
The worst drought in decades has shown that much of the interior West is out of balance with its naturally arid climate. A summary. Christian Science Monitor; July 17 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3419>
COLORADO AND FOUR CORNERS RANK FIRST FOR DROUGHT
Light rains have brought little relief of “exceptional” drought conditions in the Four Corners, now deemed the most abnormally dry spot in the nation. Denver Post; Aug. 5 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E774483%257E,00.html>
DROUGHT-STRICKEN COLORADO TARGETS WATER ABUSERS
Jim Hoaglin stops his van and kills the engine to listen for the ch-ch-ch of a sprinkler. Hoaglin, a city water cop, is also looking for water-stained gutters, hose-soaked gardens, and other signs that someone has broken tough new water restrictions in the drought-stricken Denver suburb of Aurora.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07302002/ap_47982.asp>
COLORADO CITIES TOLD TO EXPECT LIMITED WATER AGAIN NEXT SUMMER
Residents along Colorado’s Front Range can expect water restrictions again next year; experts say that even a normal snowpack next winter won’t refill reservoirs. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 17 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3413>
DENVER MAY EMPTY KEY RESERVOIR BY AUGUST
Denver water officials may drain Antero Reservoir, one of the state’s best trout fisheries, as part of a contingency plan to deal with the drought and fires. Denver Post; July 17 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E736142%257E,00.html>
DENVER OFFICIALS RAISE PRICE FOR WATER IN LIGHT OF DIRE PREDICTIONS
Denver water officials will impose a 30 percent surcharge and tighter restrictions on water use, after recent predictions that municipal reservoirs may be two-thirds empty after next spring’s runoff. Denver Post; July 25 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E752509%257E,00.html>
COLORADO GOVERNOR PICKS ‘BIG STRAW’ AS TOP WATER PROJECT
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens endorsed for study a huge project that would suck up the state’s unused portion of the Colorado River at the Utah border and pump it back over the Continental Divide. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 25 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3547> [Since the Upper Basin apportions its Compact allocation as a percentage of the available yield, there is reason for caution that Colorado already uses its full Compact allocation except in wet years.]
ANIMAS/LA PLATA DESIGNED SOLELY FOR URBAN NEEDS
A federally funded water project in southwestern Colorado designed just for urban needs may be the first such federal project that doesn’t include irrigation. Denver Rocky Mountain News; 8/2 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3680>
COLORADO GROUP FIGHTS COALBED METHANE WELLS
A citizens’ group in western Colorado is fighting a proposal to explore for methane gas in nearby underground coal seams, saying the planned test drilling could devastate the area’s water supplies. The Grand Mesa Citizens Alliance, an advocacy group, had asked Delta County commissioners to reject a proposal to drill three test wells. The move would set the local government against the state and set the stage for a court battle over what has become one of the biggest environmental issues in the Rocky Mountains. <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07112002/reu_47809.asp> The group’s website: <www.SaveTheGrandMesa.com>
COLORADO COAL COUNTY REJECTS METHANE TEST WELLS
Officials in Colorado’s Delta County rejected four of five proposed test wells that could have preceded as many as 600 methane wells, citing concerns about the effects on ground water. Denver Post; July 23 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E747909%257E,00.html>
SOUTHWEST DROUGHT DESICCATES FISH BEFORE FARMERS
Cracked soil puckers around the edges of hot, shallow pools. Dead carp and buffalo fish lie strewn across the river channel. Some are picked apart by birds, some are dragged away by coyotes, others just decompose. And each day, as the dry New Mexico wind shaves away at the pools, the smell of rotting fish grows stronger. It doesn’t sound like ideal habitat for the Rio Grande’s endangered silvery minnow, but it’ll have to do for now.
