HYDROLOGY REPORT
While moisture in the Colorado mountains has brought Denver’s municipal water storage up to 93% of capacity, the Colorado River Basin storage has not fared so well. The Bureau of Reclamation is estimating the 2004 water year inflows to Lake Powell to be 42% of average. This follows the four previous years of 62, 59, 25 and 51% inflows. As of June 14th Lake Powell storage was at 43% capacity. Blue Mesa and Flaming Gorge reservoirs are at just under 70% capacity.
This lower elevation at Lake Powell has caused a loss of generator efficiency to only 30% of capacity. By adjusting its long-term contracts with its power customers, Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) has reduced open market power purchases to meet its power delivery requirements from $90 million in 2003 to $45 million in 2004. If the drought persists, WAPA is projecting that it could use up its power pool in Powell by late 2006 or early 2007. If the Basin Fund (revenues from power sales) is depleted, it would not only affect Reclamation and WAPA personnel (payroll) but it would also affect environmental programs such as the Adaptive Management Program and the Upper Colorado RIP that rely on funding from power revenues. WAPA will start a formal rate-adjustment process this fall, with the adjusted rate becoming effective 10/1/05.
COAL TRAIN DERAILS IN CRITICAL HABITAT
A coal train of more than 80 cars full of 100 tons of coal each derailed and spilled over 400 tons of coal into the Gunnison River in Colorado, reports the Grand Junction Sentinel, 6/25. The section of the river where the coal spilled is designated as critical habitat for the Colorado pikeminnow and the razorback sucker. A spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife said that the coal wasn’t a toxic threat to fish in the river. The only real threat was if the fish were directly crushed when the coal spilled. State aquatic biologists were expected to further assess the situation.
COLORADO SNOWPACK MELTS AWAY HOPE FOR DROUGHT RELIEF
Warm and dry weather have officials predicting complete snowmelt a month earlier than normal. Denver Rocky Mountain News; June 3 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2934715,00.html>
GROWTH, DROUGHT BOTTLE UP COLORADO WATER SUPPLIES
Denver Water has approved the addition of at least 3,000 new users annually since 1998, and in the driest year of the six-year drought, added 9,790 taps to its system. Denver Post; June 17 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2217752,00.html>
BOULDER MAY ESCAPE FRONT RANGE WATER WOES THIS YEAR
Boulder, Colo., won’t impose water restrictions this summer, thanks to full reservoirs, but other cities in the Front Range may not be so fortunate. Boulder Daily Camera; 6/4 <http://www2.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2422_2937748,00.html>
COLORADO CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SAYS, “IT’S THE WATER”
Republican candidate for Colorado’s Second Congressional District Michael Kennedy predicted water will surpass oil as the West’s most critical resource in the next decade. Boulder Daily Camera; June 8 <http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_2946189,00.html>
COLORADO COUNTY LOOKS AT IMPORTING WATER FROM NEW MEXICO
Wells are going dry in Colorado’s southwestern La Plata County and the new 120,000-acre-foot reservoir won’t be filled until 2009, so water officials are asking a New Mexico water association to sell them its unused water. Durango Herald; 6/20 <http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/04/news040620_4.htm>
COLORADO WATER TRUST WILL KEEP RIVER RUNNING
The Colorado Water Trust has raised about $300,000 to buy private water rights and transfer them to the state, and a deal between the Trust and Summit County ranchers would keep 852 acre-feet of water in the Blue River. Denver Rocky Mountain News; June 21 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2978669,00.html>
UTAH PIPELINE WILL FUNNEL RUNOFF TO SALT LAKE VALLEY
Construction will begin in November on a $220 million pipeline that runs along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley to carry 70 million gallons of water a day to the rapidly growing area. June 16 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06162004/utah/175933.asp>
UTAH BIOLOGISTS TRY TO REVIVE NATIVE CUTTHROAT SPECIES
Utah wildlife officials said it’s easier to preserve a species, such as the Colorado River cutthroat trout, if it’s not on the endangered list. Salt Lake Tribune; June 22 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06222004/utah/utah.asp>
WESTERN DROUGHT BEATS DUST BOWL, COULD BE WORST IN 500 YEARS
The drought gripping the West could be the biggest in 500 years, with effects in the Colorado River basin considerably worse than during the Dust Bowl years, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey said. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-18/s_25025.asp>
