[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

NFC: Fw: [currents] RiverCurrents for the Week of April 14, 2000





 River News for the Week of April 14, 2000

NATION'S MOST ENDANGERED RIVERS: Freshwater fish and other species native
to
North America's rivers are vanishing as fast as tropical rainforest
species,
American Rivers said this week in releasing its Most Endangered Rivers
report. Dams, levees, and stabilized riverbanks have destroyed river
habitat
and are contributing to the extinction of native fish and wildlife,
according to the national river conservation organization. Spotlighting
the
diminishing numbers and potential extinction of scores of fish,
amphibians,
snails, mussels, and other native freshwater and certain sea-run species,
the report said that critical river, wetland, and floodplain habitat for
these species has been degraded or destroyed-and continues to be
threatened-by dams, levees, and stabilized riverbanks that fundamentally
change the shapes and natural flows of rivers and water quality. The 13
Most
Endangered Rivers include (in order): Lower Snake River (WA), Missouri
River
(MT, ND, SD, NE, IA, KS, MO), Ventura River (CA), Copper River (AK),
Tri-State River Basins (GA, AL, FL), Coal River (WV), Rio Grande (CO, NM,
TX, and Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico), Mississippi & White Rivers (MN,
WI,
IL, IA, MO, KY, TN, AR, MS, LA), North Fork Feather River (CA), Clear
Creek
(TX), Green River (CO, UT), Presumpscot River (ME), and the Clark Fork
(MT).
More information can be found at www.amrivers.org.

     *     *     *

PATUXENT RIVER: The Patuxent River is suffering this week from an oil
spill
that sent 111,000 gallons of fuel oil into its waters on April 7th. As
reports the Washington Post (4/13), EPA officials are saying that the
electricity company PEPCO did not act as quickly as they could to clean
up
the spill for which they were responsible. Pepco said that it did not
know
whom to call after a storm caused the oil to spread so rapidly, and that
nature overcame them. Oil was also able to pollute nearby waterways
including Indian, Trent Hall, and Caney Creeks and the wetlands bordering
them. By Thursday of this week, workers say they had recovered 70,000
gallons of oil. The EPA, however, said on Friday that they had required
barely 20%, reports the Washington Post (4/14). State officials are
assessing the impact on wildlife, but say that the spill comes at a
particularly bad time as fish are releasing fragile larvae into the
waters.

     *     *     *

MINING: This week 21environmental groups asked President Clinton to
support
a federal court ruling that mountaintop removal coal mining violates the
Clean Water Act, reports the Charleston Gazette (4/13). Federal Judge
Haden
II made the ruling last year, but stayed his decision upon appeal,
prompting
the groups to send a letter to Clinton to ask that the administration not
fight the ruling, and to instruct federal agencies not to rewrite water
pollution regulations to weaken Haden's ruling.  West Virginia officials
are
working to get the decision overturned. This year, the Coal River in West
Virginia appeared on the nation's list of Most Endangered Rivers due to
the
threat posed by mountaintop removal coal mining - a process that
decapitates
mountains and fills streams with dirt and rock.

     *     *     *

EVERGLADES: This week the Clinton Administration sent Congress
legislation
to authorize the $7.8 billion restoration of the Florida Everglades.  As
reports the St. Petersburg Times (4/12), the bill pleases
environmentalists
because it spells out "that the $7.8-billion project's overarching
purpose
is to restore, preserve and protect the natural system that was the River
of
Grass." State officials are not as pleased with the bill that says the
secretary of the Army will decide by 2002 who gets water from the
restoration project and when. On the contrary, they have wanted to give
every water user from sugar farmers, to municipal utilities, to the
Everglades itself an equal right to the water produced by the restoration
plan.

     *     *     *

MINING: Owners of the proposed McDonald gold mine near the banks of the
Blackfoot river in Montana this week filed lawsuits to overturn Montana's
voter-approved ban on cyanide-leach mining or to seek damages for the
value
of the mine. As reports the Billings Gazette (4/12), Canyon Resources
Corp.
filed companion lawsuits in state and federal court to overturn the 1998
voter-passed law that blocked development of the proposed gold mine near
Lincoln. Voters in Montana had approved Initiative 137 in 1998, which
bans
any new or expanded open-pit gold or silver mine using cyanide to process
ore.  The companies want the initiative to be declared unconstitutional,
or
to recover $500 million - the value of the mine. State officials say they
will "vigorously defend I-137 and the right of the state to enact laws
dealing with the environment."

