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In this week's issue...
1) SHADES OF GREEN
In honor of St.
Patrick's Day, here's a snapshot of three Green Rivers--
and one that's only green once a year
http://www.amrivers.org/feature/greenrivers.htm
2) DAM SAFETY
Report card gives dams a D
grade
http://www.amrivers.org/feature/ascereportcard.htm
3) NEWS BRIEFS
· Little Snake River (Wyoming)
· North Platte River
(Wyoming, Nebraska)
· Fox River (Wisconsin)
· Freshwater Creek
(California)
·
Prefumo Creek (California)
· Iowa water pollution
· Missouri River
· Northwest salmon
· Klamath Basin
(Oregon)
* Deschutes
River (Oregon)
*
American Whitewater names new executive director
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This week's gear deal
Cool winter trips
and the gear you'll need: visit www.altrec.com 10% of
your purchase supports American Rivers conservation
programs<http://www.altrec.com/mpgate/Ameri1/shop/>
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NEWS BRIEFS
LITTLE SNAKE RIVER: State environmental regulators in Wyoming
are
preparing to issue the first water discharge permit
for coalbed methane wells in the Little Snake River basin of south-central
Wyoming.
As reports the AP (03/14/01), such a permit would allow Double
Eagle
Petroleum and Mining Co. of Casper to develop a
six-well pilot drilling project in the Dry Cow Creek drainage about 23 miles
north of Baggs, and send up to 166,500 gallons of water daily into Dry Cow
Creek. Double Eagle claims that the reservoir is able to absorb or
evaporate three times the amount of water that could be discharged into it, and
the DEQ seems satisfied with that claim.
A DEQ spokesperson said that only very rarely might a discharge
reach
the Little Snake River 40 stream miles away. The
DEQ is accepting comments on the proposed permit, which must be received by
March 31. If no objections are filed, the DEQ plans to issue the
permit.
NORTH PLATTE RIVER: After a 15 year battle, the states of
Nebraska and
Wyoming have agreed to settle their
15-year, $20 million legal battle
over water in the
North Platte River.
Had the case gone to trial, Nebraska officials estimated that
they would
spend $500,000 a month over a likely 18
months just on legal expenses, above and beyond the $20 million they have
already spent over the last 14 years. As reports the Lincoln Journal Star
(03/15/01), Nebraska sued Wyoming in 1986 to stop it from building Deer Creek
Dam and other water projects on tributaries of the North Platte River, arguing
that the water should be allowed to cross the border through the North Platte
River under the terms of a 1945 Supreme Court decree.
The agreement must still be approved by Owen Olpin, who was
appointed
special master for the case by the U.S.
Supreme Court in 1987, as well as by the governors and attorneys general in both
states and the U.S. Departments of Interior and Justice.
FOX RIVER: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
announced this
week that it has suspended a proposed $7
million settlement with Fort James Corp. for projects to repair damage to the
Fox River in Wisconsin.
The suspension is meant to allow more time for discussion by the
state
Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, tribal leaders and other parties to agree on how best to
handle damages done to the Fox River by the paper company Fort James, among
others. However, the damage issue is separate from the cleanup of Fox River
sediment contaminated with PCBs from paper companies, and a final cleanup plan
is expected to be released in May.
The agreement had called for the papermaker to provide $51
million worth
of recreational resources, restored
wetlands and improved fisheries to the
state for damage
done to the river by pollution from its plant in Green
Bay. The state would then agree not to sue the company for damages from
the release of PCBS into the river.
As reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar01/dnr14031301a.asp>
(03/14/01),
"under that proposed agreement, Fort James
actually would spend only $7
million on specific
projects in the Green Bay area but get credit, under a
complicated formula, for repairing $51 million in resource damage."
But
federal and tribal officials have been working to
design their own plan
for Fort James and five other
papermakers to pay for damages. Now that the
settlement
has been suspended, all concerned parties will work together
on the same plan. The DNR has extended the public comment period on
the
agreement until June 20.
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FRESHWATER CREEK: A recent analysis by the Pacific Lumber
Company of
Freshwater Creek in California gives "mostly
positive findings" on the
state of water creatures and
their habitats on the land owned by the company. However, some environmental
groups question the report's credibility, saying that the company "had to try
and find a way to represent the information that would let them continue logging
there."
