A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 20, 2007
3. Watersheds
Feds add tainted waters to list
Redding Record Searchlight – 3/20/07
By Dylan Darling, staff writer
Federal scientists added north state water bodies to a state list of those that don't meet quality standards because of problems that include mercury in
Developed by workers in Water Resources Control Board offices around the state, then reviewed, revised and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the list helps state water scientists plan their workload.
"This is a very useful list in terms of determining where priorities are," said William L. Rukeyser, control board spokesman.
The list of about 700 troubled waters -- which includes bays, estuaries and parts of the ocean, as well as streams, rivers and lakes -- is updated every two to three years, he said.
Around the north state, the water cleanup projects that take priority often are caused by metals getting into water from old mining sites, said Ken Landau, assistant executive officer at the control board's
For example, old mines are blamed for
Warmer water, caused by tree removal and other changes near bodies of water, are another common problem in the north state, Landau added. In tackling the problems, the control board usually looks to minimize human effects on the environment.
While some problems can be fixed, others can only be monitored, he said. "Some of them you can clean up, some of them you can't completely," he said.
Though it wasn't a problem in the north state, new to the list of water quality problems this year were exotic species, which can invade a body of water and throw its natural ecosystem out of balance, Rukeyser said.
For the next month, the EPA will be taking public comments on the list. To read the list online, go to www.epa.gov/region09 and click on Calif. TDML 303d updates.#
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/mar/20/feds-add-tainted-waters-to-list/
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