Good news for LA River may be good news for other western rivers

Earlier this week the U.S. EPA declared the Los Angeles River a "traditionally navigable river." This may not sound earth shattering to those not intimately tracking clean water issues, but the declaration is critical to ensure Clean Water Act protection for the troubled (to say the least) river and its tributaries, and may have ripple effects for rivers across the West.

In the Los Angeles Times story on the announcement explains the ramifications of EPA's announcement this way:

The designation overturned an earlier ruling by the Army Corps of Engineers that only four miles of the river were navigable, which would have made it easier to develop its upper reaches by eliminating the need for certain federal permits.

"This is an important day, one we've been working toward for years," said poet and writer Lewis MacAdams, founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River. "It is a day when the EPA has essentially redefined the L.A. River and its values. In other words, starting today, a flood control channel is only one of its many characteristics."

The label as a "traditionally navigable river" is crucial to Clean Water Act protections due to Supreme Court decisions which threw the status of protections for certain waters into question. See our March 1, 2010 and October 4, 2009 blog postings on these decisions for more information.

EPA's declaration for the Los Angeles River may well have ripple effects for other western rivers. As David Beckman of the Natural Resource Defense Council says in the Los Angeles Times article:

"The EPA's decision has been closely watched as an indicator of whether similar rivers throughout the West — dry as a bone one day, a torrent the next — would lose historical protections under the Clean Water Act," he said. "So this is great news. It means less pollution in the river and provides a vital support for community efforts to rejuvenate and restore it."

River advocates in the Intermountain West should explore what EPA's decision on the LA River might mean for your local ephemeral or intermittent rivers, or other types of waters. To learn more, check out U.S. EPA's press release.