WEST’S WATER WOES PUT SPOTLIGHT ON BUSH WATER CZAR
When the Bush administration appointed Bennett Riley to oversee both the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, environmentalists feared the worst. Riley, a cowboy-turned-lawyer and longtime advocate for property rights and against government regulation, hardly seemed like an auspicious choice for water czar. But since then, enviros have come to view him with grudging respect, praising the Colorado River accord he fought for over the objections of many farmers and landowners. They also laud his Water 2025 program, which stresses conservation, efficiency, and water markets — rather than dams — as ways to help western states through the expected water shortages in coming years. <http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5240531/>
EXPERTS PITCH REGIONAL DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
The West needs a coordinated system for predicting drought, experts told Western governors at the governors’ annual meeting in Santa Fe, citing New Mexico’s Elephant Butte Reservoir, which will likely drop to 3 percent of its capacity. Farmington Daily Times; June 22 <http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_12065.shtml>
NAVAJOS WANT $900 MILLION FOR WATER PROJECTS
Navajo Nation officials asked New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman to help get $900 million from Congress for water projects in a proposed settlement of San Juan Basin water rights. Farmington Daily Times; June 29 <http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_12284.shtml>
DROUGHT FORCES ARIZONA FARMERS TO CHANGE CROPS
Farmers from Canada to Arizona are cutting back on production, changing what they plant and installing water-saving devices as drought continues to hold sway over the region. Twin Falls Times News (AP); June 2 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/business/index.asp?StoryID=5322>
HEAT’S ON AGRICULTURE
Unrestricted growth and unrelenting drought threaten the future of farms and ranches in the Mountain West. <http://www.headwatersnews.org/perspective.html>
SOUTHERN NEVADA SEEKS MORE WATER
In a May 28 meeting in Las Vegas, Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), John Ensign (R)-NV, Assistant Secretary of Interior Bennett Raley, and Pat Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, discussed ways to reduce the area’s dependence on water from the Colorado River. According to Mulroy, in the 1950’s the Las Vegas Valley got all its water from local ground water, but today the Colorado River provides 90% of its water. In the future, she hopes to reduce that draw to 60% and is working with regional leaders to develop strategies for developing in-state water resources, including the Muddy and Virgin Rivers in Lincoln County (and ground water filings in a number of counties north of Las Vegas). Meanwhile, despite an aggressive water conservation campaign, growth and the drought continue to stress existing supplies, with Lake Mead still dropping. Las Vegas Sun, 5-28
PROTECTION FOR BULL TROUT MAY STIR SAGEBRUSH REBELLIOUSNESS IN NEVADA
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to designate the Jarbidge River as critical bull trout habitat, a move likely to further enflame anti-federal sentiment in northern Nevada. Twin Falls Times-News; June 23 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=10508>
SECRETARY NORTON MUST WEIGH IN ON COLORADO RIVER DEBATE
Secretary Norton’s indolent response is hardly adequate. Market sales of water are the wave of the future and it’s time to throw out the old Colorado River water users compact and let free market enterprise flow freely. Las Vegas Review-Journal; June 8 <http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jun-08-Tue-2004/opinion/24038636.html>
CALIFORNIA FARMS’ DEPENDENCE ON DELTA WATER HIGHLIGHTED BY LEVEE FAILURE
The levee that broke in the heart of the state’s complex irrigation system put 1 million acres of irrigated Central Valley farmland on alert for possible water cutbacks, just as peak irrigation season begins. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-11/s_24805.asp>
CALIFORNIA COHO UPLISTED TO ENDANGERED
Coho salmon on the North Coast of California “are being recommended for federal listing as an endangered species, a red flag that their population is continuing to decline,” said the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 6/12. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, changing the species listing under the Endangered Species Act “is a warning to other agencies and the public that the coho’s plight is getting worse, not better.” The coho was federally listed as threatened in 1996. California is expected to list the species as threatened under the state Endangered Species Act (ESA) later this month.
