Clean Water Act

 

EPA Agrees To New CWA Rulemaking For Hazardous Substances. According to Inside EPA, “EPA and environmentalists have reached a tentative agreement setting deadlines for the agency to propose, and take ‘final action’ on, a Clean Water Act (CWA) rule for responding to a ‘worst case discharge’ of a hazardous substance following the administration’s decision last year to forgo a similar rule to prevent or contain industrial chemical spills. The agreement is detailed in a proposed consent decree in Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), et al. v. EPA and would resolve litigation environmentalists filed in March 2019 over the agency’s alleged failure to issue what they say is a mandated CWA rule to prevent hazardous-waste spills in ‘worst-case’ situations. EPA published notice of the proposed consent decree in the Feb. 3 Federal Register and is taking public comment until March 4, after which a final consent decree could be submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for official approval. Specifically, the suit alleged EPA had a duty under CWA section 311(j)(5)(A)(i) to issue regulations requiring an owner or operator of certain facilities to prepare and submit a plan for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst-case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge of a hazardous substance. ‘The proposed consent decree would set deadlines for EPA to complete a notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to the issuance of the Hazardous Substance Worst Case Discharge Planning Regulations, and for publication of a notice taking final action following notice and comment rulemaking pertaining to the issuance of’ the rule, the agreement says.” [Inside EPA, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Clean Water Act Protects Essential Benefits And It Must Not Be Weakened. According to The Hill, “Americans expect and deserve clean water. It is essential to our existence. The bipartisan Congress that enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect our waterways against pollution understood that. The bipartisan majorities that strengthened the act in 1977 and 1987 understood the importance of doing, even more, to protect the nation’s waters from pollution and restore their integrity. Yet, a new rule from the Trump administration’s EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, its ‘Navigable Waters Protection Rule,’ drastically reduces the ability of the Clean Water Act to protect waters from pollution and destruction, gutting essential protections that safeguard the drinking water of the American people and the waters they swim and fish in. This is an affront to science, the law, and to the bedrock protections that impact the daily lives of all Americans. Congress intended for our nation’s waters to be fishable and swimmable by 1983. We are far from reaching that goal, despite many successes made. But this rule only makes that goal harder to achieve. We need more, not less, protection for our waters. Our waters are interconnected, and our largest rivers are only as healthy as the small, headwater streams that feed them. We are all downstream users of water flowing from these headwater streams, and failing to protect them imperils the drinking water of over 100 million Americans. As the president of Trout Unlimited said in opposition to this extreme rollback, ‘You can bet on gravity every time. Whatever is in our headwaters will ultimately end up in our backyards.’ This is not rocket science, but it is science. This is why even the administration’s own experts, EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board, warns that the rule conflicts with established science.” [The Hill, 2/22/20 (+)]

 

LTE: Clean Water At Risk. According to Colorado Springs Independent, “As a Coloradan and school nurse working daily to protect the health of kids and families, it is alarming to see the Trump administration recklessly put sources of clean water and the well-being of our state at great risk. With a swift and near-constant two year assault, the Trump administration has erased nearly half a century’s worth of progress, doing all it can to ensure fewer safeguards for thousands of miles of waterways that provide water to support countless everyday activities. Their latest attempt: replacing the 2015 Clean Water Rule—which they recently repealed—with their own Dirty Water Rule. This change is even opposed by the EPA’s own science advisors who declare that it will decrease protection for our Nation’s water and does not support the agency’s stated objective of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of these waters. Our drinking water supply has thus far been safeguarded by one of the most important public health achievements in our nation’s history: the Clean Water Act. But the original law left much of its implementation up to the president and Environmental Protection Agency. This means the Trump administration has been free to propose a rule that radically reinterprets the Clean Water Act and will slash protections for Coloradans’ drinking water. I see the correlation between positive health outcomes and a safe environment through my work with kids and families across the state; reliable access to clean water is essential for communities to prosper and grow stronger. Coloradans are committed to defending our water resources to protect our children, and will push our elected officials to reject this attempt to undermine these critical public health protections.” [Colorado Springs Independent, 2/18/20 (+)]

 

WOTUS

 

