Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 17, 2008
4. Water Quality
New River standards not reached – Imperial Valley Press
CLEAN DRINKING WATER:
More Testing for Drugs in Water Sought - Associated Press
LOCAL WATER QUALITY ISSUES:
Local officials: Don't fear the water -
`The water is safe to drink'; Officials: Drug traces pose no danger -
EDITORIAL: Impurities in water cause for concern, not panic - LA Daily News
SPECIAL EVENT:
Water For People Presents: Comedy Night for Clean Water 2008
By Victor Morales, staff writer
CALEXICO — Advocates for cleaning up the New River are rankled over how the federal government characterized the results that a partially U.S.-funded wastewater treatment plant in
The comments made by U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission Project Manager Al Goff during a March 3 meeting were “perturbing,” river advocates said.
“It struck me in less than a positive way that he made those comments,” New River Committee Chairman Rudy Maldonado said Wednesday.
In the meeting at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus, Goff proclaimed the river would never achieve perfection and that the millions in U.S. funds spent on the Las Arenitas wastewater treatment plant in Mexicali that was intended to treat raw sewage water that would otherwise flow into the New River was a worthy endeavor and expenditure.
“If you look at the results, they show improvement. … But we are never going to get a pristine river. There will never be any recreation activities there,” Goff said at the meeting.
The latest water sampling tests indicate the water quality has improved since the plant became operational but is still far from reaching
Goff made the comments after the meeting’s discussion took on a pessimistic atmosphere and following state water officials projecting a downbeat assessment on the
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent about $13 million to help build the $30 million plant along with 16.7 miles worth of pressurized sewer pipe and a pumping station in
Goff said Friday his comments were not meant to be insensitive and that he was alluding to an often overlooked detail that the waterway, which flows north from
“Well, you have to realize what the
During the meeting, Maldonado and Goff reportedly engaged in a heated debate over the prevailing attitude of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexico working group that dates to the late 1880s. It was commissioned to handle water issues between the two nations.
Maldonado blamed the “sense of entitlement” the government has had when dealing with water issues that impact the
“I was a little disturbed by it but we will continue to work with them,” Maldonado said. “I understand they (
The
Goff said those residents shouldn’t expect a flawless river.
“Let’s agree that we are making improvement. That’s all I was saying,” Goff said.
New River Committee advocates said they will resume getting their legal footing for potential legal action against the federal government, including the International Boundary and Water Commission, for not doing its share in cleaning up the river.
“We gained some credibility. We have always said it’s important to stop contamination in
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/03/15/local_news/news01.txt
CLEAN DRINKING WATER:
More Testing for Drugs in Water Sought
Associated Press – 3/16/08
By Martha Mendoza, staff writer
Test it, study it, figure out how to clean it — but still drink it. That's the range of reactions raining down from community leaders, utilities, environmental groups and policy makers in reaction to an Associated Press investigation that documented the presence of pharmaceuticals in major portions of the nation's drinking water supplies.
"There is no wisdom in avoidance. There is wisdom in addressing this problem. I'm not suggesting that people be hysterical and overreact. There's a responsible way to deal with this — and collectively we can do it," said Washington-based environmental lawyer George Mannina.
A five-month-long inquiry by the AP National Investigative Team found that many communities do not test for the presence of drugs in drinking water, and those that do often fail to tell customers that they have found trace amounts of medications, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. The stories also detailed the growing concerns among scientists that such pollution is adversely affecting wildlife and may be threatening human health.
As a result, Senate hearings have been scheduled, and there have been calls for federal solutions. But officials in many cities say they aren't going to wait for guidance from
Pharmaceutical industry officials said they would launch a new initiative Monday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service focused on telling Americans how to safely dispose of unused medicines.
The subject of pharmaceuticals in drinking water also will be discussed this week when 7,000 scientists and regulators from 45 countries gather in
"The AP story has really put the spotlight on it, and it is going to lead to a pickup in the pace," he said.
"People are going to start putting money into studying this now, instead of a few years from now, and we'll get the answers sooner than we would have otherwise."
Environmental leaders said some answers are easy.
"It's basic. We need to test, tell and protect health," said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.
Wiles said the Environmental Protection Agency needs to widely expand the list of contaminants that utilities are required to test for. That list currently contains no pharmaceuticals. He also said government agencies and water providers that don't disclose test results "are taking away people's right to know, hiding the fact that there are contaminants in the water. We don't think they have that right. It's hubris, it's arrogance and it's self-serving," said Wiles.
