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NFC: Fw: [currents] RiverCurrents Online -- Week of August 20, 1999





Robert Rice
Help Preserve our Aquatic Heritage join the Native Fish Conservancy
online
 at our website http://www.nativefish.org

--

Thanks for subscribing to RiverCurrents Online, the weekly summary of
river-related news. The goal of this service is to provide its readers a
quick look at the news and events concerning America's rivers each week.
This service is made possible by American Rivers. Questions, comments, or
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========

Interested in Legislative Policy Updates? Email Suzy McDowell at
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listserve.


River News for the Week of August 20, 1999

MISSOURI RIVER: With help from the Missouri River Coalition and hundreds
of
people from across the Missouri River basin, American Rivers is calling
on
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to select the split navigation season
option as the alternative of choice for managing the Missouri River's
giant
dams. The Corps, after a decade-long process, will select its preferred
alternative for the Missouri River Master Water Control Manual in early
September. The Corps' analysis shows that in comparison to the river's
current water control plan, the split season alternative provides
enhanced
hydropower, recreation, and total national economic development benefits.
Plus, the split season results in substantial environmental gains.

     *     *     *

RIVER BUDGET 2001: The overview of American Rivers’ River Budget for
FY’01,
which identifies key federal programs relating to river conservation and
restoration for the next fiscal year, has been prepared and can be viewed
at
http://www.amrivers.org/rbudget2001.html. Over the past four years, the
River Budget has helped protect and restore rivers by directing federal
dollars toward federal programs that significantly affect river health.
It
is imperative that we get as many groups as possible to endorse this
report
(160 signed on last year). A large, unified voice is the most effective
way
to communicate to Congress and the Administration the importance of river
issues during the budget process. To sign on to the River Budget for
2001,
please contact Suzy Mcdowell at 202-347-7550 or smcdowell at amrivers_org.

     *     *     *

PFIESTERIA: Signs of the toxic microbe Pfiesteria piscicida have been
found
in the Manokin River on the Eastern Shore this week, after a person early
last week began exhibiting skin irritations after being in Back Creek in
Somerset County, reports the Washington Post (8/19). The microbe gained
popularity two summers ago when it sickened people and killed thousands
of
fish along the eastern shore, prompting Maryland Governor Glendening to
close several waterways leading to the Chesapeake Bay. There is as yet no
confirmation of the presence of toxic pfiesteria, though the symptoms
being
evidenced by several people are associated with pfiesteria exposure.

     *     *     *

COLUMBIA RIVER: The Army Corps of Engineers released this week an
environmental impact statement that recommends dredging the Columbia
River's
shipping channel to 43 feet to allow for accessibility by larger cargo
ships. Environmentalists oppose the dredging, saying that disposing of
nearly 12 million cubic yards of sand, rock and other debris on 29
disposal
sites covering 1,681 acres will cause significant problems that will most
likely result in lawsuits. Cost of the project is estimated at $196
million,
toward which Congress this month authorized spending $100 million,
reports
the Portland Oregonian (8/19). The project still needs state water
quality
permits from Oregon and Washington and approval from the National Marine
Fisheries Service.

     *     *     *

WATER WARS: The Potomac River is in trouble and the drought has exposed
the
reasons why. The River’s flow is being overtaxed by water withdrawals,
and
is increasingly polluted by urban development and factory farms.  Each
year
in April, American Rivers issues a list of America’s 10 Most Endangered
Rivers. In 1999, half of rivers on list were threatened by low flows due
to
excessive urban water withdrawals. Most of those rivers were in the West
where water wars have been around since settlement began. Now, suburban
sprawl is bringing the water wars to the East.  Although water supply
issues
are less familiar to people in the East, the environmental consequences
are
the same. As reports the Washington Post (8/19), “The Washington region's
bickering response to the drought is undermining its conservation efforts
just as similar battles over water did in the West.” During a news
conference this week, environmentalists and Maryland officials agreed
that
unless the cities that share Potomac River water develop a common
water-use
policy, the region could face some of the same problems water disputes
have
caused in the West. Water wars in the west have proven that unless there
is
a clear consensus between users of regional water across city and state
boundaries, conservation efforts fail. Though Maryland, Northern Virginia
and the District all use Potomac River water, only Maryland has imposed
restrictions on the communities that rely on it.

     *     *     *

COLORADO RIVER: A Mexican developer is proposing a privately financed
120-mile underground aqueduct to deliver water from the Colorado River to
the San Diego area and industrial cities in Baja California, reports the
Wall Street Journal (8/18). At a cost of $800 million, the tunnel, which
would be built in Mexico, would let the city draw more water than they're
capable of doing right now. The San Diego County Water Authority and
Mexican
water officials will be implementing a $3 million feasibility study on
development of the aqueduct this month.