Montana Farmers, Conservationists Differ On New Waterway Rule. According to Daily Inter Lake, “In late January, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced a sizable rollback on already-repealed Obama-era waterway protections with the introduction of President Trump’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The move has spurred a great deal of controversy in Montana and other states primarily between farmers and ranchers who applaud the change and conservation researchers and advocates who say it will have monumental impacts on the state’s natural resources. The rule — slated to go into effect in the coming weeks — would rollback and replace the Waters of the United States Rule created by President Obama in 2015 under the Clean Water Act after the administration chose to expand federal protections for certain water bodies in order to protect larger water bodies from pollution. These included protections for ephemeral streams and certain wetlands that only connect to larger bodies seasonally after snowmelt and precipitation events. A 2016 study by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality showed there are 307,000 miles of ‘small, intermittent or ephemeral streams’ in the state, which account for most of Montana’s stream miles. According to Moira Davin, a public relations specialist with the department, the agency is currently working on an analysis of which streams and wetlands will no longer be considered jurisdictional under Trump’s new rule. Davin said the state’s research thus far shows an estimated one-third of wetlands in Flathead and Gallatin counties, where large quantities of wetlands dot the landscapes, would lose protection. This statistic, Davin said, applies to most of the state.” [Daily Inter Lake, 2/23/20 (=)]

 

Western Water

 

Lawsuit Prompts A New Round Of California V. Trump. According to E&E News, “The state of California has opened another front in its expanding war with the Trump administration over environmental protections, this time with a legal challenge to new water management rules designed to aid farmers. In a lawsuit filed yesterday, California officials contend the administration violated laws including the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act with two biological opinions concerning water project management. ‘California won’t silently spectate as the Trump Administration adopts scientifically-challenged biological opinions that push species to extinction and harm our natural resources and waterways,’ the state’s Democratic attorney general, Xavier Becerra, said in a statement. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, reinforces a number of the state’s other legal challenges including Bureau of Land Management fracking plans and EPA’s moves on vehicle emissions standards. California officials also pulled the trigger quickly on the latest lawsuit, acting one day after Trump celebrated the biological opinions and associated ‘record of decision’ at a campaign-rally-like event in Bakersfield (Greenwire, Feb. 20). The lawsuit contends the administration failed to analyze whether its actions would push species toward extinction, ignored a requirement to consider both the continued survival of protected species and their recovery, and provided scant analysis of climate change impacts, among other alleged shortcomings.” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

California Files Suit Against Trump Administration Over Central Valley Water Diversions. According to California Globe, “California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed the lawsuit in a San Francisco Federal Court in conjunction with Governor Gavin Newsom. Instead of citing the need for water in possible future droughts, which the Trump Administration largely thought would be the reason evidenced by President Trump’s remarks on Wednesday, the suit is focusing on how greater water usage is threatening many species with extinction. Species named on Thursday included chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and delta smelt. The state nearly sued over water usage and endangered species concerns in November following regulation changes made in October by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, but nothing was done as California hoped to compromise with the federal government. Trumps changes on Wednesday were the tipping point for Newsom and Becerra. ‘California won’t silently spectate as the Trump Administration adopts scientifically-challenged biological opinions that push species to extinction and harm our natural resources and waterways,’ said California AG Becerra on Thursday during a conference. ‘Our goal continues to be to realize enforceable voluntary agreements that provide the best immediate protection for species, reliable and safe drinking water, and dependable water sources for our farmers for economic prosperity.’” [California Globe, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Newsom Hopes To Broker A Peace Treaty In California’s Water War. Some Worry He’ll Cave To Trump. According to Los Angeles Times, “Gov. Gavin Newsom may be piloting a lifeboat that will rescue the sinking California Delta. Or he may be in water over his head on a doomed mission. The governor gets angry with skeptics who say he’s being delusional. But history sides with the doubters. ‘I love reading all that, ‘Hey, he’s naive. He’s being misled,’ Newsom recently told a forum sponsored by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, his voice rising with a touch of sarcasm. ‘It means we’re doing something a little different.’ No California water hole has been fought over more than the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. It’s right up there with the Owens Valley and the state’s share of the Colorado River. The delta supplies water for 27 million people and irrigates 3 million acres. California’s economy depends, in large part, on its health. But the delta’s ecology has been declining, primarily because water from rivers has been diverted for agriculture before it reaches the West Coast’s largest estuary. And the water that does make it there has been overpumped through fish-chomping monstrosities into southbound aqueducts. This has devastated native fish — salmon, steelhead, smelt — and prompted courts to occasionally tighten the spigots on water pumped to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/24/20 (=)]