For the complete story visit: <http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=11323>
UTAH FISH, WILDLIFE SUFFERING FROM DROUGHT
Wildlife managers in Utah are warning of too little food for bears and deer, and too little water for elk as the four-year drought deepens. Salt Lake Tribune; July 23 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3492>
DROUGHT HAS UTAH TOWNS HAULING WATER
Three Utah communities’ municipal water supplies are dry or nearly so, and the drought is likely to cut $200 million from tourism and agriculture profits. Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 7 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3755>
MORE RANCHERS USE WATER RIGHTS FOR FISH, NOT HAY
More ranchers in Montana and Colorado are opting to leave their water in the stream, a trend that may portend dramatic change in a century of Western water law. USA Today; July 15 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3364>
SANTA FE CONSIDERS PUTTING WATER BACK INTO GROUND
Santa Fe officials are intrigued by techniques to pump treated effluent back into the ground to bolster a dwindling aquifer. Santa Fe New Mexican; 7/9 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3263>
REPORT SAYS NEW MEXICO FACES CRISIS WITHOUT A WATER PLAN
A new report said New Mexico must craft a statewide water plan, and integrate it with growth plans, to avoid a disaster as demand rises. Santa Fe New Mexican;7/24 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3517>
FAST-GROWING SANTA FE SUBDIVISION ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF WATER
Homeowners in one area south of Santa Fe are re-drilling their wells 1,000 feet deeper as the water table drops, and the area is slated for thousands of new homes in the next few decades. Santa Fe New Mexican; July 18 <http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4776189&BRD=2144&PAG=461&dept_id=367954&rfi=6>
SANTA FE’S WANING AQUIFER ONLY THE START, WITHOUT LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Dry wells in Santa Fe subdivisions prove the aquifer is tapped out, and state lawmakers must enact limits on new wells soon. Santa Fe New Mexican; 8/1 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3652>
GARDENERS IN SANTA FE PAINTING FLOWERS INSTEAD OF WATERING THEM
Mandatory water restrictions, enforced by “water police” in many Western cities have forced some gardeners to take extreme measures, such as painting wilted flowers. New York Times; July 8 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/08/national/08PLAN.html>
DROUGHT THREATENS ALBUQUERQUE’S INDEPENDENCE FROM AQUIFER
The effect of the drought has been less visible in Albuquerque than in Santa Fe, but the long-term implications could keep the city dependent on pumping ground water. Albuquerque Tribune; Aug. 5 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3704> BUSINESS AS USUAL WON’T WORK MUCH LONGER FOR NEW MEXICO WATER – The complexity of water law and the pressing drought will force New Mexico into tough choices relatively soon: save water or find more sources. Farmington Daily Times; 7/28 <http://www.daily-times.com/Stories/0,1413,129%257E6567%257E759469,00.html>
STUDY SAYS CONSERVATION BEST SOURCE OF NEW WATER IN ARIZONA
A Colorado nonprofit found that Arizona communities would do better to recycle wastewater, harvest rainwater and retrofit homes and businesses with more efficient plumbing instead of building more pipes to Lake Powell or drilling more wells. Arizona Daily Sun; Aug. 2 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3685>
FALLING LAKE MEAD WON’T LEAVE LAS VEGAS DRY
Las Vegas water officials expect Lake Mead to drop to its lowest level in 30 years, but they say their city’s water supply isn’t threatened. Reno Gazette-Journal (AP); July 25 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3549>
OUTCOME OF CALIFORNIA WATER FEUD MAY AFFECT COLORADO RIVER RIGHTS
Two California water projects are competing for billions in federal funds: One would help stabilize drinking water for two-thirds of the state, and the other figures prominently in a complicated plan to reduce California’s take of the Colorado River. Idaho Falls Post Register (AP); 7/30
WATER IN ARIZONA DIVERTED TO CITIES FOR GROWTH
While ranchers are forced to sell herds and wildlife dies from dehydration, Phoenix and Tucson residents enjoy a glut of water, washing cars, watering lawns and building new golf communities. New York Times; 7/14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3352>
ARIZONA JUDGE REFUSES TO DISMISS STREAM FLOW LAW SUIT
The 7/4 Arizona Republic reported a Superior Court judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses state officials of mismanaging Arizona’s groundwater resources. But, he ordered the group that filed the suit to offer more evidence to back up its claims. The state Department of Water Resources had asked Judge Paul Katz of Maricopa County Superior Court to throw out a complaint filed in January by the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. The complaint charged that badly regulated groundwater pumping had depleted Arizona’s underground water supplies and damaged rivers, streams and other surface-water sources. Meanwhile, the law center has filed another suit seeking to overturn the sales of land beneath various rivers and streams, arguing that the state had failed to protect those waterways. The suit, filed on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, asks the court to prevent the State Land Department from allowing most uses of the streams and rivers until a state commission decides which of them are legally protected.