The reports show that while high levels of sediment are still found in the Creek, fish and amphibian habitats are getting healthier. The high sediment levels come mainly from roads and logging practices of years past. The company was required to carry out the analysis of its 211,000 acres of forest 250 miles north of San Francisco due to an agreement between Pacific Lumber Company and federal negotiators. As reports the San Francisco Gate (03/12/01), the analysis "must be done to create site-specific protective measures to fit each watershed in the forest, eventually replacing the blanket protective measures the company now uses."
PREFUMO CREEK: Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc, a subsidiary
of
Texaco, pleaded guilty this week to two felony
charges of violating the Clean Water Act by discharging high levels of waste
water at the company's
Wilmington, Calif., refinery.
The company was fined $4 million for discharging millions of gallons of polluted waste water into the Dominguez Channel and the Prefumo Creek in San Luis Obispo. The guilty plea follows a four-year investigation by 15 federal, state and local agencies into operations at the company's Wilmington refinery. The company was permitted to release 15 parts of oil and grease per million gallons of water into the channel based on local environmental regulations, but ended up discharging 940 parts of pollutants per million, about 62 times the allowed limit.
Assistant U.S. Atty. William W. Carter said the violations
occurred in
1995 when Texaco experienced problems with a
new waste-water treatment system at the refinery, reports the Los Angeles Times
(03/13/01). But even then, the company did not shut down its operations, but
continued to send millions of gallons of waste water into the channel. However,
Carter also says that the illegal discharges have caused no long-term damage to
the already severely polluted Dominguez Channel. Under a plea agreement, the
company will pay $4 million as a fine and up to $30,000 in
restitution.
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IOWA WATERS: A new report by John Downing, an Iowa State
University
researcher, estimates that Iowa's list of
seriously polluted rivers and
lakes will grow tenfold in
the next three years. And taxpayers,
especially farmers,
will carry the cost of repairing the water bodies as they are forced to pay for
buffer strips and other techniques to keep pollutants from running off farms.
At this point, Iowa already has 157 river stretches and lakes on a federal list of waters that have special pollution limits and cleanup plans. That list will grow to 1,000 when tougher limits on fertilizers are implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Another 500 waterways will be added to the list because of high levels of fecal bacteria. Iowa State has some of the most fertilizer-polluted lakes in
the world, according to the report. "Federal regulators
suggested that
seven of 10 Iowa lakes and nearly all the
state's rivers would violate new
limits on nitrogen and
phosphorus, two common fertilizers," says the Des Moines Register
(03/12/01).
MISSOURI RIVER: The US Army Corps of Engineers has decided to
delay
until May the release of its controversial plan to
alter the flow of the
Missouri River to benefit
endangered species. The Corps says the delay is due to the need to closely
examine more than 2,000 public comments about the proposed "spring rise,"
reports the St. Louis Post Dispatch (03/15/01).
Missouri's elected officials are celebrating the decision, and
have been
lobbying extensively to keep the Missouri's
flow as it is. In a recent letter to President Bush, Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond
of Missouri said that "it is imperative that the White House direct the Corps of
Engineers to stop all activity immediately until your new team is in place and
has an opportunity to review this matter in full." Conservationists are troubled
by the Corps' decision, fearing that any delays continue to threaten species
that are already on the brink of extinction.
Read more about the Missouri River:
http://www.amrivers.org/missouririver/default.htm
NW SALMON: The year 2001 could be the lowest water year of all
time in
the Northwest, leaving salmon high and dry,
according to the Bonneville
Power Administration and
other agencies responsible for hydropower operations and fish recovery in the
Northwest. As reports Greenwire (03/13/01), BPA may have no choice this
year "but to not fully implement the water requirements of the biological
opinion (BiOp), a document drafted under the Endangered Species Act detailing
salmon protection measures, especially the amount of water that must be spilled
over dams and held in reservoirs to aid salmon survival." The region is
expecting 55% of its normal water expectations this year - about 58.6 million
acre feet (MAF), perhaps beating the record set in 1977 when 53.8 MAF was
received.
