| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2010
Media Contact: Linda Sheehan, California Coastkeeper Alliance, (510) 219-7730
State Water Board Takes Action on 1,700 Severely Polluted Waterways
New List Reveals Few Californians Enjoy "Fishable, Swimmable, Drinkable" Waterways
(Sacramento, CA) Today, the State Water Resources Control Board formally adopted the
2008/2010 303(d) List, which shows that more than 1,700 California beaches, rivers, lakes, and
coastal waters are severely polluted, or "impaired." According to the new list, more than 90% of
Californians live within 10 miles of a severely polluted waterway.
The State Water Board is required to create a list of seriously polluted water bodies every two
years, known as the "303(d) List," after Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. The List is
compiled based on water quality monitoring data that show which waters are too polluted for
activities that Californians used to be able to enjoy, such as fishing, swimming, boating or
surfing.
Now that the new list has been adopted, the Regional Water Boards will begin the
process of developing and implementing reduced loads of pollutants designed to lead to healthier
and cleaner waterways.
"The new list reflects a staggering water pollution problem in California," says Linda Sheehan,
Executive Director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance. "We applaud the State Water Board's
good work mapping polluted waterways and adopting this list. Now we can turn to the work of
cleaning up polluted waters so that they are once more fishable, swimmable and drinkable."
There were 1,464 new water body-pollutant listings proposed for adoption, a 64% increase from
the number of listings in 2006, which brings the total to 3,507 listings. This number reflects the
number of segments of a water body that are impaired (e.g., the mouth of a river vs. a
downstream area) combined with the number of pollutants that cause impairment.
How clean are your local waterways? View the State Water Board's Interactive Map of
California's 303(d) List and learn about local impaired waterways:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/...
Looking Forward to the 2012 List
Section 303(d) and its Impaired Waterways List are among the most powerful tools that
Californians have to clean up our beaches, rivers, and coastal waters. The public is invited to
propose new waterways for listing under the State Water Board's 2012 List, which the Board is
currently preparing. Water quality monitoring data, photographs, and other information can be
provided to the Water Board through August 30th on the new 2012 list.
View the State Water Board's 2012 Data Solicitation Notice and download the Data Submittal
Information Form at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/...
Visit California Coastkeeper Alliance's Severely Polluted Waters page: http://www.cacoastkeeper.org.
Using law, policy and science, the California Coastkeeper Alliance supports and enhances the work of
California's 12 Waterkeeper organizations and works to ensure that Californians enjoy clean water and a
healthy coast. ### |