 

Climate Change Threatens Colorado River And The Water Supply For 40 Million People. According to The Brunswick News, “Climate change has dramatically decreased natural flow in the Colorado River, jeopardizing the water supply for some 40 million people and millions of acres of farmland, according to new research from the USGS. The decline is expected to continue unless changes are made to alleviate global warming and the impacts of drier, hotter temperatures. The natural flow of the river decreased by 20% between 1913 and 2017, Chris Milly, a USGS scientists and lead author on a new study on the river, told weather.com on Friday. About half of that is attributed to higher temperatures while the rest is due to lack of precipitation, both of which are widely seen by scientists to be the results of climate change. Milly’s study specifically looked at trends toward decreasing snowpack in the Colorado River basin. ‘As climate warms, there is less snow cover,’ he said in an email. ‘Because snow reflects light so well, its reduction means that the basin absorbs more sunlight.’ That sunlight, in turn, fuels higher evaporation from the snowpack.” [The Brunswick News, 2/22/20 (=)]

 

Interstate Water War, Okla. Land Battle Set For April. According to E&E News, “A slugfest between Texas and New Mexico over their shares of water from the Pecos River will come to a head at the Supreme Court this spring. The court released a calendar today indicating that the justices will soon hear oral arguments in Texas v. New Mexico, a fight over stored floodwaters from Tropical Storm Odile. The states have been wrangling over Pecos River flows for more than a century. New Mexico and Texas’ battle stems from a 1948 compact, enforced by a ‘river master,’ that ensures the Lone Star State, which is located downstream of the Land of Enchantment, continues to receive enough water from the Pecos River. Texas asked the Supreme Court to step in to decide whether New Mexico appropriately allocated waters that flowed through the river after heavy rains in 2014 and 2015. At the Supreme Court’s invitation, the federal government filed a brief arguing that the justices should leave the matter to the river master (Greenwire, Dec. 11, 2019). Despite the government’s urging, the Supreme Court scheduled arguments in the case for April 21.” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Rising Temperatures Are Taking A Worsening Toll On The Colorado River, Study Finds. According to The Arizona Republic, “Without changes in precipitation, the researchers said, for each additional 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F) of warming, the Colorado River’s average flow is likely to drop by about 9%. The USGS scientists considered two scenarios of climate change. In one, warmer temperatures by 2050 would reduce the amount of water flowing in the river by 14-26%. In the other scenario, warming would take away 19-31% of the river’s flow. ‘Either of the scenarios leads to a substantial decrease in flow,’ said Chris Milly, a senior research scientist with USGS. ‘And the scenario with higher greenhouse-gas concentrations decreases the flow more than the scenario with lower greenhouse gas concentrations.’ The findings, which were published Thursday in the journal Science, refine previous estimates and indicate the impacts of warming will likely be on the high end of what other scientists calculated in previous research. The research has major implications for how water is managed along the Colorado River, which provides water for about 40 million people and more than 5 million acres of farmland from Wyoming to Southern California.” [The Arizona Republic, 2/22/20 (=)]

 

Coal Ash

 