GLEN CANYON DAM RUINED COLORADO RIVER ECOSYSTEM
Glen Canyon Dam will eventually fill with the 100 million tons of sediment it traps each year, creating a more expensive ecological mess than what the dam has already done to the Colorado River. A guest column. Arizona Republic; 7/19 <http://www.arizonarepublic.com/opinions/articles/0719haskell19.html> NEW DEEP GROUNDWATER BEING MARKETED – Southwestern Water Exploration Co. announced a newly discovered aquifer in Colorado is of drinking water quality. Water analysis indicates that all primary drinking water standards have been met. Final engineering reports state the available water for sale is a minimum of 129,000 acre-feet and could exceed 300,000 acre-feet dependent on which reservoir development scenario is undertaken. Recent pricing for water in the area has ranged from $10,700 per acre-foot in January 2002 to the most recent pricing of $14,200 per acre-foot. The Company believes it has other prospects of equivalent or greater size based on their proprietary database. The company’s news releases do not identify where in Colorado they are drilling. <www.southwesternwater.com>
SALTON SEA AUTHORITY OPPOSES BILL
The Salton Sea Authority, a federal, state, and tribal agency charged with stabilizing salt levels in the sea to protect fish and birds, such as the endangered brown pelican, is opposing a recently introduced House bill to exempt a water transfer to San Diego from the Endangered Species Act, says the Desert Sun 7/19. The legislation, HR 5123, would “ease endangered species protections” and reduce inflows into the Salton Sea, thus making it “too salty to support a vibrant fishery.”
NEVADA RIVER AGAIN FOCUS OF ENDANGERED SPECIES DEBATE
The status of bull trout in Nevada’s Jarbidge River has become the focus of Western Republicans’ attempts to rewrite the Endangered Species Act for the second time in three years. Reno Gazette-Journal; July 28 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3585> NO ONE CAN AGREE ON STATUS OF NEVADA BULL TROUT – Lawmakers and wildlife managers at a congressional field hearing in Elko, Nev., couldn’t agree on how threatened bull trout really are, or whether the decline is the fault of humans. Reno Gazette-Journal (AP); July 27 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3586> MEXICAN TREATY BACKGROUND – The Texas Center for Policy Studies has released a new background paper on the U.S./Mexico water dispute. The brief report includes information on how the dispute developed, agricultural production trends in two key areas of the basin (the Rio Conchos and the Lower Rio Grande Valley) and summarizes the results of recent negotiations. The report is available in Word and PDF at <www.texascenter.org/borderwater> [The Treaty governs the international sharing of water on both the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. The attention to the Treaty problems on the Rio Grande have diminished our momentum on addressing the needs of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico.]
