Friday, October 16, 2009 10:32 PM CDT
Mattoon, Charleston water supplies OK, but officials back clean water efforts
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- A coalition of conservation and sportsmen’s groups is concerned that water supplies served by small streams, such as those in Charleston and Mattoon, are at risk of contamination from industrial pollution.
Local public works directors have responded that water supplies in Charleston and Mattoon are well protected from industrial pollution, but added they are supportive of the groups’ advocacy for a strengthened Clean Water Act.
The Izaak Walton League of America and four other groups have cited a recent analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shows more than 117 million Americans get their drinking water from small streams, including 34,500 people in Coles County.
In a recent press release, the five groups reported these water supplies are at risk of contamination because two Supreme Court decisions during the last decade have threatened to dramatically narrow the scope of the federal Clean Water Act by excluding non-navigable bodies of water such as small streams.
Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America, said the groups want to confirm the Clean Water Act’s original intent to protect the waterways that are used for drinking, swimming, and recreation. He said the groups are encouraging Congress to amend the act to guarantee it protects these streams.
“Headwater streams, especially the intermittent and ephemeral streams that are dry for parts of the year, are the ‘Rodney Dangerfields’ of the water resource world: They don’t get enough respect,” said Steve Moyer, a vice president for Trout Unlimited. He said these streams are valuable for drinking water, and fish and wildlife habitat.
The other three groups involved with this effort are Ducks Unlimited, National Wildlife Federation, and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Charleston Public Works Director Curt Buescher said the city get its water from the natural run-off into the Lake Charleston reservoir and from the Embarras River.
“There is a lot of mixing, evaporation, and settlement of the water in our reservoir, so one can’t say that the water that comes from the river goes directly to our (treatment) plant,” Buescher said, adding any impurities from the river are diluted to a point where they are below measurable concentrations in state water quality regulations.
Buescher said the city controls when it pumps river water into the reservoir and the quantity, regularly performs sampling and testing, and sends the resulting data to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Mattoon Public Works Director David Wortman said the city’s primary water source, Lake Paradise, and its backup water source, Lake Mattoon, are both supplied by the top end of the Little Wabash River watershed, which begins west of town.
Wortman said there is no industrial activity in the top end of this watershed, so Mattoon’s water supplies are not at risk of contamination by the industrial pollutants that might threaten other watersheds.
Buescher said he hopes Congress can clarify the general intent of the Clean Water Act and tighten up any loop holes that are currently present, and Wortman said he hopes Congress takes steps to ensure the act is as strict as needed to keep water supplies as clean as possible.
“Small non-navigable streams flow into the non-navigable rivers, which flow into the navigable rivers, so the legislation should apply to all,” Buescher said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