SCIENTISTS SEE AIR POLLUTION SHIFTING SIERRA PRECIPITATION PATTERNS
Researchers said a global belt of air pollution may be altering rainfall patterns, citing evidence of less snow in the Sierras and less rain in thirsty Southern California. Boulder Daily Camera (AP); June 11 <http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_2955217,00.html>
HIDDEN COST OF COLORADO RIVER DIVERSIONS IS $2.4 BILLION ANNUALLY
“Society is losing $2.4 billion per year because the Colorado River’s water no longer flows all the way to the Gulf of California,” says University of Arizona researcher Karl Flessa. It’s the first dollar estimate of the benefits society would get from the natural functioning of a healthy Colorado River delta. “Human populations are losing that value when the water is diverted for other purposes.” Flessa’s calculation reflects the loss of benefits the river originally provided, including natural flood control, natural wastewater treatment and providing nursery areas for fish and other marine organisms. Flessa argues that the price water users pay should reflect the cost to society. “The original ecosystem services provided are worth more than the ecosystem services we now get from the transformed landscapes,” he said. <http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/1/wa/SRStoryDetails?ArticleID=9306>
HIGHER FLOWS IN EEL RIVER FOR SALMON
“Humboldt County claimed victory at last on the Eel River, as a federal agency overseeing the relicensing of a water and power project stuck to its guns and ordered more water for struggling salmon,” said the Eureka Times Standard, 6/16. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission struck down a request by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to revisit a decision to decrease diversions from the Eel River to the Russian River. Salmon advocates say higher flows are needed to restore salmon runs “decimated by the diversion, floods, overfishing and land use activities.” Humboldt County officials hope higher flows will help salmon migrate from the mouth of the Eel River to spawning habitat farther up the river.
KLAMATH TRIBES SEEK COMPENSATION FOR DECLINING SALMON POPULATIONS
On May 11, the Klamath Basin Tribes in Oregon filed a lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion dollars from PacifiCorp as compensation for declining salmon numbers due the company’s hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The lawsuit says PacifiCorp violated federal treaty rights established in 1864 allowing them to fish for salmon in the river. The Supreme Court legally recognized the tribes’ hunting and fishing rights in the 1970’s. PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric project on the Klamath River is comprised of four dams: Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate. “[The lawsuit] very simply alleges that PacifiCorp, with the construction of Copco No. 1 and then other dams, blocked the passage of salmon to the Sprague [River] and other spawning grounds,” said Dan Israel, one of the tribe’s attorneys. While PacifiCorp proposed a fish ladder on the J.C. Boyle Dam that would cost an estimated $10 million, they have no such plans for the other three. The company estimates that providing fish ladders for all four dams on the Klamath would cost $100 million. Damming began on the Klamath River in 1908 by the California Oregon Power Company, with the most recent one completed in 1962. The licenses of the dams are set to expire in 2006, when a new 50-year license will be considered. RUNNING RIVERS – June 2004
PARASITE KILLING MORE THAN HALF OF KLAMATH JUVENILLE SALMON
According to the California Department of Fish and Game, “a parasite has killed more than half the juvenile salmon in the Klamath River this spring and could kill hundreds of thousands more,” said Land Letter, 6/13. The parasite outbreak is exacerbated by conditions in the river that cause salmon to be stressed, such as low flows, high temperatures and an unhealthy level of dissolved oxygen. Next week, the Bureau of Reclamation, which operated the upper Klamath Irrigation Projects, “will lower flows for the summer” which “could raise water temperatures and exacerbate the parasite.”
