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September 2007
Prepared by Thomas
Au, Barbara Benson,
and Robin Mann.
This is the third in a series of periodic newsletters to keep
Sierra Club members and leaders informed on important water resources
issues and is being sent to Group Chairs, Group Conservation Chairs,
and Group Water leaders. We encourage you to circulate the
newsletter as you deem appropriate and welcome your comments and
input.
If you did not receive this newsletter and would like to receive
future issues of the PA Chapter Water Issues Newsletter, please
send a message to Barbara
Benson, asking to be added to the distribution list.
If you have received this newsletter and prefer not to receive it,
please send a message to Barbara
Benson asking to be removed from the distribution list.
Committee Structure
The Water Issues Committee is co-chaired by Thomas
Au and Barbara
Benson. Individuals who are Group Chairs for either water issues
or conservation make up the rest of the committee.
Water Issues Newsletters
Starting in early 2007, Water Issues Newsletters have been published.
There is a current distribution list consisting of the Water Issues
Committee and Group Chairs. Contact Barbara Benson if you would
like to be added to the distribution list for these newsletters.
These newsletters give a snapshot of our committee’s current
issues of concern and direct you to sources for further information.
Click here to read the May
2007 Water Newsletter
Partnering with the PA Campaign for Clean Water
To help keep our waters clean, the
PA Chapter has joined the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water
(PCCW). We participate as members of the PCCW Steering Committee
and the Stormwater, Wetlands, and Exceptional Value Waters Workgroups.
Chapter 102 and 105 Rulemaking Changes
This PCCW webpage provides links to our recently prepared recommendations
to DEP Deputy Secretary Cathy Myers for improvements to Chapter
102, Erosion and Sediment Control, and Chapter
105 Stream Encroachment, rulemaking.
Clean Water Act Passage
The Clean Water Act is the federal law which governs pollution of
our nation’s rivers and streams. Recent actions by the federal
government have limited protection for our small streams and for
so-called isolated wetlands. This could place 59% of stream miles
in our state at risk, and endanger the drinking water of 110 million
Americans! We have partnered with the PA Campaign for Clean Water
to write PA’s Congresspeople and Senators on several occasions,
urging them to support legislation that would make it restore the
full authority of the Clean Water Act, and we have also directly
communicated on this matter with our Water Issues Committee. This
Clean Water restoration Act would snsure that all waters of the
United States are protected. Our April 2007 letter is found at the
PCCW
website.
Where Rivers are Born
The
Scientific Imperative for Defending Small Streams and Wetlands
With the federal protection of small streams and wetlands in question,
the Sierra Club and American Rivers asked eleven scientists to summarize
the services wetlands and small streams provide society and the
consequences of degrading these waters. This report provides an
excellent overview and should be widely read and circulated.
National Clean Water Email List
To stay tuned to national level efforts, joining the Sierra Club’s
clean water e-mail list by sending an email to Navis
Bermudez.
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