Multi-State Multi-Jurisdictional Watersheds 

Will Require Special Cooperation

In this newsletter on July 11th, I reported the blue green algae outbreak that had occurred in parts of Grand Lake, Oklahoma during the July 4th weekend. That outbreak resulted in this statement being issued by the Grand River Dam Authority, "We strongly discourage any body contact with the water at this point. That means no swimming or any other activities that would bring you into contact with lake water." Warning signs such as the one below were posted at public access areas around the lake. It is estimated that the outbreak resulted in a 40% loss of revenue for Grand Lake businesses over that holiday weekend.

You would expect that the regulatory agencies, watershed groups and business organizations would have a plan to prevent a reoccurrance of this event. But the Grand Lake watershed highlights the problems faced when water flows across jurisdictional boundaries. In the map of the Grand Lake watershed (below) you can see that 20% of the watershed is outside of Oklahoma with most being in Kansas and Missouri and a tiny portion in extreme Northwest Arkansas. In addition Kansas and Missouri are in EPA Region 7 with Arkansas and Oklahoma in EPA Region 6. 

Other watersheds face similar problems. The Illinois River Watershed that resides in Arkansas and Oklahoma has been dealing with multi-state issues. A TMDL currently being written by EPA Region 6 is due to be released soon.

Illinois River Watershed

The Upper White River Basin's waters from the White River starts in Arkansas, flows north through Beaver Lake into Missouri and through Table Rock and Taneycomo Lakes then returns back into Arkansas through Bulls Shoals Lake.

Common sense would indicate that since all regulatory agencies are working to keep the waters clean enough for the intended uses (fishing, swimming, boating, etc.) as dictated by the Clean Water Act and since the U. S. EPA in Washington, D.C. ultimately regulates these regional and state agencies, there would be no big differences in how they each achieve their clean water goals. But sadly that is not normally the case. Each agency has different ideas about testing, methods and acceptable levels of pollution. Even the EPA regional offices and EPA headquarters in Washington are not always on the same page.

One organization that is working in multiple watersheds in our four states to bring needed cooperation among stakeholders is the Multi-Basin Regional Water Council. The Multi-Basin Regional Water Council is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public on environmental issues and other such issues as water quality, water conservation, watershed management, and to increase the capacity of member organizations to cooperate and to fulfill their own mission. Last Friday, the quarterly meeting of Multi-Basin was held in Rogers, Arkansas. There were almost 30 in attendance from all 4 states representing various water quality and regulatory agencies. The next Multi-Basin meeting will be the first part of November. Sign up on their website to receive email notifications.

One of the main topics of the Multi-Basin meeting was the 4-State Watershed Academy that will be held in West Siloam Springs, OK on September 29 & 30, 2011. The Watershed Academy's main goal is to help educate participants about water issues facing our region and what we can do together to address these issues for the benefit of all. The Academy is an opportunity for elected officials, citizens and government agencies from the four-state region to forth-rightly discuss how we might work together to best achieve a common goal - plentiful, clean water. To address water quality challenges we must ask ourselves two critical questions.  What is the best information available for us to use when making water quality decisions?  What lessons can we learn from others around the nation facing similar challenges? Academy speakers include Arkansas Governor Bebee, MO Congressman Long, AR Congressman Womack, EPA Region 6 Director Dr. Armendariz, MO DNR Director Parker-Pauley, AR ADEQ Director Marks and OK DEQ Director Thompson with others whose invitations still pending. I would encourage you to sign up today!

As you can see, efforts are underway to work towards the cooperation needed across jurisdictional borders to protect "our" waters. Please join us in this effort.

Quote of the Week

"A change in consciousness must occur in order for us to share water and use it wisely."  ....Barbara Helen Harmony

Current News Articles

Texas plant will turn sewage into drinking water
 

Associated Press

In parched West Texas, it's often easier to drill for oil than to find new sources of water. So after years of diminishing water supplies made even worse by the second-most severe drought in state history, some communities are resorting to a plan that might have seemed absurd a generation ago: turning sewage into drinking water.

Construction recently began on a $13 million water-reclamation plant believed to be the first of its kind in Texas. And officials have worked to dispel any fears that people will be drinking their neighbors' urine, promising the system will yield clean, safe water. Some residents are prepared to put aside any squeamishness if it means having an abundant water supply.

"Any water is good water, as far as I'm concerned," said Gary Fuqua, city manager in Big Spring, which will join the cities of Midland, Odessa and Stanton in using the water. (more)

To read more, Click HERE.

Is it safe to go in the water? EPA developing 'rapid test' for water quality at beaches

  

EPA developing 3-hour detection

 

 

EDISON - Working with water samples from the Toms and Metedeconk rivers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists are making strides this summer to develop a long-sought "rapid test" that can tell in as little as three hours whether it's safe to go swimming.

"It's quite a step up from the old technology" that takes 24 hours to detect unsafe bacteria levels, said Deborah Szaro, director of the Division of Environmental Science and Assessment for the EPA Region II office, which hosted a demonstration of the test here Tuesday.

If the new test comes into wide use, public health officials would know much sooner when a beach must close - and they could reopen swimming areas that much sooner when bacteria levels drop, said Szaro and Bruce Friedman, chief of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Water Monitoring. (more)

To read more, Click HERE.