Clean Water Act
A watershed-related issue examined by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.
Contents
This Page is Under Construction
Summary
Passed into law in 1972, the Clean Water Act (CWA) is the principal federal law concerning water quality in the U.S..
History
The CWA is a culmination of previous laws pertaining to water quality and refuse, most of which had limited enforceability.
In 1969, the surface of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH, which was slick with oil, caught on fire. Though this was not the river’s first fire, it was the first to occur after the birth of the environmentalism movement. The combination of media coverage and a $100 million initiative to decontaminate the Cuyahoga in 1968[1], created a moment of punctuated equilibrium, which pushed policy-makers to take action. The momentum sparked here over environmental degradation led to the re-visioning of both the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Water Quality Act of 1965 into the still active CWA. Ironically, the photo circulated by the media was not the 1969 fire, but the fire before [citation needed].
Previous Laws and Regulations
- 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act
- Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
- Water Quality Act of 1965
Amendments
- 1977 Amendments
- 1987 Amendments
Point Source and Nonpoint Source Pollution in California
The two main agencies in charge of creating California’s NPS management plan are the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Coastal Commission. After the introduction of Section 319 in 1987, these agencies developed the NPS plan using a watershed-based approach[2]. A watershed-based approach considers the entire expanse that water travels within a given area, from where rain falls to where rivers or streams flow into larger water bodies, when making policy and management decisions[3].
Section 303(d)
Under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, states are required to list impaired waterways. An impaired waterway is a waterway in which the pollution control methods set in place are insufficient to maintain or achieve appropriate water quality standards. The state uses water quality data to determine if waterways meet water quality standards. For each waterway listed as impaired under Section 303(d), the state is required to establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). TDMLs determine the daily loading capacity for each individual pollutant for a waterbody such that the waterway will meet the standards for that pollutant.[4]
A list of Section 303(d) impaired water ways in California can be found on the State Water Resources Control Board's website.
Section 319
Measured Outcomes
References
- ↑ Rotman M. 2016. Cuyahoga river fire. Cleveland Historical
- ↑ State Water Resources Control Board. 2015. Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Plan: policies and plans. [Cited on 02 April 2017]
- ↑ Texas A&M University. [Date unknown. Watershed approach to water quality management [Cited on 02 April 2017]]
- ↑ EPA Section 303
Links
- TMDL
- TMDLs in the Monterey Bay Region of California
- Approaches to TMDL Development and Implementation in the Monterey Bay Area
- Total Maximum Daily Load for Fecal Coliform for the Lower Salinas River Watershed, Monterey County, California
- Total Maximum Daily Loads for Nutrients in Lower Salinas River Watershed in Monterey County, California
Disclaimer
This page may contain students's work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.