     *     *     *

SALMON RESTORATION: The Simpson Timber Co. and the Yurok Indian Tribe are
coming together to save salmon and other fish in Lower Klamath River by
stopping silt runoff from old timber roads.  As reports the Los Angeles
Times (8/19), just 2,500 Chinook salmon spawned in the Shasta River, one
of
the Klamath's main tributaries, compared to 80,000 who made the journey
in
1930. The tribe hopes to restore a salmon run big enough to support a
commercial fishery, while the timber company hopes to avoid state and
federal restrictions on timber harvesting on the slopes above the river.
As
reports the Times, “Using state and federal grants, the Yurok are
training
tribal members to use heavy equipment to erase abandoned logging roads
and
recut existing ones so they produce less silt.” The project to restore
hundreds of miles of watershed along the Lower Klamath is expected to
take
20 years.

     *     *     *

FLORIDA WATERWAYS: Florida officials have decided against dropping any
Florida waterways from a federal list that grants them special
protection,
reports the Tampa Tribune (8/18). Initial plans were to drop almost 200
waterways from the list, but public reaction to that decision promoted
the
Department of Environmental Protection to slash that number by half by
the
time it announced its intentions in June. After further consideration,
officials announced this week that no waterways would be dropped.

Also in Florida, State officials are working to close nearly 500 miles of
dirt roads in the Blackwater River State Forest that have been sending
silt
into the river and Pensacola Bay. The river receives more sediment runoff
than any other waterway in the state, killing underwater grasses and
threatening marine life, reports USA Today (8/17).

     *     *     *

WATER KEEPERS: Citizen watchdogs across the country are taking their
authority from the 1972 Clean Water Act to act as Water Keepers, citizens
that take legal action in water pollution cases on our nation’s
waterways.
As reports the Christian Science Monitor (8/18), the Act “empowers
citizens
to bring legal actions where - for lack of staff or funds - local, state,
and federal governments have not.” 35 Water Keeper programs around the
country now focus on finding and stopping illegal polluters.

     *     *     *

CLEAN WATER: The Clinton administration this week proposed new
regulations
to compel states, for the first time, to set a cap on the pollution
entering
waterways. They would also force states to determine how contaminants
would
be reduced from factories, sewage treatment plants, farm fields, and city
streets. This action would force states to enforce a largely ignored part
of
the federal Clean Water Act, combating non point source pollution. As
reports the Washington Post (8/15), the proposal differs from current
water
regulations in two main ways: “ it broadens the focus from the specific
quality of discharges from individual polluters--such as factories and
sewage treatment plants--to the overall quality of a body of water,
taking
into account its ability to handle contaminants and all the sources of
pollution that enter it.” It also forces states to states to reduce
"non-source" pollution from more diffuse sources, including agricultural
and
urban runoff.

     *     *     *

DAMS: The Army Corps of Engineers is prepared to operate the reversible
hydropower turbines on the Russell Dam in Georgia after a decade of
debate
and $34 million in environmental tests and related programs, reports the
Augusta Chronicle (8/16). This week the Corps released a finding of ``No
Significant Impact'' on operation of the turbines that would pump water
on
the Savannah River “from Thurmond Lake back to Lake Russell at night for
reuse in power production during the day -- when electricity is more
valuable.” Environmentalists oppose the operation since fish are sucked
inside and killed when turbines are reversed. A 1988 lawsuit against the
Corps was initiated by the state of South Carolina and the National
Wildlife
Federation after fish kills. Corps officials admit that millions of fish
are
killed, but the numbers equal less than 1 percent of Thurmond Lake's fish
population, making the amount insignificant.

     *     *     *

GULF OF MEXICO DEAD ZONE: Iowa farmers are being blamed for the “dead
zone”
off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas that threatens to damage the Gulf
of
Mexico fishing industry. As reports the Des Moines Registry (8/16), a
White
House study says the largest ever dead zone (covering 7,728 square
miles),
“in which fertilizers cause low oxygen levels in an area of water that
becomes largely devoid of shrimp and other sea life from spring to early
fall,” comes in most part from nitrogen from crop fertilizers. More than
half of the nitrogen comes from the farms, with the rest coming from
rainfall, sewage plants, manure, decaying plants and other sources.  The
American Farm Bureau Federation calls the data making up the study
"questionable," while Iowa State U. aquatic ecologist John Downing says
Iowa
farmers lose $400 million a year in fertilizer costs when runoff washes
into
the Mississippi River.


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