Habitat and flow impairments are often seen as untouchables in the Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) world. This example from Ohio shows this doesn't have to be true.
An exciting recent (2011) example of the power of 401 water quality certification to address flows involves Fay Creek, a tributary to the South Fork of Kern River in California.
In Michigan's Clinton River watershed, more than 40 municipalities, four counties and dozens of other public entities banded together to meet stormwater permitting requirements.
The Beachkeeper program is a volunteer water quality monitoring program that involves the local community in identifying and monitoring sources of urban runoff in Santa Monica Bay. Data collected by these volunteers helped identify the Bay as impaired, and was critical to the design of the cleanup plan.
If you could hire an enforcement officer to protect your watershed, would you do it? Amigos Bravos of New Mexico found a creative way to do just that…and more.
Ohio EPA developed an innovative program that combines conventional sewers and wastewater treatment with “green infrastructure” projects to increase water quality protection.
In 2004, members of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center were patrolling the Columbia River in kayaks when they witnessed murky, foul-smelling water pouring out of a pipe directly adjacent to a trash-hauling company.
Wildlife agencies often comment on Section 404 wetland fill permit applications. Reach out to the agencies to engage them and strengthen your comments.
The Dosewallips River originates in the glacial peaks of the Olympic National Park, a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. While dams blanket the state of Washington, the Dosewallips runs free. The Dosewallips was caught in a power struggle between Washington state and the federal government.
Local citizens sometimes know more about their watersheds than state agencies, and this knowledge can be a valuable aspect of TMDL development. Such was the case for Lake Yazoo in Mississippi.
A well-designed volunteer monitoring program can inspire real action and change for the better -- read about how the Beachkeeper program made a difference for Santa Monica Bay visitors.
By combining persistence, a good antidegradation policy, direct discussions with permit holders, and a little creativity, Illinois conservationists have found that the Clean Water Act really can work.