EPA May Face Suit Over ‘Legacy’ Ash Plan For ‘Bold Defiance’ Of Rulings. According to Inside EPA, “EPA is planning yet another revision to Obama-era coal ash rules that will address ‘legacy’ disposal sites after excluding the issue from its most recent proposed regulatory changes, but an environmental attorney says the delay could revive legal battles on many aspects of the standards because EPA’s plan signals its ‘bold defiance’ of court orders. The agency is under a mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals from the District of Columbia Circuit to expand its Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) ash standards to apply to ‘legacy’ sites at closed power plants. But while EPA initially promised to make that change part of a pending rule termed ‘Part B’ of a broader effort to overhaul the 2015 ash rule, the Feb. 19 proposal for that rulemaking makes no mention of the subject. Instead, an agency spokesperson tells Inside EPA, ‘To ensure the issue receives the attention it deserves, EPA thought it would be better to address legacy surface impoundments in a separate Federal Register notice. This will be reflected in the Spring 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions when it is published by the Office of Management and Budget.’ There is no fixed deadline for EPA to release its next Unified Agenda, but in 2019 the spring iteration was released on May 22, meaning it could be months before the agency even announces a timeline for that notice, or indicates what form the action will take.” [Inside EPA, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Bills Targeting Coal Ash Move As Water Tests Worry Middle Georgia Residents. According to Albany Herald, “The new test results that rolled in Wednesday night were about what Fletcher Sams expected: Out of 36 drinking wells in Juliette, all but six showed troubling levels of a cancer-causing substance that has riled residents of the small Middle Georgia town. The next day, also as expected, was spent breaking the bad news to families living near the coal-fired Plant Scherer, where environmentalists say the toxic ash byproduct of burning coal suspected to be affecting their well water has long been improperly stored. ‘It’s emotionally draining,’ said Sams, executive director of the nonprofit Altamaha Riverkeeper. ‘People have been dealing with this issue for a long time.’ As more test results arrive, local environmentalists like Sams are watching legislation in both chambers of the General Assembly aimed at curbing the health and environmental dangers of coal ash. The issue became an environmental priority for many Georgia lawmakers as state regulators received control over permitting and monitoring sites where coal ash is stored. Lawmakers and environmentalists are especially worried about the potential effects of coal ash kept in liquid ponds at several Georgia Power Co. plants, many of which environmentalists say lack protective liners to prevent groundwater contamination. Some bills before the state House and Senate call for installing liners on all Georgia Power ash ponds and requiring the company to give advance notice when the ponds being closed will be dewatered. Other bills seek to make the collection fee for coal ash at Georgia landfills the same as for other kinds of garbage, which supporters say would discourage out-of-state power companies from sending their ash to Georgia.” [Albany Herald, 2/22/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Colstrip Needs Permanent Solutions. According to Billings Gazette, “The 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 process water ponds have been leaking since their construction more than 35 years ago. Groundwater contaminant plumes with very high levels of boron, total dissolved solids, and sulfates extend more than 1,000 feet from the impoundments, and contaminants have affected several private water wells. Additionally, impacted groundwater has been detected in several downgradient locations from the Units 3 and 4 EHP ponds, including the alluvium of Cow Creek and South Fork Cow Creek. Seepage calculations and flow models have been presented ad nauseam for the Units 1 through 4 process water ponds, but what we have seen downgradient in the bedrock and alluvium is the reality. Seepage from impounded saturated coal ash and process water from the generating units will continue if it remains in contact with bedrock. Talen Energy has proposed to cover the ponds with the coal ash left inside (capin-place). MDEQ needs to be sure that the remedy provides a permanent and complete solution to lessen the continuing adverse effects on area groundwater. The remedy should include dewatering the coal ash and excavation and removal of coal combustion materials from the impoundments to an approved landfill that includes an effective prescribed cap. An excellent evaluation of the way this can be done is found in the NPRC report: Doing it Right II: Job creation through Colstrip cleanup.” [Billings Gazette, 2/21/20 (+)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

Environmentalists: Lake Erie Won’t Recover From Toxic Algae Blooms Without New Rules. According to KDKA-TV, “Political leaders and environmentalists who have spent years pushing Ohio to adopt a pollution diet to combat toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie say the state’s plan to do just that will fall short if there are no new regulations on farmers. They contend that the only way the lake will meet federally mandated water quality standards is to add enforceable rules limiting two main sources of the phosphorus that feeds the algae — chemical fertilizers used on fields, and livestock manure. Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it will establish what’s known as a ‘total maximum daily load’ that imposes specific limits on how much phosphorus is allowed to flow into the lake’s western end. While developing the plan will take two or three years, Ohio does not intend to add new regulations on farmers, nor does it have the authority to do so under the ‘total maximum daily load’ designation, according to the state EPA. What it plans to do is conduct a detailed review of pollution sources, set limits on targeted, local watersheds and come up with a strategy that will a follow a path outlined in Gov. Mike DeWine’s ‘H2Ohio’ water quality initiative, which will begin offering farmers financial incentives this year to voluntarily adopt new agriculture practices.” [KDKA-TV, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Editorial: Targeting Farm Runoff. According to The Toledo Blade, “First, clean-lake advocates will have to hold state and federal regulators’ feet to the fire to be sure the pollution diet establishes limits that actually can diminish pollution. Second, they have to be sure those limits are adequately enforced. But more than that, pressure will have to be brought to bear on the Ohio Department of Agriculture. That state agency must rein in the large-scale livestock operations that are responsible for much of the farm runoff fouling the lake. Ohio EPA has jurisdiction over water quality, but the agriculture department is responsible for permitting and regulating the concentrated animal feeding operations, aka CAFOs, that threaten the lake’s health. Late last year the department was considering permit requests from four large-scale livestock operations in Williams and Van Wert counties. At least two of those permits have been granted, clearing the way for farms with pits built to hold nearly 2 million gallons of liquid manure each. Agricultural runoff-reducing pollution diets are great, but if the lake is binge-eating phosphorus from these enormous animal operations, the diet won’t amount to much. As Frank Szollosi, former Toledo City Councilman and National Wildlife Federation field director, said, ‘This is a milestone, but it’s not a silver bullet. It gets us to the starting line, but not to the finish.’” [The Toledo Blade, 2/22/20 (+)]