As part of its effort, the AP surveyed 62 metropolitan areas and 52 smaller cities, reporting on positive test results in 24 major cities, serving 41 million Americans. Since release of the AP investigation, other communities and researchers have been disclosing previously unreleased local results, positive or negative.
In
Officials at many utilities said that without federal regulations, they didn't see a need to screen their water for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals. But others have now decided to test, including Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona, Palm Beach County in Florida, Chicago and Springfield, Ill., Bozeman, Mont., Fargo, N.D.; Danville, Va.; and a group of four sewer partners in the Olympia, Wash., region.
"We read the AP story and made a determination that we should test our water and be transparent, just let the people know what we find. I'm confident we have safe and clean drinking water," said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
Officials in
In some places, residents learned that the rivers and lakes that feed their drinking water treatment plants have already been tested, or that tests are under way.
In
Dozens of newspaper editorials called for testing in communities where water is not being screened and the release of any test results.
"The first, and least expensive, step is to let the sunshine in: Water utilities that currently test for pharmaceuticals should make that information freely available to their customers, along with more information on the potential impacts of drugs in the water supply," read an editorial in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has filed an open records request for a copy of a study conducted on the city's water after the mayor refused to give the AP and the newspaper the name of a pharmaceutical detected in the drinking water. City officials say publishing that information could jeopardize public safety, citing post-Sept.
11 security concerns. A
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel urged readers to take responsibility as well.
"It's a problem in which the average person has both a stake and a role in the solution," read a Journal Sentinel editorial. "He or she can do something as simple as not flushing unused medications down the toilet or into the drain."
And the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette observed that "given the national scope of the problem, a strong leadership role for the federal government suggests itself in areas such as testing and upgrading water treatment plants. So it is discouraging to note that the Bush administration in its 2009 budget proposal cut $10 million from the water monitoring and research program."
While the local responses are encouraging, Lisa Rainwater, policy director of Riverkeeper, a New York-based environmental group, said the EPA should step aside and let the National Academy of Sciences or the General Accounting Office study the impacts on humans and wildlife.
"Frankly, the EPA has failed the American public for doing far too little for far too long," she said.
At least one local water official is putting part of his faith in another quarter. Wayne Livingston of the Oxford Water Works in
"The good Lord filters it," he said. "But this is something we should keep an eye on." #
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7s6c6vCM07zaF8wQ4mLn6I2F6ewD8VENFK00
LOCAL WATER QUALITY ISSUES:
Local officials: Don't fear the water
By Alan Sheckter, staff writer
It's OK to drink the water.
That's the consensus of local water providers in the face of a national news story that detailed traces of pharmaceuticals finding their way into some water supplies.
According to an Associated Press investigation, a vast array of drugs — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.
The concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in parts per billion or trillion. But the presence of prescription and over-the-counter medicines in public drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas, including in
When people take medicine, they absorb much of it, but some passes through their systems and gets flushed down the toilet. Others discard expired or unwanted pharmaceuticals by flushing them.
Such wastewater is part of the water source in some cities. Though it typically goes through one or two treatment processes, trace amounts of drug residue have still been found in some cases.
Locally, neither the California Department of Public Health nor the Environmental Protection Agency have issued any consumer warnings, nor are they requiring any local water districts to test for the presence of medicines in the water.
Locally, the main reason not to worry is that our drinking water largely comes from deep groundwater wells or from high in the mountains, local officials said. And wastewater is not part of the picture.
"The gist of the story is that the water supplies of a lot of major cities have pharmaceuticals in them," said Michael Glaze, general manager of the South Feather Water and Power Agency, which serves rural customers outside of Oroville. "These are downstream cities, but local folks who caught wind of the (news) series might not catch that fine point and could be worried."
South Feather's source water is the south fork of the Feather River, above
"In
Toni Ruggle, acting manager of California Water Service Co.'s Oroville District, which serves the city of
"We have a pristine watershed that is not heavily developed," said Paradise Irrigation District Manager George Barber. "We have a 12-square-mile watershed above
Del Oro Water Co., which serves Magalia and the Lime Saddle area, uses well water and imports some of its water from PID, said Del Oro President Robert Fortino.
"This is a treatment process they are talking about; we're not involved in that," Fortino said. "We are not on a sewer system and our wells have a 50-foot sanitary seal."
Another factor in the study is the scientific community's ever-increasing abilities to detect minuscule traces of elements.
"Some of this trace technology now allows us to measure smaller and smaller amounts," said Barber. "In this case, it's parts per trillion."
