Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 19, 2007
4. Water Quality
MERCURY CONTAMINATION:
ALGAE:
Blue-green algae concerns on water board agenda - Siskiyou Daily News
TREATED WATER TEST:
Students embrace treated water; Kids drink the reclaimed and purified liquid without a shudder as they visit a plant that will supply billions of gallons locally - Orange County Register
MERCURY CONTAMINATION:
San Francisco Chronicle – 7/19/07
By Jane Kay, staff writer
Getting rid of enough mercury to make
The cleanup plan focuses on some sources of the toxin -- old mines, businesses, sewage treatment plants and city streets -- and sets limits on how much mercury should be allowed to flow into the bay. The limits are based on how much the metal builds up in fish.
Residents who rely on contaminated bay fish for a part of their regular diet can suffer neurological damage, tremors, anxiety and memory problems. The danger of mercury poisoning is particularly high for fetuses and young children.
The plan, a decade in the making and closely scrutinized by environmental groups, was passed Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board and needs approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has declared its support of the plan.
The cleanup timetable is so long -- 70 years -- because there is so much mercury-laden sediment in the bay, said Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which signed off on the plan last year.
"Obviously, we can't go through and dredge the whole bay," Wolfe said. "The goal is to protect human health and at the same time protect wildlife."
The mercury in the water works its way up to the fish, and then to the birds where it can affect their reproduction, he said.
"We're going straight to the fish -- the receptor -- and setting the limit in fish tissue," Wolfe said.
There are hundreds of sources of mercury. About 1,200 kilograms per year -- or about 2,645 pounds -- reach the bay. Under the cleanup plan, the pollution needs to be whacked to about 700 kilograms per year, or about 1,540 pounds.
The toughest job is the cleanup of the two now-closed mercury mines: the New Almaden Mine in a
The city of
Most of the gold mines in the Sierra that leach mercury to the bay lie in the jurisdiction of the
The plan also requires major reductions from some 50 municipal sewage treatment plants, 76 cities that allow storm water to drain to the bay, and 15 businesses -- including five refineries -- that run their own industrial wastewater plants.
Testing by the California Department of Health Services has found high levels of mercury in some bay species of fish, triggering concerns for fishermen who use rod and reels from piers and boats. Save the Bay and other environmental groups were successful in getting the state to erect warning signs in several languages at popular fishing spots.
According to 2000 data from the San Francisco Estuary Institute, some fish species may contain unsafe levels of mercury:
leopard shark,
The mercury reductions under the plan will lead to clean fish, said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which encompasses commercial fisheries.
"This is obviously good for the bay. But the big victory is for the people who rely on the bay for subsistence and it's a big part of their diet," Grader said.
At the state board meeting Tuesday, environmentalists and representatives of the municipal sewage treatment plants ended their long battle over the mercury limits. The plants share a group permit to discharge into the bay, but the water regulators added rules that say each plant will have its own limits on mercury discharges.
Michele Pla, executive director of the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represents municipal treatment plants, said, "We're fine with everything, the way it turned out."
David Beckman, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in
"If left to its own devices, it would have adopted a remediation plan that would have guaranteed high levels of mercury for generations to come," he said.
Before the environmental groups like the defense council and BayKeeper got involved, the regional board was demanding cleanup in more than 100 years, Beckman said. Now it's down to 70.
Sejal Choksi, a spokeswoman for BayKeeper, said there are still tough fights ahead. For example, the refineries have challenged the regional board's request for more detailed information about their operations, she said.
The regulators want to know the amount of mercury in the crude oil coming into the plants and amounts going out in air emissions, wastewater discharges and solid waste as well as in the inventory and byproducts. At a hearing July 31, refinery representatives will appear to address the requests. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/19/BAGVGR310S1.DTL
ALGAE:
Blue-green algae concerns on water board agenda
Siskiyou Daily News – 7/18/07
By Jamie Genter, staff writer
YREKA – The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, which monitors
According to their Web site, the mission of the Water Board is to “preserve, enhance and restore the quality of
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The July 25 agenda includes action on a petition concerning waste discharge requirements for the Montague Water Conservation District, among others.
The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the
A bus tour will follow on Thursday, July 26. The tour will begin at the Tree House Motor Inn in
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Several local residents are encouraging fellow
Pace is requesting the Water Board to order the Montague Irrigation District, operator of Dwinnell Reservoir, “to submit a report of waste discharge and/or to issue waste discharge requirements.”
He asserts in the resolution that the problems of the BGA and pH levels are not addressed in the Shasta River TMDL plan currently in place.