BIOLOGISTS ALARMED AT DISEASE OUTBREAK IN KLAMATH RIVER SALMON
California fisheries officials are worried that a parasite killing young salmon and steelhead migrating down the Klamath River to the ocean could kill hundreds of thousands of the fish in coming weeks. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-04/s_24534.asp>
SCIENTIST PREDICTS WARMER, DRIER IDAHO
Idaho’s snowpack could drop 35 percent and its average temperature may rise 7 degrees in the next 50 years, keeping reservoirs low and water scarce, according to one of the nation’s top researchers. Idaho Statesman; June 4 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040604/NEWS0105/406040326/1002/NEWS03>
IDAHO TRIBES’ WATER SETTLEMENT WILL SUPPLY LOCAL FARMERS, CITIES
A historic settlement to the Nez Perce Tribe’s claim to most of the water in Idaho’s Snake River will ensure long-term supplies for non-Indian irrigators and municipalities, officials said. Twin Falls Times-News; June 10 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=10236>
OBSTACLES MAY DAM UP IDAHO WATER PACT
The framework is in place for a 30-year agreement on use of Idaho’s Snake River water, but funding concerns and growing opposition in the state may bottle up the deal. Twin Falls Times News; 6/8 <http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=10227>
ANOTHER GOOD YEAR FOR SALMON POURS MONEY INTO RURAL IDAHO
Idaho has had five consecutive years of good salmon fishing, and tens of thousands of anglers spend an estimated $38 million year in local economies. Idaho Statesman; June 14 <http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040613/NEWS01/406130332>
HELLS CANYON DAM’S IMPACT ON ENDANGERED SALMON MUST BE EXAMINED
A federal court “ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to answer a 7-year old petition from a coalition of environmental groups asking the agency to examine the impacts Idaho Power Co.’s Hells Canyon dams have on threatened or endangered Snake River salmon and steelhead,” said the Idaho Statesman, 6/23. American Rivers, Save Our Wild Salmon and Idaho Rivers United petitioned FERC in 1997, asking them to consult with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries to ensure that their actions did not harm threatened and endangered species. “The court has told FERC in very strong terms that it can’t avoid its responsibilities to protect endangered species by sticking its head in the sand,” said Connie Kelleher of American Rivers.
DROUGHT BRINGS YELLOWSTONE RIVER TO RECORD LOW FLOW
The Yellowstone River at Billings hit a record low for June; it peaked nearly a month early at about one-fourth its usual volume. Casper Star-Tribune (AP); June 4 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/06/04/news/wyoming/e90244dbac27801987256ea80052ca05.txt>
INSUFFICIENT DATA
The Yellowstone River Compact was negotiated between the states of Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, and the federal government, in 1950 and ratified by the Congress in 1951. It apportions the flows of four major tributaries, the Big Horn, Clarks Fork, Powder and Tongue Rivers. These all have their headwaters in Wyoming and flow northerly into the Yellowstone in Montana. A majority of the annual flow in the Yellowstone Basin arises from snowpack, and the state commissioners signed a joint May 6 letter urging Ann Veneman, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, and Bruce Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to adequately fund the federal snow survey program, which provides data that is “…immensely valuable to our two states as we estimate the flows and timing of the water supply each year.” The letter expressed “concern about recent events” and “the budgetary degradation of the program over the years.” The extended drought and dearth of snowpack in the Yellowstone River Basin this year has caused severe water shortages in interstate tributaries and Montana has made a “call” for water under the Yellowstone River Compact to protect Montana’s pre-1950 water rights on the Powder and Tongue Rivers. Western States Water Council, 6/7
MONTANA RANCHERS OFFERED $1 MILLION FOR WATER
The federal government offered ranchers along Montana’s Big Hole River $1 million willing to shorten their irrigation season this year to protect fluvial arctic grayling. The upper Big Hole River is home to the last native population of the fluvial arctic grayling, a rare fish that is a candidate for endangered species protection. In the past, conservation-minded ranchers have voluntarily reduced irrigation diversions to leave water in the river. A long period of drought has “severely impacted the Big Hole grayling despite efforts by irrigators, fishermen and others to alleviate the crisis.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle; 6/9 <http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/06/08/news/002bigholebzbigs.txt>
MONTANA RANCHERS CAUGHT IN STRUGGLE TO SAVE FISH
If emergency protections sought for the river-dwelling grayling in Montana’s Big Hole River are granted, irrigators could be forced to stop watering much-needed crops to save the fish. Bozeman Chronicle; June 7 <http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/06/06/news/03bigholebzbigs.txt>
MONTANA TELLS JUNIOR WATER-RIGHTS HOLDERS TO EXPECT SHUTOFFS
Montana fish and game officials sent notices to hundreds of water rights holders that the state may shut off their irrigation this summer to preserve flows for fish. Great Falls Tribune; June 11 <http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040611/localnews/620997.html>