IDAHO MAKES A STATEMENT ON DRAINING AQUIFER
Industry-friendly Idaho has shown a paradigm shift in refusing to allow two huge power plants to draw 17 million gallons a day from the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer. Spokesman-Review; July 22 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3482>
BILL TO GIVE FEDERAL WATER RIGHTS TO IDAHO IRRIGATORS NEEDS SCRUTINY
A bill to transfer federal water rights to farmers in Idaho’s Upper Snake River Valley is not a bad idea, but so far, backers have refused any public input. Idaho Falls Post Register; July 31 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3633>
UTILITIES SPEND BIG TO STOP MONTANA DAM-BUYING INITIATIVE
Two utilities have given more than $500,000 to help block an initiative that would allow the state to buy former Montana Power Co. hydroelectric dams. Billings Gazette; July 18 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/07/18/build/local/76-utilities.inc>
MONTANA TRIBES’ WATER DEAL WILL NO DOUBT SET A PRECEDENT
The details are unclear but the one certainty is that the eventual agreement for water rights on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation will be unique in the nation. Missoula Independent; July 29 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3605>
WATER CUT FOR KLAMATH SALMON
The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has cut back on water for salmon in the Klamath river due to less water than predicted flowing into the main reservoir of the Klamath Reclamation Project, says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, AP 7/12. Water deliveries to agribusiness interests were not affected by the shortage and The Yurok Tribe responded that it’s the same issue of putting deliveries for agriculture above the needs for fish.
RIVER DREDGING RECALCULATED
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scaled back expectations for its proposed deepening of the Columbia River navigation channel, saying the project will not cut shipping costs as much as earlier expected. In a new report, the corps lowered its 50-year forecast of the project’s benefits from $34.4 million a year to $18.3 million to reflect the impact of the Asian currency crisis, a strong dollar and a cooling world economy. The corps also found that construction costs would be less than it first predicted three years ago. <http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_stand> ard.xsl?/base/front_page/1026388601182190.xml
DROUGHT STRAINS EDMONTON-AREA COMMUNITIES
About 40 communities surrounding Edmonton have instituted bans on unessential watering, although Edmonton itself has yet to act. Edmonton Journal; 7/15 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3373>
IN THE WEST, BATTLE RAGES AGAINST THE INVASIVE SALT CEDAR
An army of water-sucking soldiers is marching along the banks of nearly every waterway in the West. The soldiers, with their skinny leaves and non-nutritious seeds, have invaded more than 1 million acres of river and stream banks in New Mexico, Texas, and more than a dozen other arid states. They have pushed out native plants, birds, and other wildlife and sucked dry already dwindling water supplies. <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07092002/ap_47778.asp>
RECLAIMING A LOST RIVER, BUILDING A COMMUNITY
So much is breaking up Los Angeles – from secession movements in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to the growing divide between the city’s wealthy and working poor – that it may come as a shock to learn there is something knitting the city together. Angelenos are gathering with a common purpose to bring life to the banks of the neglected Los Angeles River, a 51-mile-long, sunbaked concrete ditch best known as the location for fiery car chases in action movies. For the complete story visit: <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/10/opinion/10WALD.html>
VERNAL POOLS
Located in the Pacific Flyway, California’s vast Central Valley provides habitat for 20 percent of the waterfowl that winter in the continental United States. Moreover, the Central Valley has some of the most valuable wetlands in the country. A type of seasonal wetland occurs in the Central Valley that has eluded all but the most diligent observers. Those who look hard enough are rewarded during the springtime with a brilliant display of color: yellow carpets of goldfields interrupted by multicolored splashes of bright blue Downingia and white popcorn flowers. These are the trappings of vernal pools.
<http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/07/07192002/s_47754.asp>
PROJECT TRANSFERS
H.R. 4708, from Rep. Mike Simpson’s (R-ID), would transfer a canal, dam, and five wells from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District in Idaho. A similar bill, H.R.5039, proposed by Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV), would transfer the Humboldt irrigation project from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Pershing County Water Conservation District, Pershing and Lander Counties, and the State of Nevada.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS TO WORK WITH NATURE CONSERVANCY TO SAFEGUARD ENVIRONMENT
The Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday it has decided to team with an environmental group to chart river flows, restore wildlife habitat, and conduct experiments around 13 of the nation’s dams. Environmental groups already comment publicly on projects by the Corps, which operates 630 dams for flood control and navigation on rivers across the United States. But it is the first time the Corps is creating a program with an outside group (The Nature Conservancy) to improve the health of river environments, said Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, the Army’s Chief of Engineers.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07102002/ap_47796.asp>
USFWS STANDS UP FOR IMPERILED SPECIES
The Army Corps of Engineers has been told that it cannot move the nests of ESA-protected piping plovers and least terns from sandbars on the Missouri River. The Corps wants to move the terns and plovers so that water levels can be raised to accommodate barge traffic, says the N.Y. Times, AP 7/6. The Corps responded that companies are already complaining that their barges are bumping the bottom of the river and noted its concern that we’re going to have an oil spill down in the river, even as it allowed barge traffic to continue as usual.
