CLEAN WATER ACT IN JEOPARDY

AND JUDY ANDERSON

Only eight percent of the L.A. River is eligible for federal protections under the Clean Water Act. PHOTO BY JUDY ANDERSON

Polluters and developers are trying to do away with broad Clean Water Act protections for the nation's waters, including the many streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, and lakes that supply drinking water, recreation opportunities, commercial fishing, and wildlife habitat. Without these protections, it will be easier to pave over wetlands and dump waste into small streams.
The loss of Clean Water Act protections for the large network of headwater and seasonal streams that provides us with drinking water is of special concern. These streams are the drinking water sources for more than 14 million Californians, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. The recent Corps of Engineers rulings on the 'navigability' of the Los Angeles Rivers is just the first local example.
A second example, illustrating threats to drinking water sources, is the Santa Ana River, which lies south and east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino and Orange Counties. This critical river is the main drinking water source for Orange County and its surrounding areas, where population is projected to continue growing for decades to come. Eighty-nine percent of this arid watershed is fed by streams that only flow seasonally or after rainstorms. The recent attacks on the Clean Water Act could leave the majority of this watershed unprotected, allowing the discharge of waste into these streams without limits and endangering communities' drinking water sources. Not only are drinking water sources in southern California at risk, but if these small tributaries are degraded or destroyed, downstream water quality will inevitably suffer along with attacks on the marine environment, a mainstay in the southern California economy.
The Los Angeles River lost protections on June 4, 2008, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a ruling that will chip away at protections for the headwaters and wetlands in the Los Angeles River basin. Over 50 miles long, the Los Angeles River flows from the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley to the ocean in Long Beach. Originally, the Los Angeles River meandered through wetlands and marshes delivering needed water for the parched region. When the Corps began flood control projects 70 years ago, 80 percent of the River was paved, essentially turning it into a large storm water ditch.
Now the Corps has determined that only two small stretches of the River - totaling eight percent of the total river miles - qualify for Clean Water Act protections. By only designating small segments of the LA River worthy of federal protections, the Corps is threatening the health of those waters and the quality of the LA River itself, greatly undermining any plans to revitalize the River.
As motorists can easily see along I-5 in the stretch between CA 134 and CA 2, the River is fighting back on its own. Accumulations of sand, stones and gravel have caught other organic materials and allowed wetland plant species to gain a foothold that can withstand the periodic inundation from local storms. Birds and aquatic insects and animals have colonized the recovering areas.
The San Gabriel River has extensive spreading grounds which recharge the underground water basin. The primary threats to the basin water quality and the re-charge efforts are pollutants spreading from their initial points from older manufacturing processes. Cleaning up water systems degraded by pollutants is much more expensive than stopping the pollutants in the first place.
These are just a few local examples of how the Clean Water Act's long-standing anti-pollution defenses are now in jeopardy because of developers, the oil industry, pesticide manufacturers, sewage plant operators, and other polluters who sought exemptions from the provisions of the Clean Water Act.
Why is this happening? While the Clean Water Act has made great strides in cleaning up our nation's waters, in the last several years there has been a systematic attack to undercut the law. The Act's longstanding anti-pollution shield is in jeopardy because polluters have convinced a small majority of the U.S. Supreme Court that wetlands, headwaters and seasonal streams must have a 'significant nexus' to downstream navigable waters to be considered within the scope of the Clean Water Act. One Supreme Court decision in June 2006 added to an unfavorable decision in 2001 and has undermined protections for tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams and 20 million acres of wetlands nationally. Ambiguous federal agency guidance from the Bush administration has helped these attacks on clean water to continue.
These decisions are turning back the clock on conservation and denying the protections of the Clean Water Act. Under the court rulings the EPA and Corps are no longer seeking to conserve small streams and wetlands. At stake is everything from the Santa Ana River Watershed to the LA River.
In response to this threat, Congress is considering legislation that would restore the benefits of Clean Water Act protections to these waters. The Clean Water Restoration Act would simply adopt the existing regulatory definition (in place since the 1970s) to confirm that all waters of the United States are protected under the Act.
The Clean Water Act has done more than any other law to protect California's waters from unregulated pollution and destruction. Congress must reaffirm and restore these critically needed protections for the streams, wetlands and other waters now at risk in California and across the nation.
The Clean Water Restoration Act has the support of elected officials throughout California, including 29 members of Congress and Senator Barbara Boxer. Once it becomes law, this legislation would make it clear that the purpose of the original intent of the Clean Water Act is to protect the nation's waters and wetlands from pollution and development. Until then, streams, lakes, and wetlands will continue to lose vital protections they've had for more than 35 years, and the progress the Clean Water Act has made will be reversed. If you would like to get involved, contact the Chapter's Water Committee.