EPA: GIS Analysis of the Surface Drinking Water Provided by Intermittent, Ephemeral and Headwater Streams in the U.S.

The U.S. Environmental Proection Agency has conducted and analysis to examine the extent of different types of streams in the continental United States at the county level. The map was generated as part of an analysis aimed at illuminating regional patterns of dependence on intermittent, ephemeral and headwater streams for water to supply public drinking water systems in the United States, using the most recent, valid data available.

In the continental United States, about 117 million people, over one third of the total U.S. population, get some or all of their drinking water from public drinking water systems that rely at least in part on intermittent, ephemeral, or headwater streams. In the continental U.S., 357,404 total miles of streams provide water for public drinking water systems. Of that total, 58% (207,476 miles) are intermittent, ephemeral, or headwater streams. A more detailed summary of the analysis (PDF) (2 pp, 76K) and breakdown of the results by state (PDF) (1 pg, 175K) and by county (PDF) (31 pp, 3.8MB) are presented.

http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/science/surface_drinking_water/

NWF: Effects of the SWANCC and Rapanos Supreme Court Rulings

This series of reports highlights the threats to local waters and wetlands in four states under regulatory guidance resulting from two Supreme Court Cases. Compiled by the National Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, and Trout Unlimited, the reports identify case studies where the loss of Clean Water Act protections has put local waters in Colorado, Montana, South Carolina and Tennessee at risk for pollution, unrestricted drainage and destruction.

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/Reports/Archive/2010/SWANCC-Case-Studies.aspx

EPA Releases Handbook for Clean Water Act Section 319 Tribal Program

EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds recently released the Handbook for Developing and Managing Tribal Nonpoint Source Pollution Programs UnderSection 319 of the Clean Water Act

http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/tribal/index.html

ELI: Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Handbook

Last year’s Supreme Court ruling inRapanos v. United States left regulators, activists, and landowners nationwide scrambling to understand the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction over wetlands and streams. Unless and until Congress amends the law to clarify its intended coverage of the “waters of the United States,” we are left to sort out the present law. There is now a comprehensive resource designed to shed light on the topic, the Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Handbook, just released by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). The ELI Handbook lays out the various tests for Clean Water Act coverage under current law. Additionally, the Handbook brings science to bear on the question of determining CWA coverage for certain categories of wetlands and streams, in a way that no other publication to date has attempted. The Handbook is a necessary and informative complement to the joint guidance document issued last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to guide their respective field staff in making jurisdictional determinations in the wake of the Rapanos decision.

http://www2.eli.org/newbooks/cwa_handbook.htm

Other Sites of Interest:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "Definition of Waters of the U.S."

Environmental nonprofits have supported a broad definition of CWA. Information they have developed can be found at:

• Clean Water Network
• Sierra Club: America's Waters at Risk
• Sierra Club Wetlands
• A Concerned Scientist Blog
• Rapanos Blog, Pacific Legal Foundation

The regulated community has supported narrowing the definition of CWA Information they have developed can be found at:

• Building A Balance: Wetlands Regulation, National Association of Homebuilders
• NAHB Files Amicus Brief to Clarify Navigable Waters
• Rapanos Blog from the Pacific Legal Foundation
• National Federation of Independent Businesses

Documentation of the importance of isolated wetlands, headwaters and small/intermittent/ephemeral streams:

• Where Rivers are Born: The Scientific Imperative for Defending Small Streams and Wetlands
• Natuserve: Biodiversity Values of Isolated Wetlands of the United States
• DU: The SWANCC Decision: Implications for Wetlands and Waterfowl
• FWS: Geographically Isolated Wetlands: A Preliminary Assessment of their Characteristics and Status in Selected Areas of the United States