 

Drinking Water

 

AP | EPA Grant Will Help Va. Test Schools For Lead. According to E&E News, “EPA yesterday announced it was awarding Virginia over $700,000 in grant funding to assist with identifying sources of lead in drinking water in schools and child care facilities. The $737,000 will go to the Department of Health, which will use it to support voluntary testing programs. Lead in drinking water has been linked to developmental delays in children and can damage the brain, red blood cells and kidneys. It is most often caused by lead service lines — pipes connecting a home to a water main — or lead fixtures in a home or school. ‘Protecting children from exposure to lead is a priority for EPA,’ said Region 3 Administrator Cosmo Servidio. ‘This funding will support Virginia’s efforts to detect and reduce lead in drinking water, thereby protecting children’s health at schools and elsewhere.’” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

PFAS

 

EPA Starts Long Road Toward Standards For 2 Toxins. According to E&E News, “EPA announced it will start the process of setting drinking water standards for two toxic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that have contaminated drinking water supplies across the United States. Specifically, EPA will set standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which out of a class of more than 7,000 chemicals are the two most studied types of PFAS. An independent panel of scientists found a probable link between exposure to PFOA and multiple health problems, such as high cholesterol, thyroid disease, and testicular and kidney cancer, as well as pregnancy-induced hypertension. PFOS is linked to similar health problems. PFAS are used in commercial products such as nonstick cookware and waterproof clothing. The chemicals were also used by the Department of Defense in firefighting foam. EPA’s regulatory determination under the Safe Drinking Water Act is a step toward proposing limits in drinking water. However, the exact limit the agency will set will not be known for a while. ‘We could be many years away,’ said Scott Faber, senior vice president for governmental affairs at the Environmental Working Group. ‘What remains unanswered is how protective that drinking water standard will be.’” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

AP | Judge OKs $70M Settlement Over Mich. PFAS Contamination. According to E&E News, “A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement with a western Michigan footwear company that faced a lawsuit over groundwater tainted with potentially harmful ‘forever’ chemicals that are turning up in drinking water across the industrial state. Wolverine Worldwide did not admit liability, but it agreed to pay $69.5 million in a consent decree with the state of Michigan and Plainfield and Algoma townships that will go toward extending a municipal water system to about 1,000 homes with private wells that were affected by the contamination (Greenwire, Feb. 4). Wolverine Worldwide announced yesterday that Minnesota-based chemical manufacturer 3M Co., which it sued in 2018, will pay $55 million toward Wolverine’s remediation efforts. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, long were used in scores of industrial applications, don’t break down easily and can migrate from soil to groundwater. Some studies have found the chemicals can be harmful to human health. The deal also includes what is described as ‘comprehensive remediation plans’ at the former tannery site along with additional studies and monitoring. Additionally, the company would continue to maintain water filters for homeowners without municipal water with PFAS levels over 10 parts per trillion and provide some money for a filtration system for a water plant.” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Plastic Pollution

 