On Wednesday of this week, Washington Gov. Gary Locke declared
an
official statewide drought emergency. Record low
flows were experienced by more than 30 rivers this week, including the Columbia
River at the Dallas dam. As reports Greenwire (03/15/01), "the emergency
declaration will allow the state Department of Ecology to use the $5.1 million
drought account and issue emergency water permits, financial assistance and
temporary transfers of water rights."
Finally, fishing and conservation groups have joined Oregon
Governor
John Kitzhaber in requesting more funding for
Northwest salmon and called on the region's elected leaders to seek enough money
to properly carry out the federal Columbia Basin salmon plan.
A letter was sent to Congress this week by American Rivers,
Friends of
the Earth, Idaho Rivers United, Northwest
Sportfishing Industry Association, National Wildlife Federation, Save Our Wild
Salmon, and Trout Unlimited which said, "The failure to provide sufficient funds
will undermine the plan and likely require more drastic recovery
measures." Federal and tribal officials estimate that the new salmon plan
will require three to five hundred million dollars a year over current spending.
A detailed Bush Administration budget is due in early April, as is an Implementation Plan that should lay out specific salmon recovery measures and timelines. The salmon budget is particularly important because, as General Carl Strock of the Army Corps of Engineers said, "If we do not get the funding to implement this [new salmon plan], then dam breaching may turn out to be the only thing that we can do." With significant numbers of migrating salmon likely to die in hot, low river conditions this year, it is vital that the Administration institute aggressive salmon recovery measures immediately. (American Rivers press release 03/12/01)
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KLAMATH BASIN: This week the US Fish and Wildlife Service said
the
"Bureau of Reclamation's Klamath Irrigation Project
violates the federal
Endangered Species Act by
jeopardizing the continued existence of Lost River and shortnose suckers in
Upper Klamath Lake, both added to the endangered species list in 1988."
As reports the Oregonian (03/15/01), the agency is asking that the water level in Klamath Lake be raised by one foot, that irrigation canals be screened, and that fish ladders be built at some locations. At the same time, the National Marine Fisheries Services is considering recommending increased flows in the Klamath River. However, farmers in the region depend on the water as well, and are encouraging officials to ask Secretary of the Interior Norton for an exemption from the
Endangered Species Act.
"Klamath Basin potato farmers suffered their sixth season of below-production-cost prices last year, and continued uncertainty about water and markets has taken a toll on the region's agricultural sector," reports the Oregonian (03/15/01).
DESCHUTES RIVER BASIN: Biologists have come up with a plan to
restore
salmon and steelhead runs to the Deschutes River
Basin in Oregon, that will likely cost Portland General Electric and the
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation $30 million.
As reports the Oregonian (03/11/01), a 400-foot tall dam called
Round
Butte Dam holds back a river that forms Lake Billy
Chinook. The current Pelton-Round Butte Hydroelectric Project alters currents in
the reservoir so juvenile fish cannot find their way out.
Three rivers -- the Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked -- feed the lake, with the Metolius being the coldest and the Crooked the warmest. Upon entering the lake, the cold Metolius water rests on the bottom, the Deschutes water remains in the middle and the Crooked River water lays on the surface. Scientists theorize that migrating smolts stay in the upper layer of water instead of finding the "skimmer" that traps ocean-bound smolts and sends them downstream.
The new plan focuses on a new intake tower, the structure that funnels water from the reservoir through the generators' turbines, which would draw water from both the warm top layer and cooler lower levels and mix them as they go through the turbines. This would result in an altered current while preventing big changes in the downstream water temperature. There are no guarantees the plan will work, but scientists are hopeful and the tribes and PG&E are willing to pay the price.
WHITEWATER: Risa Shimoda, a twenty year river runner and
competitive
freestyle, squirt and slalom paddler vetran,
has been named Executive
Director of the conservation
and access organization American
Whitewater. As reports
the organization (03/13/01), Shimoda will be responsible for leading American
Whitewater's staff and volunteers, and implementing the Strategic Plan developed
by the Board of Directors. She has served on boards for the Conservation
Alliance, Trade Association of Paddlesports, and the Stanford Alumni
Association, and is Past President of the American Whitewater Board and a
founding member of whitewater institutions that include the National
Organization of Whitewater Rodeos (NOWR) and the Gauley Festival
Marketplace.
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