TRIBES ASK BPA TO WITHDRAW SUMMER SPILL PROPOSAL
Citing what they say is a potential federal court violation, leaders of four Columbia River treaty tribes strongly criticized the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ revised proposal to reduce summer spill at Columbia/Snake river dams. “This second proposal is strike 2 in a campaign to sell out salmon and tribal treaty obligations in order to ship more electricity to power-hungry California,” said Ronald Suppah, Sr., chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. Jerry Meninick, chairman of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, said, “The plan still lacks adequate measures to offset the salmon and steelhead we would lose if BPA gets its way. We want this haphazard plan off the table.” <http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/18140.aspx>
NEZ PERCE TRIBE SUES TO RELEASE SALMON
The Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho has sued “to force the State of Washington to release 200,000 fall Chinook” from hatcheries in the Snake River basin, according to a Nez Perce press release, 6/15. The Bonneville Power Administration and the Corps of Engineers have proposed to offset summer spill reductions over dams in the river by holding the juvenile chinook until 2005. “BPA is so desperate to reduce summer spill that it will disregard the law and violate court orders to do so. BPA has resorted to extortion, bribery, and deception in their relentless pursuit for reductions in summer spill,” stated Anthony D. Johnson, Chairmen of the Nez Perce Tribe.
WASHINGTON RELEASES SALMON AT NEZ PERCE REQUEST
Washington state officials have agreed to “to release 200,000 young salmon from Lyons Ferry Hatchery in June after the Nez Perce Tribe threatened legal action,” according to the Tri-City Herald, 6/15. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said “that holding the young fish back was intended to bolster salmon numbers that will be taxed by reduced summer spill over the dams in late July and August.” The tribe asserted that releasing the fish next year, in order to make up for less water spilled over dams in the Columbia river, would violated a management agreement. Tribal officials said “it’s critical to release the younger fish so hatcheries can mimic the natural river systems as closely as possible.”
CORPS BEGINS DREDGING COLUMBIA RIVER’S MOUTH
Initially the Army Corps will shave high spots in the navigation channel where sand has shoaled during the winter, but also on tap this summer are projects to dredge portions of the Columbia River navigation channel from Portland, Ore., downstream to Astoria, and the shipping channel in southern Oregon’s Coos Bay. If the dredging produces more sand than the capacity of the two disposal sites near the mouth, the Corps could for the first time dispose of excess sand at its Deepwater site six miles offshore. Columbia River crab fishers have long fought the use of that site because they have said it is an area thick with crabs. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently gave the Corps temporary approval to use the area as a disposal site. <http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/18132.aspx>
ENVIRONMENTALISTS LOSE MISSOURI RIVER CASE
The Missouri River can operate without changes sought by environmentalists to save endangered fish and birds, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled in favor of the Army Corps of Engineers on all counts. His 51-page order came nearly a year after a different federal judge ordered the changes and, when Corps leaders refused to act, cited them for contempt. Magnuson, a St. Paul, Minn., judge, blocked the contempt citation last year after taking over the river litigation. Conservation groups will weigh whether to appeal. <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040622/ap_on_sc/river_fight_1>
REMOVING DAMS COULD HEAL RIVERS
Despite their massive bearings and lofty aspirations, all of the West’s dams are fated to fail, eventually; but the extinction of ecosystems is forever. High Country News; June 30 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/HCN.damessay.html>
TOILETS TARGETED IN AUSTRALIAN WATER-SAVING STRATEGY
Australia, one of the driest countries on Earth, is considering laws to reduce the amount of water literally going down the toilet. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-25/s_25252.asp>
COCA-COLA PLANT MAY BE FORCED TO CLOSE, OFFICIAL SAYS
A Coca-Cola Co. plant in southern India may be forced to close permanently because a village council has accused it of depleting local groundwater and is refusing to renew its license, a company official said. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-24/s_25194.asp>
DAM-BUILDING THREATENS WORLD RIVERS, SAYS WWF REPORT
Dam building poses a serious threat to some of the world’s largest rivers, with China’s Yangtze at greatest risk, World Wildlife Fund International said in a report released Tuesday. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-23/s_25150.asp>
THOUSANDS IN INDIA REFUSE TO LEAVE TOWN FACING EXTINCTION VIA DAM WATERS
Some 30,000 people defied a government deadline to leave a 700-year-old town that is expected to be submerged within weeks by waters from a river dam being built across the Narmada Valley in central India. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-07-01/s_25452.asp>
FLOOD-MENACED POPULATION TO DOUBLE BY 2050, SAYS U.N.
