Southwestern Rivers > Clean Water Act

Clean Water

The Clean Water Act provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce the strong connection between human health and the health of all forms of life. Because of the opportunities for this linkage, Forest Guardians is increasingly interested in ways to invoke the principle of clean water in all of our biodiversity protection work. We believe that pollutants, whether airborne or waterborne, that threaten the existence of native fish, amphibians and mollusks are also likely to threaten human health.

Though these living beings are not valuable simply because they act as our canaries in a coal mine, they are nevertheless biological indicators of the health of our waterways. We believe we have a moral obligation to protect these animals but we also have an opportunity to educate people that their protection is our protection and vice versa.

Upholding the Clean Water Act

Forest Guardians has been working for over a decade in New Mexico to uphold the spirit and the letter of the Clean Water Act by improving state water quality standards, ensuring that the list of polluted waterways is accurate, prohibiting pollution from wastewater treatment plants and working on the ground to improve the health of our waterways. Our most recent legal action is a lawsuit against the Village of Riudoso, which has been polluting the Rio Ruidoso for many years in blatant disregard for clean water. It is our intention that our legal action forces the Village to stop its pollution and take other steps to restore degraded river habitat.

Threats to Clean Water

1. Sewage Treatment Plans
2. Livestock Grazing
3. Wetland Destruction
4. Oil and Gas Development
5. Dairies

Cleaning Up Polluted Waterways

1. Water Pollution Plans - The TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources. The calculation must also account for seasonal variation in water quality. Water quality standards are set by States, Territories, and Tribes. They identify the uses for each waterbody, for example, drinking water supply, contact recreation (swimming), and aquatic life support (fishing), and the scientific criteria to support that use.

2. NPDES Permits - The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters. In most cases, the NPDES permit program is administered by authorized states.

3. Anti-Degradation - The public is permitted to participate in any decision that might cause temporary degradation (see point 2 below).

Keeping Clean Waters Clean

1. Outstanding National Resource Waters - One of the antidegredation programs established in the Clean Water Act is the designation of Outstanding National Resource Waters (ONRWs). ONRWs are regarded as the waters with the highest water quality, or ecological or recreational significance. No new or increased discharges are allowed to ONRWs or to their tributaries that would result in lower water quality.

2. Anti-Degradation - Because there are always exceptions to a rule, there is an exception to the "no degradation" rule surrounding ONRW/ORWs. Some temporary and short term degradation is allowed. However, the public is permitted to participate in any decision that might cause temporary degradation. This is important because it allows communities to have a say in what activities can impact their water. Should the state allow a project to proceed, it is required to "implement all practical means to minimiz[e] such degradation."

Clean Water Toolkit

1. Water Quality Standards - Water Quality Standards are the foundation of the water quality-based pollution control program mandated by the Clean Water Act. Water Quality Standards define the goals for a waterbody by designating its uses, setting criteria to protect those uses, and establishing provisions to protect waterbodies from pollutants.

For specific questions about our Southwest river protection efforts, contact John Horning, Executive Director.