Gary Alt, general manager of Thermalito Irrigation District, which serves customers just west of Oroville, said just because there are detectable amounts of a substance doesn't mean it can cause harm to people and it's possible "they could be in higher concentration in food and (other) beverages."
While all local water officials said their districts are closely monitored by the EPA and health department, and Ruggle said recent analyses "either met or exceeded test requirements," he does not dismiss the issue.
"We do take anything like this seriously," Ruggle said. "I think we should join together with the DPH and the federal government for the researching on this because it has come up as a potential health issue. We always want to be proactive." #
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_8580410
`The water is safe to drink'; Officials: Drug traces pose no danger
By Melissa Pamer, staff writer
In the wake of a series of news reports last week about pharmaceuticals discovered in drinking water across the nation, local officials cautioned that the minute concentrations of drugs were not cause for concern.
However, officials acknowledged that water supplies throughout the region are likely contaminated. The levels of the drugs are so low - in parts per trillion - that new technologies have only in recent years been able to detect them.
"The water is safe to drink," said Mic Stewart, water quality manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies 18.5 million residents in six counties through city utilities and water districts, including most of the San Gabriel Valley.
"If I were to fill the Rose Bowl full of water and add 10 drops of a concentrated compound, that would be parts per trillion," Steward said.
An Associated Press series of stories reported that the drinking water for at least 41 million Americans contains pharmaceutical residue. An MWD treatment plant in Granada Hills was one of a number of sites that the AP said had tested positive in 2006 for drugs.
Treated water samples taken from Joseph Jensen Treatment Plant in 2006 showed tiny amounts of anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications, Stewart said. Pre-treatment samples showed the water contained seven additional pharmaceutical compounds, ranging from cholesterol-reducing medications to antibiotics, he said.
The plant distributes water to much of the San Fernando Valley and is capable of supplying the western
"Those compounds that they found at Jensen would be here, from
The technology that has been used to detect pharmaceutical compounds - which became available in the past half-decade - has outpaced the capability of scientists to measure the effects of the drugs or determine how drug- contaminated water should be treated, experts said. Even the testing itself is not standardized.
"We're really in the research phase here," said Jennifer Persike, spokeswoman for the Association of California Water Agencies. "I don't think people should worry unnecessarily until we know there's something to be worried about."
Persike and others compared the recent attention on pharmaceuticals to other contaminants - such as industrial solvents in the 1970s - that spread fear upon their discovery.
Regulatory agencies struggled to catch up and set drinking water standards for specific solvents, said Tim Jochem, general manager of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. Eventually, water agencies were able to treat and remove the contaminants.
Analysis and treatment of pharmaceuticals will likely take a similar path, he said.
"We're just starting to understand their presence - without knowing the health impacts, their fate in environment, how they may change over time," Jochem said. "Sooner or later we will see water quality standard for pharmaceuticals."
The MWD has plans to improve its ability to analyze water for pharmaceuticals compounds over the next few years, Stewart said.
"We want to track this issue," he said.
Meanwhile, the American Water Works Association Research Foundation will later this year publish a newer study on drug contaminants, a spokeswoman for the organization said.
"We want to trend it and, one, make sure it stays at those levels and, two, that there are no problems," said Jill Estabrook Wisehart of AWWARF, the Denver-based nonprofit group that performed the 2006 analysis for MWD and 19 other sources across the U.S.
Though the negative attention may have scared some member water agencies away from voluntarily providing samples in the future, Estabrook Wisehart said there may be one benefit to the media attention.
"We're hoping we'll get more funding," she said. #
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_8597973
EDITORIAL: Impurities in water cause for concern, not panic
LA Daily News – 3/17/08
How pure is our drinking water? It depends on your definition of "pure."
According to an Associated Press report, Americans' drinking water contains traces of a vast range of pharmaceuticals. Two of the compounds showed up in water from a
But don't panic. You'd have to live more than 8,500 years to accumulate the equivalent of one dose of Prozac, sex hormone, aspirin or whatever.
Newly developed technology can measure substances in such tiny amounts as parts per trillion. That makes it harder to look at a glass of water the same way, but easier to monitor water quality.
Still, even though the drug traces are tiny, they could impact human health. Drug traces in waterways have caused abnormalities in aquatic life and earthworms.
Rather than just react with alarm at such findings, we should insist that the latest techniques be used to help resolve the problems they discover.
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_8595735?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
SPECIAL EVENT:
Water For People Presents: Comedy Night for Clean Water 2008
When: Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 8 p.m.
Where:
What: Comedy fundraiser to support safe drinking water and sanitation projects in developing countries
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