     *     *     *

POLLUTED RUNOFF: Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., this week  proposed
an
effort to reduce water pollution and improve fishing in the nation's
rivers,
streams and lakes. As reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (4/13), Bond
introduced the Fishable Waters Act - "legislation calling for voluntary
programs, state-federal partnerships and $350 million in federal spending
to
help cure one of the most troubling and widespread forms of water
pollution:
runoff of fertilizers and farm chemicals." With his announcement, Bond
pointed out that the nation's 2 million farmers need the money and other
incentives from his bill if their practices are to change, and cannot be
expected to provide additional environmental benefits to the rest of the
nation's 270 million people without assistance. American Rivers lawyer,
Scott Faber, says the bill addresses a major threat to waterways but in a
way that could undermine states' ability to set pollution control
standards.
He's also concerned the wording in the bill could exempt large feedlots
for
livestock from existing controls. A spokesman for Bond says the bill was
designed as a starting point for negotiations.

     *     *     *

RIO GRANDE: Environmental groups laid out their plans for restoring the
Rio
Grande this week, which was declared the 7th Most Endangered River in
America this week by American Rivers. As reports the Albuquerque Journal
(4/12), restoring the Rio Grande to a more natural state is necessary but
would be costly according to more than two dozen environmental groups.
The
groups are asking Congress to provide major funding for river restoration
and for local city officials to develop specific river- protection plans
as
they consider how to draw drinking water from the river. The groups also
called on the federal Bureau of Reclamation to restore natural flow
patterns
in the river and to buy water rights that could be set aside to keep
water
in the river.

     *     *     *

CUTTHROAT TROUT: The US Fish and Wildlife Service will delay a decision
on
whether cutthroat trout should be protected as a threatened species,
since
they are unsure about the genetic identity of the fish. The National
Marine
Fisheries Service had proposed listing the fish as threatened earlier
this
year to protect cutthroat in Southwest Washington and the Lower Columbia
River from harm or harassment. But now the two federal agencies require
more
information before they make a decision on whether to list the fish that
are
among the most complex of the seven major salmonid species on the West
Coast. As reports the Columbian (4/12), "they've intermingled with other
species, they spawn more than once, and even those that are genetically
similar have three different life cycles: resident trout, fluvial trout
that
migrate within a river system and anadromous trout that live for various
times in the ocean."  Officials hope to make a decision whether or not to
list the fish by October 5.

     *     *     *

WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER: The Forest Service has awarded $67,000 to the
state
of Maine to continue efforts to restore the health of the
Woonasquatucket,
an American Heritage River. The Department of Environmental Management
will
use the money to survey the entire 18 miles of the river as well as its
tributaries, reports the Providence Journal (4/13). The survey is meant
to
identify sections of the river that would benefit from additional
plantings,
and will also identify areas and provide funding for posting bilingual
signs
to raise the public's awareness of the importance of forests and water
quality.

     *     *     *

NIOBRARA RIVER: A federal appeals court panel this week overturned a
lower
court ruling and ordered the National Park Service to redraw the
boundaries
of the Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska.  The 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals determined that the Park Service used the wrong standard
in
setting boundaries along the 76-mile stretch of river that was designated
by
Congress in 1991, reports the Omaha World Herald (4/12). Instead of
looking
to protect "outstandingly remarkable values, as determined by the
National
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Park service instead selected land based
on
"significant" and "important" values - meaning that the agency could
include
more land than was necessary to protect the river's outstandingly
remarkable
values."

     *     *     *

AGRICULTURE: The US Department of Agriculture this week announced that it
will increase its program to limit polluted runoff entering our nation's
waterways from farms by adding additional incentives for farmers to
participate in a program to leave lands idle. As reports the AP (4/14),
the
department will dedicate another $350 million in signing bonuses and
other
incentives for farmers who agree to keep land along rivers and streams
out
of production for 10 to 15 years, instead planting grass or trees in the
area. More than 1 million acres are already enrolled in the program to
date.


 ==================

To add yourself to American Rivers listserves for River Policy Updates,
Corps Reform, Snake River alerts, and action alerts on other issues,
please
visit <a href=http://www.actionnetwork.org/home.tcl?domain=AMRIVERS> and
register. Thank you for your interest in rivers!

 ==================

 For more news and information about American Rivers, visit us at
www.americanrivers.org





________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.