MONTANA GROUPS SPEND BIG BUCKS ON DEBATE OVER MILLTOWN DAM CLEANUP
Two groups with opposing views on how to deal with tons of toxic waste behind Milltown Dam near Missoula each raised nearly $100,000 to sway the public. Missoulian; July 14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/miss.damdebate.html>
63 US DAMS SCHEDULED FOR REMOVAL THIS YEAR
While dams can provide valuable services, they come at a price, according to a news release from American Rivers. As dams age their benefits often diminish while maintenance costs and safety hazards increase, such as the negative impacts on fish and wildlife. About 40 dams have been removed since 1999 when the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River was breached. <http://www.americanrivers.org/pressrelease/damremoval071802.htm>
EXPERTS SAY BIG ASIAN CARP THREATENS GREAT LAKES
Like a slippery alien from a science-fiction movie, the Asian carp, a fish species that can grow four feet long (1.2 m), weigh up to 110 pounds (50 kg), and leap eight feet (2.4 m) out of the water, could invade the Great Lakes where it would eat its way through the ecosystem, experts warned. Nonnative to North America, the carp are migrating at the rate of 50 miles (80 km) a year up the Illinois River toward the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal at Romeoville, Ill., which connects the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes. <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07122002/reu_47840.asp>
PESTICIDES HARMING SALMON
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin protecting threatened and endangered salmon from 55 pesticides applied to everything from farm fields to suburban lawns. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle found EPA has violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency in charge of salmon recovery, despite EPA’s own findings that pesticides harm salmon. “Such consultation is mandatory and not subject to unbridled agency discretion,” the judge wrote.
During the course of the lawsuit, EPA and the plaintiffs, two anti-pesticides groups and a commercial fishing group, tried to negotiate a settlement, but EPA walked out of the talks without giving a reason. “There are very few restrictions on using pesticides near water,” said Erika Schreder of the Washington Toxics Coalition, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “With so few restrictions currently in place it is no surprise we see pesticides in our water practically whenever we look for them.”
NMFS scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle have found that levels of pesticide between 1 part per billion and 1 part per 10 billion, commonly found in salmon streams around the West, can harm the nervous systems of salmon — particularly their sense of smell. Small amounts of pesticides can also affect reproduction success.
In a study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, it was found that juvenile chinook salmon exposed to the pesticide diazinon, commonly used on lawns and farms to kill insects, lost their ability to smell a chemical given off when a predator breaks the skin of another salmon. The pheromone alerts other fish to hide.
The judge ordered EPA to begin consulting with NMFS by July 15 and cover all 55 pesticides by Dec. 1, 2004. The ruling could force the EPA to withdraw approval or require stricter rules for pesticides use near water.
KLAMATH PESTICIDE USE TARGETED
The Bureau of Reclamation was put on notice that conservation and fishing groups will take them to court to “force more careful use of pesticides that can harm endangered fish” in Klamath Basin irrigation canals says the Salem Statesman Journal, AP 7/10. The groups maintain the BOR is ignoring a 1996 biological opinion that requires them to closely monitor how the aquatic herbicide acrolein is “applied and how it is affecting fish in the canals.”
