CLEAN WATER ACT AND OTHER RIVER POLICIES

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CLEAN WATER ACT AND OTHER RIVER POLICIES
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River Facts

• Water covers 3/4 of Earths surface
• 3.5 million miles of rivers in U. S.
• 600,000 miles are behind dams (17)
• Missouri River is longest in North America (2,540
  miles)
• Mississippi River is largest

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Standard Policies

• Improvement for navigation, industry, and flood
  control
• Dredging, snag pulling, dams, canals, locks
• 9 ft minimum channel depth

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Army Corps of Engineers

• Started in 1775 (Bunker Hill)
• Mission Provide quality, responsive engineering
  services to the nation
• Plan, design, build, and operate water resources
  and other civil works projects

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Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899

• 1st. major federal legislation dealing with water
  development projects
• Prohibits construction in navigable waters
• Requires plans be submitted to COE or Sec. of
  Transportation
• Authorizes COE to issue dump permits

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Rivers and Harbors Act of 1938

• Stated that wildlife conservation be given due
  regardduring the planning stage of any Federal
  water resource project

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Flood Control Act of 1944

• Projects must benefit navigation and be
  compatible with other river uses
• Requires some consultation with Sec. of Interior
  and state governors

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Water Resources Planning Act

• 1965
• Established Water Resources Council and river
  basin commissions
• Assess adequacy of nations water supplies
• Establish guidelines and standards
• Must take into account agricultural, urban,
  energy, industrial, recreational, and fish and
  wildlife needs.

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FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT

• CLEAN WATER ACT
• 1972
• Among most comprehensive expensive legislation
  ever passed
• EPA

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CLEAN WATER ACT

• Restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and
  biological integrity of the nations waters.
• Primary federal law that protects the nations
  waters

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CLEAN WATER ACT

• Two Main Goals
• Eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the
  nations waters
• Achieve water quality levels that are fishable
  and swimmable

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CLEAN WATER ACT

• Section 402 Industrial Point Source Pollution
• Most Forestry Pollution was nonpoint
• Point
• log sorting
• log storage

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CLEAN WATER ACT

• Sections 208 and 319 Nonpoint Source
• States prepare water quality management plans
• implement BMPs for forestry and other activities
• Voluntary or Regulatory

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CLEAN WATER ACT

• Section 303(d) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
  Requirements (WVDEP)
• States identify pollutant-impaired water and set
  maximum amount of water pollution that a water
  body can receive without violating water quality
  standards

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Federal Water Project Recreation Act

• 1974
• Allows future water development projects to be
  authorized for recreation and fish and wildlife
  enhancement
• Use water project funds for land acquisition

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Water Resources Development Act of 1986

• Deauthorized projects without dedicated funding
• Included provisions covering environmental
  assessments and mitigation
• Wildlife enhancement
• 16.5 billion
• 500 million for wildlife

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Water Resources Development Act of 1986

• Provisions
• Focus on indigenous species
• Cost-share at same rate as project being
  mitigated for
• Future COE projects must address wildlife
  mitigation
• Bottomland hardwood mitigation must be in-kind

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Water Resources Development Act of 1986

• Additional provisions
• Established Environmental Protection and
  Mitigation Fund of 35 million
• Formed Office of Environmental Policy under COE
• COE must review existing projects
• 100 federal funding for species of national
  significance
• 7525 cost-share for all other species

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• Enacted in 1968

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• ...certain selected rivers of the nation
  which...posses outstandingly remarkable
  ...values, shall be preserved in free-flowing
  condition, and that they and their immediate
  environments shall be protected for the benefit
  and enjoyment of present and future generations.

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• Created National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
• Designated initial components
• Described procedure for adding additional
  components
• About 10,955 miles in system (1/4 of 1)

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• 3 Classifications
• Wild river areas
• No impoundments
• Accessible only by trail
• Scenic river areas
• Largely undeveloped shorelines
• Some roads
• Recreational river areas
• Some development
• Readily accessible by road

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• Methods for adding components
• Congress can designate a river directly or
  authorize a river for study as a potential
  component.
• A governor can apply to the Sec. of Interior to
  have a river included that has already been
  designated by that state.

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• The Sec. of Interior and/or Agriculture are
  authorized to study and report to the President
  as to the suitability of a proposed river
• Priority given to those rivers most threatened by
  development
• Report must be distributed to Sec.s of Int.,
  Ag., Energy, Army, etc., and affected governor(s)

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• Construction of any dams, reservoirs,
  transmission lines, etc. is prohibited on
  designated rivers
• Any mining operations are subject to regulations
  set forth by managing agency

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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

• Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinating Council was
  formed in 1995
• Each component is required to have a management
  plan within 3 years of designation
• Must be published in Federal Register

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Ohio River Mainstem System Study

• 1998
• Corps of Engineers
• Originally designed to examine future
  navigational needs (maintenance, rehabilitation,
  construction needs)
• Environmental team (COE, USFWS, state natural
  resource agencies) was 1 component

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Ohio River Mainstem System Study

• Identified over 250 specific environmental
  projects
• Led to formation of separate Ohio River Ecosystem
  Restoration Program

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Ohio River Ecosystem Restoration Program

• 2000
• To restore significant ecosystem function,
  structure, and dynamic processes that have been
  degraded
• 307 million (10 million/yr for 5 years, 15
  million after that) approved
• Cost-share with states, 6535

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Ohio River Ecosystem Restoration Program

• Modification and protection of side channels
• Restoration and creation of island habitat
• Restoration of bottomland forest and floodplain
• Evaluate, prioritize, monitor

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Ohio River Ecosystem Restoration Program

• Many state agencies would rather have a 7525
  cost-share (Water Resources Development Act of
  1986)
• COE says 6535 (Water Resources Development Act
  of 1996)
• Restoration vs. enhancement

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The Once Mighty Ohio