The number of people vulnerable to floods is expected to double to 2 billion worldwide by 2050 due to global warming, deforestation, rising sea levels, and population growth in flood-prone areas, U.N. researchers warned. <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=1424&language=1> <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-15/s_24877.asp>
INDIAN, PAKISTANI OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS CONTROVERSIAL DAM
Indian and Pakistani officials meet on a dispute over a dam that India is building in its portion of disputed Kashmir and that Pakistan fears will deprive its farmers of water. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-11/s_24806.asp> <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-22/s_25108.asp>
DEATH TOLL FROM BURST DAM IN BRAZIL RISES TO FIVE, THOUSANDS FLEE THEIR HOMES
The death toll from a dam break in northeastern Brazil rose to five as authorities found another drowning victim close to a flooded town, police said recently. More than 3,500 people fled their homes and dozens of people were missing. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-22/s_25118.asp>
YANGTZE RIVER THREATENED BY DAM DEVELOPMENT
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) reports that China’s Yangtze River faces grave environmental threats from dam development than any other river in the country, according to BBC News, 6/21. More than 46 large dams are planned for the river. These dams could destroy the habitats of endangered species on the river, including the Yangtze River dolphin, of which only a few dozen remain.
IDAHO CITY WANTS TO IRRIGATE AWAY SEWAGE WOES
Post Falls officials are asking voters to approve a $9.5 million levy to buy 500 acres of irrigated ground on which to spray treated wastewater to reduce the amount of effluent released into the Spokane River. Spokane Spokesman-Review; June 6 <http://www.spokesmanreview.com/idaho-news-story.asp?date=060604&ID=s1526589&cat=section.idaho>
INDUSTRY GROUPS ARGUE FOR WEAKENED CLEAN WATER PROTECTIONS
Attorneys for the oil industry filed a motion seeking to narrow the scope of the federal Clean Water Act as it applies to preventing oil spills in many streams, ponds, wetlands and other waters. Conservation groups that have intervened in the litigation warned that well over half the nation’s waters-ranging from neighborhood creeks and fishing holes to drinking water supplies-could lose federal protection if the oil industry’s argument is successful. The oil industry claims that it should only have to take steps to prevent oil spills in certain waters that meet a narrow, hundred-year-old concept of navigability, and that it can legally spill oil into most of the nation’s streams and creeks and many of its wetlands. <http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=853>
ENDANGERED RIVERS AND THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT (2ND EDITION)
In Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement, Tim Palmer chronicles the development of a national consciousness that values our rivers as lifelines for wildlife, fisheries, parks, wilderness, recreation, and communities. Now updated and including two new chapters that chart the course of conservation during the past twenty years, as well as exploring how the movement to protect rivers will likely change in the twenty-first century, Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement will fascinate all who seek to understand environmental history, resources management, and the evolution of government programs in response to people’s changing needs. <http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com>
STUDY FINDS POLLUTANTS IN GREAT SALT LAKE WETLANDS, WATERSHEDS
Long-banned DDT, modern household pesticides and agricultural fertilizer is showing up in safe but worrisome concentrations in northern Utah’s wetlands and watersheds, according to a federal study. Salt Lake Tribune; June 23 <http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06232004/utah/178177.asp>
APPEALS COURT KEEPS NO-SPRAY BUFFERS FOR SALMON IN PLACE
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to set aside a lower court ruling prohibiting the spraying of certain pesticides near salmon streams while chemical companies appeal. The pesticide industry group CropLife and grower groups requested a stay that would remove safeguards from hazardous pesticides for salmon. The U.S. District Court in Seattle denied CropLife’s request for a stay on March 18. On 6/23, the Ninth Circuit agreed and denied the stay as well. The district court issued the January 2004 injunction that put in place no-spray zones of 100 yards for aerial applications and 20 yards for ground applications of more than 3 pesticides. <http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=860>
