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NFC: Fw: RiverCurrents for the Week of December 29, 2000



Title: RiverCurrents for the Week of December 29, 2000

River News for the Week of December 29, 2000

WHITE RIVER: The Arkansas state Soil and Water Conservation Commission has determined that the White River is the best source of irrigation water for the planned Grand Prairie irrigation project. As reports the AP (12/27), some environmentalists and hunters in the area have opposed the $319 million Grand Prairie project, concerned about the effects on wildlife when taking water from the river. Even some farmers in Arkansas County are concerned, saying that they might be assessed part of the costs of the project.

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TENNESSEE RIVER: Though talks in the Southeast water wars have focused on shared rivers, Tom Littlepage of the Water Resources Division with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs says that the Tennessee River should not be overlooked. Littlepage is concerned that if major population growth in the southeast starts to take a great volume of water from the river and its tributaries, that navigation, water quality and recreation could be significantly impacted. Georgia has considered the Tennessee River as a possible water source but only as part of a broader plan for water needs far into the future, says Pat Stevens, chief of environmental planning for the Atlanta Regional Commission. Scottsboro, Guntersville, Huntsville and Decatur are three of the communities in Alabama that are downstream of any diversion of Tennessee River waters. As reports the AP (12/25), the Tennessee River passes through Alabama but not Georgia, and is not part of the water-sharing negotiations. It's possible that Alabama could make a deal with Tennessee on the Tennessee River after Alabama, Georgia and Florida reach an agreement.

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NIOBRARA RIVER: The National Park Service is considering changing the boundaries for a federally protected area of the Niobrara River in Nebraska to better reflect its biological resources and the ways people use the river valley. As reports the AP (12/26), the Niobrara Scenic River was created by Congress in 1991 to protect a 76-mile stretch of the river east of Valentine. But after loosing two lawsuits (one arguing that the agency relinquished too much power to the Niobrara Council in determining river management, and the other resulting in throwing out the original scenic river boundary), the Park Service must rewrite its management plan for the river and redefine the boundary. Paul Hedren of the Niobrara National Scenic River office says many believe the original plan did not adequately represent the biological diversity of the area, its recreational value and its fossil resources. Three management alternatives are being considered, including: 1. Leaving things as they are; 2. A preferred alternative that has the Park Service managing the river with partners, including the Niobrara Council, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Natural Resource Districts and the four counties in the corridor; and 3. Having the Park Service manage the river independently. A draft management plan is expected by the end of February with a final plan targeted for release next fall.

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TRINITY RIVER: The Trinity River Authority's Denton Creek Regional Wastewater System unintentionally released an estimated 2220,000 gallons of domestic wastewater into Cade Branch Creek in Texas this week due to a combination of heavy rainfall and a mechanical failure at the wastewater center. The release occurred on December 26 from a manhole located 30 yards west of Cade Branch Creek. The highly diluted wastewater is not expected to have any significant impact on the receiving stream, says the PR Newswire (12/27).

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NW TIMBER: U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle has modified an order that stopped some 180 Northwest timber sales, reports the Oregonian (12/23). Projects that improve salmon habitats can advance, says the judge, acting on a request by environmentalists and commercial fishermen. The judge amended an injunction made early in December affecting timber sales on national forests and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands in Washington, Oregon and Northern California to allow habitat improvement projects to advance, "separating the good from the bad and allowing the good projects to move forward."

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COLORADO RIVER: Government planners on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico are focusing on the problems plaguing the Colorado River delta - but environmentalists are not enthused, saying the newfound concern has not produced much action. As reports the Los Angeles Times (12/26), environmentalists are threatening litigation, saying that the desire by the Clinton administration in its final days to divert more water for California, Arizona and Nevada will strangle the delta. The Clinton administration is trying to finalize a plan for dividing the Colorado River's water among seven thirsty states. Currently, so little of the river's flow reaches the delta that the area is now "largely a vast and arid belt of cracked mud and desert shrubs." American Rivers listed the delta as one of the most endangered rivers in 1998. Mexico is also concerned, saying that the Cienega de Santa Clara wetlands that accommodate more than 150 bird species, large-mouth bass and endangered desert pupfish, gets its water from irrigation runoff delivered by a canal from Arizona, and that diverting that water would destroy this national treasure. Both governments have signed agreements to upgrade the ecological health of the delta region. Now that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has fashioned a truce among seven US states that use so-called surplus flows from the Colorado River, he is using his final year to give attention to the delta and other binational water issues. Babbitt hopes to sign a surplus plan on January 17th before George W. Bush is sworn in as president on January 20th.

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TUALATIN RIVER: A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the Tualatin Riverkeepers in Oregon against the state Environmental Protection Agency saying that the group had not shown that the agency failed in its duty to enforce the federal Clean Water Act. As reports the Oregonian (12/27), the judge determined that the EPA was not required to review a pollutant-discharge permit issued to the Unified Sewerage Agency by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The Riverkeepers charged the agency for not setting numeric limits on amounts of phosphorus and other pollutants in storm-water runoff. The Sewerage Agency processes sewage for about 400,00 residents in Washington County, and discharges the treated sewage into the Tualatin River. The judge, however, ruled that the EPA has discretion over whether to review such permits. The Riverkeepers indicate that they may refile the suit, saying that the judge's ruling seems to allow for that response.

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NORTHEAST SALMON: The future of New England's aquaculture industry might be in danger, as action after action threatens its existence. ENN (12/28) reports that first, wild salmon have been declared endangered in eight Maine river, and that the fish-farming industry may be partly to blame; second, three salmon farms are being sued over a missing federal permit for discharging pollutants; and third, seven government agencies are increasing or creating regulations that will impact fish farming. The lawsuit deals with the largely unchecked discharge into the sea of concentrated fish waste, excess fish food and a chemical used to kill sea lice. However, aquaculture is expected to become a multibillion dollar business in the US, with the Commerce Department recently setting a goal "to boost the size of the domestic fish-farming industry from $900 million today (of which about $65 million is generated in Maine) to $5 billion by 2025." Currently the US imports most of its fish from huge farms in Europe and other areas.

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NW SALMON: Recent studies by University of Idaho and Washington State University scientists in cooperation with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory show that four out of five female fall chinook salmon in the Columbia River's Hanford Reach apparently began life as males. ENN (12/27) reports that the researchers have determined that radiation is not to blame for the sex change but that environmental contaminants that mimic hormones or water temperature changes could be to blame. The findings could provide an important clue for determining the reasons for the general decline of Northwest salmon runs. James Nagler, a University of Idaho assistant professor of zoology, led the study and said that while pesticides and other chemicals that can mimic estrogen and disrupt the development of salmon are present in the Columbia, they are at levels far below those used in laboratory experiments where the sex of fish embryos has been changed.

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UTAH WATERS: Gov. Mike Leavitt of Utah is requesting $500,000 in his 2001 budget to fund a special blue-ribbon stream program within the Division of Wildlife Resources to improve trout fishing throughout Utah. As reports the Salt Lake Tribune (12/27), a committee of conservationists, biologists and tackle store owners are now working out the details of how best to use the potential windfall. The goal is to improve class III fisheries in rural Utah waters such as the Sevier River near Panguitch, the Strawberry River near Duchesne and the Price River below Scofield Reservoir by enhancing stream habitat and purchasing public access to quality fishing waters on private ground. One strategy is to establish a Dedicated Angler Program similar to the Division of Wildlife Resources' Dedicated Hunter Program. In that program, hunters sign up for a three-year commitment in which they pay $150 and complete eight hours of service work a year on wildlife-related projects. In return, they are allowed to hunt during a longer period of time.



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