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NFC: Fw: Cleaning Up Florida's Polluted Waterways- Clean Water Network




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Help Get All of Florida’s Waterways Cleaned Up

The Southeast Office of Clean Water Network is working with organizations
and citizens across Florida to get all of the state’s waterways cleaned
up
under the Total Maximum Daily Load Program (TMDL) of the Clean Water Act,
and we need your help.

The TMDL Program requires that states create a list of all waterbodies
that
are not meeting minimum water quality standards and then set and enforce
pollution limits for each waterbody.  In 1998 the FDEP listed 712 of
Florida
’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, and streams, as not meeting water quality
standards.  This is a large number, but there are still many more
waterways
in Florida that did not get included on this list.

Unfortunately, the State has decided to dismiss the federal criteria for
listing impaired waterways in favor of creating its own standards.  This
process will use the 1998 list as a reference tool only, and will start
the
listing process all over again.  The State’s new standards will make it
harder to get polluted waterways on the list and get pollution limits set
for them.

Significant citizen involvement is the only thing that will ensure that
the
DEP’s list will encompass all of Florida's impaired waterways and get
them
cleaned up.  Groups and individuals can help get waters in their areas
listed by starting to collect data on these waters now.  Ways to gather
relevant data that documents impairment may include but is not limited
to:

*	Reporting beach closures

*	Calling local DEP offices, water management districts, fish and game
	commissions, local governments, etc. for studies done on your waterways

*	Gathering data from volunteer water monitoring groups

*	Visiting the national inventory of fish consumption advisories website
at
	http://www.epa.gov/ostwater/fishadvice/

*	Clipping related newspaper articles

*	Collecting photographs of algae mats, fish kills, and other suspicious
	environmental occurrences

This data will be crucial to listing our impaired waterways when the DEP
opens the public comment period and holds public hearings calling for
citizen participation.

In the coming weeks Clean Water Network will be reaching out to groups
and
individuals across the state to get citizens involved in getting our
waters
listed through the TMDL program.  Please contact us with any waters you
know
of that should be on the impaired waters list or with the names of any
organizations or individuals that we should contact to include in the
campaign.  To get more information on the TMDL Program visit the United
States EPA web page at www.epa.gov/OWOW/tmdl or contact our office in
Tallahassee.

Thank you for your support and involvement,



Grace Frances
Field Organizer
Clean Water Network
P.O. Box 254
Tallahassee, FL 32302
Ph. (850) 222-8701
Fax (850) 222-9541
gfrances at mindspring_com