|
|
 | | 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.
[top of page]
|
|
|