JORDAN APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP TO SAVE THE DEAD SEA
Jordan appealed on Tuesday for international assistance to help save the ecosystem of the Dead Sea, whose water level is dropping. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-02/s_24438.asp>
USGS RELEASES WATER QUALITY REPORTS
The US Geological Service has released reports on water quality in 15 more of the Nation’s most important river basins and aquifers. The reports are part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), which is designed to describe the status and trends in the quality of ground water and surface water resources around the country. The program has now completed assessments in a total of 51 areas called study units that cover more than half of the land area of the conterminous U.S. and include water resources used by more than 60 percent of the population. Findings of regional and national interest are highlighted in a separate report “Water Quality in the Nation’s Streams and Aquifers? Overview of Selected Findings, 1991-2001.” Overall, the findings indicate that water is generally suitable for drinking, irrigation, recreation, and other uses. However, major challenges remain in protecting water resources from contamination in every water basin, which are related to human activities in agricultural and suburban/urban areas, as well as natural sources from rocks and soils. <http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa>
USDA ANNOUNCES $3.75 MILLION FOR NEW SOURCE WATER PROTECTION PROGRAM
The nonprofit National Rural Water Association (NRWA) has been granted $3.75 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the implementation of a new initiative that will help prevent source water pollution in 33 states. Through the two-year program, NRWA will hire for each selected state full-time Rural Source Water technicians, knowledgeable and experienced in rural issues. The technicians will work with FSA county executive directors and state conservation specialists with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to identify priority areas where local pollution prevention efforts are needed most. In addition, the technicians will facilitate the creation of local teams comprised of citizens with diverse backgrounds who will collaborate in the development of Rural Source Water Protection plans to promote clean ground water. <http://www.caprep.com/0504060.htm>
TWENTY-SEVEN DEAD FROM CONTAMINATED WATER IN SOUTHERN PAKISTAN
— Contaminated water from a public reservoir is believed to have killed as many as 27 people and sickened more than 3,000 over the past two weeks in the southern city of Hyderabad, health authorities said. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-04/s_24531.asp>
BAGHDAD RESIDENTS SUFFER FROM POLLUTED WATER
Millions of Baghdad residents lack a reliable source of clean water. Some have no choice but to get supplies straight from the Tigris River, which is teeming with raw sewage, pesticides, oil, heavy metals, and, thanks to the military conflict of the past 16 months, benzene, an ingredient in gasoline and jet fuel. Says Abdul Salam Abdulali, who works dredging the Tigris, “I wish I could eat the fish, but when I cut them open I can smell the oil.” Bechtel Corp. has a $680 million U.S. government contract to get Baghdad water-treatment plants up to speed, but little progress seems to have been made, and meanwhile few sewage-treatment facilities in the city are functional. Cases of waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid doubled in the year between August 2002, before the U.S.-led invasion, and August 2003, according to the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The NewStandard, Dahr Jamail, 07 Jun 2004 <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2562>
SOAP AND WATER CUTS DIARRHEA IN REFUGEE SLUM, SAYS STUDY
Simple hand washing cut in half the rate of often deadly diarrhea among refugee children in Pakistan, researchers reported Tuesday in an experiment that showed small changes can make big health differences. <http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-02/s_24432.asp>