FAILING STREAMS THREATEN COLORADO CITIES’ WATER SUPPLIES
Morrison, a community west of Denver, where treated sewage may inundate low natural streamflows, has issued a bottled water order for residents, and cities across the state face similar threats. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 18 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=3438>
KENTUCKY COAL COMPANY ORDERED TO PAY $3.25 MILLION FOR SLUDGE SPILL
State officials said that the company responsible for one of the nation’s worst coal sludge spills has agreed to pay $3.25 million as punishment. Martin County Coal will pay $1.75 million in penalties, $1 million for damage to the environment, and $500,000 to pay back the state for the cleanup. <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/08/08012002/ap_48017.asp>
FROG DEFORMITIES LINKED TO AG RUNOFF
For the first time, scientists have found evidence linking agricultural runoff to the rise in grotesque hind-limb deformities in frogs. In the past, the deformities were associated with a common parasite, the burrowing trematode worm, which seemed to affect the development of tadpoles. Now, writing in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have found that exposure to even minute quantities of the pesticides atrazine and malathion appears to make frogs more vulnerable to the parasite by weakening their immune systems. Both pesticides are controversial but common in the U.S., where they are used to kill weeds, mosquitoes, and other insects. Wild frogs with missing or extra hind limbs have been seen in at least 43 states and five Canadian provinces, giving rise to concerns about the fate of amphibian populations and the possible implications for human health. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=232>
UNBRIDLED LUST
Leaking underground storage tanks (LUST) of gasoline have contaminated at least 25,000 sites around Florida, giving rise to concerns that the state’s drinking water supplies could be tainted, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Scientists say the contamination is a result of Florida’s love affair with gas; the state ranks third, after California and Texas, in gas consumption, burning nearly 20 million gallons per day. Only California has more leak sites than Florida, but Florida’s leaks pose a graver threat to drinking water. The Dept. of Environmental Protection said that some 17 million Floridians drink water from public wells within a half-mile of leaking gas tanks. Last year, the state spent $151 million to expedite cleanups of contaminated sites, but a huge backlog remains. “We’re going to be cleaning up gasoline contamination for the next 20 years or longer, said Michael Ashey, chief of the Bureau of Petroleum Storage Systems for the environmental agency. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=228>
DELAWARE PROGRAM REQUIRES FARMERS TO KEEP TRACK OF ANIMAL WASTE, FERTILIZER
The state is notifying hundreds of poultry growers, farmers, and other land owners that they must comply by Jan. 1 with a law requiring them to track their fertilizer use. This is part of a statewide effort to reduce farm animal waste runoff. Scores of landowners and farm operators already are complying voluntarily with the state’s 1999 nutrient management law, designed to protect the environment by managing the use of animal manure and commercial fertilizers. A five-year plan to phase in compliance with the law has begun.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/07/07192002/ap_47910.asp>
INDIANA SCHOOL FINDS TAINTED WATER
The 7/15 Indianapolis Star reported that more than 450 elementary students have been drinking water tainted with MTBE, a possible human carcinogen, for at least two years. Some drinking water at the school tested as high as 350 parts per billion of MTBE. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) consider any water with more than 45 ppb unsafe to drink. Students and parents have been suffering from unexplained illnesses, including stomach aches, migraines, respiratory problems, rashes and nosebleeds. IDEM found that most of the MtBE in Lincoln Elementary School’s drinking water originated a third of a mile away at a local service station. For more on how you can keep your school healthy visit <http://www.serconline.org/chemicals/stateactivity.html>
ISOLATED WETLANDS
Seeking to override a Supreme Court decision that limited the Army Corps of Engineers’ authority to regulate isolated wetlands, three lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate that would authorize the federal government to regulate all waters of the United States. The legislation is an attempt to reassert federal control over wetlands regulation that has become confusing and haphazard following the January 2001 Supreme Court decision that nullified the Corps’ ability to claim jurisdiction over isolated ponds based on their use by migratory birds. Because the Corps and U.S. EPA have not issued guidance on how they will interpret the ruling, it has been difficult to assess how many wetlands will be affected, although Sen. Feingold estimates the ruling stripped federal protection from 30 to 60 percent of the nation’s wetlands.