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TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Load) are a planning and management tool established to identify, quantify and control the sources of pollution within a body of water so the quality objectives are met and the beneficial uses are protected.
“It is up to us to get bodies in the meeting and butts on the bus to show that we don’t want this resolution forced on us,” said Brian Favero.
Favero stands in opposition to Pace’s resolution.
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In February 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency listed blue-green algae as a microbial contaminant candidate on the second Contaminant Candidate List (CCL), but Favero said that no other state currently lists it on the TMDL.
“I don’t see any reason to believe the Board should act on the resolution to include the pH factor and blue-green algae in the TMDL for
The petition asserts that the Montague Irrigation District is releasing the blue-green algae anabaena, which produces hepatoxins that are capable of having detrimental affects, into the Shasta and Klamath rivers.
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“Both the Regional Board and the State Board have an obligation to protect and control water quality now and begin to address the obvious, serious Shasta and Klamath River pollution problems,” Pace wrote in the resolution.
An Executive Officer’s Summary Report posted on the Water Board’s Web site suggests that the Board may move to decline Pace’s request to require Montague to submit a report of water discharge and instead take the following actions:
• Work with Montague and other responsible parties in the Shasta TMDL implementation that will result in compliance with water quality standards, including pH and toxicity associated with BGA;
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• Work with Montague to include BGS and pH studies and plans submitted under the Shasta TMDL Implementation Plan;
• Work with Montague, Siskiyou County Health Department and other interested parties to ensure all efforts are made to effectively inform the public of health concerns as they emerge, including posting; and
• Request responsible parties for the J.H. Baxter Superfund site to collect fish tissue samples from
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According to the California Department of Health Services, blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are photosynthetic microscopic bacteria that occur naturally in surface waters.
When certain species of the algae are broken open, the blooms release toxins that can pose risks to humans, pets, livestock and wildlife.
Exposure to these toxins can cause rashes, skin irritation, allergic reactions, gastrointestinal upset and other effects, according to the state agency. At high levels, more adverse health effects such as liver toxicity, tumor growth, serious illness and death can occur.
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A Siskiyou County Public Health press release in August 2006 acknowledged the presence of blue-green algae blooms in
The TMDLs currently exceeded in the
The status of the implementation of Scott and Shasta TMDLs will be discussed at the meeting.
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“I went to the April 26 meeting in
Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting to give input on the situation and to see what final decision is made.
For more information about the Water Board or to download an agenda and copies of resolutions, visit the Water Board’s site at www.waterboards.ca.gov. #
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2007/07/18/news/doc469e2f459a123502286115.txt
TREATED WATER TEST:
Students embrace treated water; Kids drink the reclaimed and purified liquid without a shudder as they visit a plant that will supply billions of gallons locally
Orange County
By Alex Baron, staff writer
They knew what they were drinking, but they didn't spit or groan.
They sipped and nodded, and a few drew laughter with "yum" and "mmm."
It was the third day of O.C. Water Camp, a week of field trips and experiments sponsored by water and community groups during a record-dry summer.
The students had just toured the nearly finished groundwater replenishment system, which will soon boost
"As long as they purify and treat it, I'm OK with it," said 13-year-old Camilla Evangelista of
The new system, sitting between
This fall it will start providing more than 23 billion gallons of water each year.
The only facility in the world of comparable size is
The camp's students, who had all written essays on their interest in water science to gain admission, showed no disgust at the water project.
As the kids were told Wednesday, treated wastewater already contributes to
"Whether it comes from the
The
With its new $480 million facility, the water district will go several steps further in cleaning its own wastewater.
After standard treatment by the sanitation district, the water will flow next door, where it will pass through micro filters whose pores are roughly 1/300th the size of a human hair.
Then it will undergo reverse osmosis, which uses high pressure to force water through molecule-size holes in membranes and cull most of the dissolved salts. The technology was pioneered in
Afterward, the water will be exposed to ultraviolet light, which destroys organic compounds small enough to make it through the reverse osmosis membrane.
At that point it will be as ready for drinking as the bottled water from
Instead of flowing straight into homes, though, discharged water will enter
Half will go into wells along the coast to build up the barrier against ocean water, which began seeping in as pumping in the first half of the century lowered groundwater levels.
The other half will be pumped to the water district's ponds in
Jeff Tolan, 12, of
"People will say they won't drink the water now that they know where it comes from, but we should ask them, 'Do you know where hot dogs come from?' " he said.
If the system runs at full capacity, it will produce enough water each year to sustain more than 70,000 households. #
http://www.ocregister.com/news/water-county-orange-1778448-district-students
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