WHITESBURG, Ky. - Kentuckians who live in central Appalachia say they have a problem with dirty water and they don't think the state is doing enough to clean it up. So, they've joined residents of three neighboring states - Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia - on visits to regional EPA offices to ask for help.
Alex DeSha, a national Sierra Club "Beyond Coal Campaign" staffer from Whitesburg, went to Atlanta to deliver the message that widespread surface mining is contaminating water in eastern Kentucky.
"What we're seeing from the state is the systematic failure to properly administer their own water quality program," he declared.
DeSha lives in the Big Sandy River basin, where he said 92 percent of the river is impaired by resource extraction, adding that the state is not holding coal companies accountable.
A state lawmaker and Kentucky's Energy and Environment Secretary also met with the EPA in March, seeking what they referred to as a "much more even-handed" relationship with that federal agency.
Secretary Len Peters said Kentucky's coal region needs what he calls "rational environmental regulatory options" from the federal government for access "to reliable, affordable energy."
However, Terri Blanton of Berea, who grew up in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky, isn't happy with what she sees as an overly-cozy relationship between the state and the coal industry.
"It's our water that's being destroyed, and someone's not watching the store," she charged.
According to Blanton, she and citizens from her community delivered mining maps and water reports to EPA officials and even brought them a water sample.
"We had a bottle of water there that was just as orange as orange Kool-Aid and just filled with stuff, and it came out of a community person's well," Blanton said.
The citizens are operating under the umbrella of a coalition called Appalachia Rising. It's an effort in four states to stop mountaintop removal mining.
Alex DeSha said the group wants the EPA to issue a rule setting conductivity limits in water. He explained that conductivity is a general indicator of pollutants.
"You know, the Environmental Protection Agency conducted scientific studies that found that high levels of conductivity are the primary cause of water quality impairments downstream from valley fills and other mining operations," DeSha said.
He said the visits to regional EPA offices are the opening of a campaign to increase pressure on the Obama administration to do more about water pollution in central Appalachia.
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As Wyoming and other states grapple with shrinking Colorado River water levels - new research pinpoints how much water is being diverted to feed cattle, to sprawling desert cities, and the river's 40 million other stakeholders.
The stakes are high in a time of persistent and widespread drought.
Brian Richter - president of Sustainable Waters - said if Upper Basin states can't deliver the volume of water required under a century-old agreement, Lower Basin states could force the issue with what's known as a compact call.
"The likely result would be that the Upper Basin states, including Wyoming, would be forced to use less water," said Richter, "so that more water could be flowing into Lake Powell and downstream into the Lower Basin."
Researchers found that in Upper Basin states, cattle-feed crops soak up 90% of all irrigation water - which is three times the amount that goes to all cities, towns, commercial and industrial uses combined.
Just 19% of the Colorado River feeds the wetlands and riparian areas wildlife depend on.
Richter noted that cities in Utah and along Colorado's Front Range are at risk because they have very low priority for accessing water under the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
Despite calls for closing off spigots used exclusively for cattle feed, Richter said blaming any single user is counter-productive.
"Farmers and ranchers are growing the things that people want, and are willing to pay a necessary price for," said Richter. "So they are just responding to consumer demands."
He said he believes the new data could be an important tool for Colorado River stakeholders as they work to build a long term plan to bring the total use of water back in balance with what nature provides.
Richter said right now, water use is at least 10% to 15% over that limit.
"We need a long range plan that says how much water do we want to use in the cities? How much water do we want to use on the irrigated farms? How much are the industries going to need?" said Richter. "And until we do that long range plan, we are just going to be reacting to these water shortages on a year-by-year basis."
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Colorado lawmakers are considering legislation to restore protections to key waters and wetlands struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year in a decision leaving more than half of the nation's water supply at risk of industrial pollution.
Margaret Kran-Annexstein, director of the Colorado chapter of the Sierra Club, said House Bill 1379 is in sync with Colorado voters, pointing to a recent survey which found nearly nine in 10 voters want to limit damage and pollution from development, industry and mining on wetlands and streams.
"Recent polling has found that massive majorities of Coloradans, whether they are Democrat, Republican or Independent, really support common sense water protections that would happen under this bill," Kran-Annexstein reported. "I think we can all agree that clean water is a necessity."
A coalition of conservation groups support the measure to create a permitting program for responsible development through the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.
Last month, Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, introduced an alternative proposal supported by the homebuilding industry, which would require a new division and staffing in the Department of Natural Resources.
Kran-Annexstein stressed clean, reliable water resources drive the economy and are vital for the health of communities. She believes the high court's ruling, claiming some waterways do not have significant connections to watersheds, was a win for corporate polluters who want to avoid permitting.
"In Colorado we know that there are a lot of streams and rivers and wetlands that run dry for certain parts of the year," Kran-Annexstein pointed out. "This ruling said that those waterways don't deserve protections and they don't count, just because they are seasonal."
Mountain states like Colorado are the source of drinking water for some 40 million Americans living in downslope states and Kran-Annexstein said the House bill is an opportunity to pass important and necessary protections after last year's Supreme Court decision.
"This decision left half of the waters across the United States unprotected by the Clean Water Act," Kran-Annexstein emphasized. "And really left it to states to make their own laws to protect state waters. And now it is the responsibility of states to step up and close that gap."
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Today is World Water Day, a global observance to raise awareness about the importance of access to clean, fresh and safe water.
This year, advocates in the U.S. are urging Congress to restore protections under the Clean Water Act for smaller streams and wetlands, which were overturned in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.
Jim Murphy, senior director of legal advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation, said rivers and streams in Mississippi used for swimming and fishing flow into larger bodies of water, so it is essential for the waterways to be safeguarded.
"It's really important for people to ensure that, with the rollbacks from the Supreme Court, that they're ensuring that their state and local leaders are doing what they can to protect the waters that people rely on," Murphy asserted.
A bill in Congress, the Clean Water Act of 2023, would reinstate the rule the Supreme Court struck down, and broaden the definition of which streams and waterways are subject to federal protection. It has more than 120 co-sponsors, but remains stalled in the U.S. House.
Murphy pointed to a poll, which found more than 90% of Americans think protecting the safety of drinking water, and the water in lakes, streams and rivers should be a priority. He added the most effective and cost-efficient approach to safeguarding water is to protect it before it gets to your home faucet.
"Protecting water at its source is the most important and one of the cheapest things we can do to ensure that people who are facing a crisis of dirty water are protected," Murphy explained. "In other cases, we also have to invest in the right type of infrastructure, to make sure that water is clean."
A boil water alert was issued for Jackson this week, as the result of repair work performed on the water system. In 2022, Jackson's water system crisis affected more than 150,000 residents, who were without clean or running water for weeks at a time.
Disclosure: The National Wildlife Federation contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Energy Policy, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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