The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2002 would restore the protection that existed for all waters and wetlands prior to the SWANCC decision by: 1) Adopting a statutory definition of “waters of the United States” based on a longstanding definition of waters in the Corps of Engineers’ regulations (at 33 CFR 328.3); 2) Deleting the term “navigable” from the Act to clarify that Congress’ primary concern in 1972 was to protect the nation’s waters from pollution, rather than just sustain the navigability of waterways; 3) Including a set of findings that explain the factual basis for Congressional assertion of constitutional authority over waters and wetlands, including those that are called “isolated.”
A recent report, Wetlands at Risk: Imperiled Treasures can be found online at <www.nwf.org> or <www.nrdc.org>
THE DAILY LOAD
The Bush administration could slash a key program of the Clean Water Act requiring federal oversight of states’ efforts to restore polluted bodies of water. About 300,000 miles of rivers and shorelines and 5 million acres of lakes in the U.S. are categorized as “impaired water bodies” in need of remediation, but for decades, some states neglected their cleanup. That began to shift in July 2000, when the Clinton administration took steps to beef up federal enforcement of the cleanups, in response to lawsuits from environmentalists. But farm groups, timber companies, and others who feared tight restrictions on pollution runoff were outraged by the move, and the rule has been kept on hold by the Bush administration. Now, internal U.S. EPA documents suggest the agency will change the rule to “trust states” to clean up their acts. Daniel Rosenberg, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, is skeptical: “The Bush EPA must be suffering from collective amnesia. The states had three decades to implement this program and failed.” <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=258>
SHELLING OUT
The first lawsuit in the U.S. over contamination stemming from the gasoline additive MTBE was settled in California yesterday, when Shell Oil agreed to pay the South Tahoe Public Utility District $28 million to help fund the cleanup of tainted drinking water wells. The district filed the lawsuit in 1998, after MTBE contamination forced the closure of one-third of South Lake Tahoe’s drinking wells.
In total, the district has received more than $69 million in settlements with oil companies, refineries, MTBE manufacturers, gas stations, and gasoline distributors, including Shell, Exxon, and Chevron. The settlements were prompted by a jury’s finding, in April, that MTBE is a defective product, and that some companies were aware of the chemical’s dangers but marketed it anyway. The case could set an important precedent for the 16 other states facing MTBE contamination problems. MTBE causes gasoline to burn more cleanly, but it is also a suspected carcinogen. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=335>
BIGGEST DEAD ZONE EVER
A “dead zone” that annually forms in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana is “larger than last year’s, which was the largest yet” says the Baton Rouge Advocate 7/29. The 8,500 square mile area off the Mississippi River Delta is unable to support marine life because of “low oxygen” levels related to an algal bloom produced by “excessive nitrogen from farm runoff, sewage systems and industry.” Aquatic life “generally flee the area, and critters that can’t escape die, hence the nickname, the dead zone.”
BANGLADEATH
Arsenic has a long and glorious history in the annals of crime fiction, but for the people of Bangladesh, poisoning by arsenic is all too real. With 35 million people drinking arsenic-tainted water, the country is in the midst of what the World Health Organization is calling the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history.” Ironically, the problem has its source in an ostensible solution: For two decades, the government and various international aid groups worked to wean the nation’s poor off of pond water, often the breeding ground for lethal diseases, urging them instead to install wells. But it turns out that many of the underground aquifers from which the wells draw water are contaminated with arsenic, which is causing “the highest environmental cancer risk ever found,” according to Allan Smith, an arsenic expert at the University of California at Berkeley. <http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=255>
NPS
10th National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop, called “Monitoring and Modeling from the Peaks to the Prairies” being held in Breckinridge, CO Sept. 8-12, 2002. Information can be found at: <http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/NPSWorkshop.html>