Scientists Gather To Study Risk From Microplastic Pollution. According to Associated Press, “Tiny bits of broken-down plastic smaller than a fraction of a grain of riceare turning up everywhere in oceans, from the water tothe guts of fish and the poop of sea otters and giant killer whales. Yet little is known about the effects of these ‘microplastics’ — onsea creatures or humans. ‘It’s such a huge endeavor to know how bad it is,’ said Shawn Larson, curator of conservation research at the Seattle Aquarium. ‘We’re just starting to get a finger on the pulse.’ This week, a group of five-dozen microplastics researchers from major universities, government agencies, tribes, aquariums, environmental groups and even water sanitation districts across the U.S. West is gathering in Bremerton, Washington, to tackle the issue. The goal is to create a mathematical risk assessment for microplastic pollution in the region similar to predictions used to game out responses to major natural disasters such as earthquakes. The largest of these plastic bits are 5 millimeters long, roughly the size of a kernel of corn, and many are much smallerand invisible to the naked eye. They enter the environment in many ways. Some slough off of car tires and wash into streams — and eventually the ocean — during rainstorms. Others detach from fleeces and spandex clothing in washing machines and are mixed in with the soiled water that drains from the machine. Some come from abandoned fishing gear, and still more are the result of the eventual breakdown of the millions of straws, cups, water bottles, plastic bags and other single-use plastics thrown out each day.” [Associated Press, 2/24/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Plastic Bags Help The Environment. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Popular misconceptions have sustained the plastic panic. Environmentalists frequently claim that 80% of plastic in the oceans comes from land-based sources, but a team of scientists from four continents reported in 2018 that more than half the plastic in the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ came from fishing boats—mostly discarded nets and other gear. Another study, published last year by Canadian and South African researchers, found that more than 80% of the plastic bottles that had washed up on the shore of Inaccessible Island, an uninhabited extinct volcano in the South Atlantic, originated in China. They must have been tossed off boats from Asia, the greatest source of what researchers call ‘mismanaged waste.’ Of the plastic carried into oceans by rivers, a 2017 study in Nature Communications estimated, 86% comes from Asia and virtually all the rest from Africa and South America. Some plastic in America is littered on beaches and streets, and winds up in sewer drains. But researchers have found that laws restricting plastic bags and food containers don’t reduce litter. The resources wasted on these anti-plastic campaigns would be better spent on more programs to discourage all kinds of littering.” [The Wall Street Journal, 2/18/20 (-)]

 

Water Infrastructure

 

Trump Administration, In A Reversal, OKs More Funds For Oroville Dam Repairs. According to Los Angeles Times, “The federal government has agreed to reimburse California more than $170 million for repairs to the Oroville Dam spillway after an appeal from a state agency, officials said. The assistance, part of a request from the California Department of Water Resources to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for recovery funding, was initially denied last year. But on Thursday, the Trump administration reversed itself and agreed to help with more of the dam spillway’s rebuilding, bringing FEMA’s potential overall assistance to more than $562.5 million. ‘DWR is grateful to FEMA staff for their time, dedication and continued support over the past three years,’ said Department of Water Resources spokeswoman Erin Mellon. ‘The state will continue to review FEMA’s response and decide next steps regarding remaining costs in the coming weeks.’ In February 2017, the Oroville Dam was threatened amid the wettest winter since before the drought. Dam operators used the dam’s spillway, a long concrete chute that carries water into the Feather River, when the spillway became compromised by previously undiscovered construction and maintenance flaws. But because water continued to pour into the lake, the state had to continue to release water down the damaged spillway in an attempt to prevent it from overflowing, but it didn’t work. The dam overflowed, sending water onto its ‘emergency spillway,’ an earthen slope next to the concrete spillway. That spillway too was flawed, and the rushing water ate away at the ground until it threatened the dam itself, forcing Butte County officials to initiate an evacuation of more than 180,000 people downriver.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Trump Admin Offers Up $113M More For Oroville Dam. According to E&E News, “The Trump administration reversed course this week and told California officials that it will contribute an additional $113 million for repair costs of the Oroville Dam. California has sparred with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over reimbursements for the more than $1 billion cost of fixing the damaged spillway, which triggered the evacuation of almost 200,000 residents in February 2017. On Tuesday, FEMA informed the state’s Department of Water Resources that it approved an appeal for additional funds for the Oroville spillway reconstruction work. That decision will permit reimbursement for work on both the upper and lower portions of the main spillway, as well as some of the emergency spillway, DWR officials told E&E News. The Sacramento Bee first reported news of the additional payments yesterday. ‘With this additional information, DWR estimates that approximately $750 million of the $1.1 billion in project costs is eligible for federal reimbursement. FEMA can reimburse up to 75 percent of eligible project costs,’ DWR spokeswoman Erin Mellon said in a statement. She added: ‘The state will continue to review FEMA’s response and decide next steps regarding remaining costs in the coming weeks.’” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Lawmakers Will Line Up To Make The Case For Projects. According to E&E News, “House lawmakers will have an opportunity to present their wish list this week for water infrastructure projects of importance to their constituents. The Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will hold a members day hearing Thursday to vet proposals from non-committee members for possible inclusion into the Water Resources Development Act bill of 2020. The legislation authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to perform civil works projects that reduce flood risk, improve water navigation or restore aquatic ecosystems. Lawmakers first enacted WRDA in 1976, and it is generally reauthorized every two years. Congress retooled the act after a seven-year hiatus that began in 2007. Since then, there have been three consecutive bills for authorizing projects, in 2014, 2016 and 2018, according to a September 2019 Congressional Research Service report. The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment solicited proposals last month (E&E Daily, Jan. 21). Also last month, the Army Corps presented the subcommittee its list of recommended projects. T&I is expected to introduce the massive authorizing bill by the end of May.” [E&E News, 2/24/20 (=)]

 

AP | Hundreds Of Dams Lack Emergency Plans In Rain-Soaked South. According to E&E News, “When recent heavy rains swelled a private Mississippi lake and began eroding its earthen dam, Yazoo County Emergency Management Director Jack Willingham was scrambling for a plan. He had no contact information for any of the homeowners who might need to evacuate, so he drove to the scene and began knocking on doors. ‘I was just fortunate that this was a small area and I was able to do it on my own, door-to-door grunt work,’ Willingham said. The dam just north of the state capital of Jackson — known as MS04462 in a state database — had no official hazard rating, no record of state inspections and no formal emergency action plan mapping out the expected flood zone, whom to contact and whom to evacuate were it to fail. It’s one of more than 1,000 dams in Mississippi that remain unclassified because of a backlog of work for state regulators. An Associated Press review also found hundreds of other dams lacking official emergency plans that are located dangerously close to homes in Southeastern states that have been swamped by heavy rains and severe flooding in recent weeks. The AP focused on high-hazard dams — a rating determined by federal or state regulators that means the loss of human life is likely if a dam fails.” [E&E News, 2/21/20 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Votes Set On Chesapeake Bay, Wildlife, Monument Bills. According to E&E News, “The House will vote on several natural resources and water bills, including one to reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. H.R. 2427 would reauthorize a series of parks, water trails, museums and wildlife refuges through 2025 around the Chesapeake Bay that the National Park Service describes as the region’s ‘hidden treasures.’ Maryland Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes is the main sponsor in the House. Sen. Ben Cardin, also a Maryland Democrat, has a companion measure in the Senate. Another bill on the agenda, H.R. 3399, sponsored by Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.), would add California to the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003. The act provides financial assistance to states to kill nutria and restore any wetlands destroyed by the giant rodents.” [E&E News, 2/24/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Without Anglers, Rivers Lose Passionate Advocates. According to The Seattle Times, “I was 8, growing up in Oregon, when I caught my first steelhead. My father handed me his rod, and I felt the electric jolt of a steelhead rip line off my little reel and nearly pull me into the river. That was 30 years ago. A lot has changed. The one constant is that I still fish for steelhead as much as possible, though, like some, my efforts have shifted more into conservation and education. Without my home water, my father, and that fish, I would not be a passionate advocate for conservation of steelhead and wild healthy rivers today. Where will the next generation of advocates come from if they do not have local fishing opportunities and steelhead to send bolts of lightning into their hearts? Who will remind them that the steelhead is Washington’s state fish? Who will go to state Department of Fish and Wildlife commission meetings to ask questions about habitat restoration and fish populations? Who will argue against Alaska’s Pebble Mine and mining the Skagit River headwaters? Who will advocate for the protection of the Thornton Creek watershed in Seattle or returning chum and coho salmon into Carkeek Park? Who will remind Washingtonian’s that once endangered bald eagles rely on healthy salmon populations to survive? What will Endangered Species Act-listed southern resident killer whales do when their primary food source becomes even more scarce?” [The Seattle Times, 2/21/20 (+)]

 

 

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