Good News for Fish: Clean Water Act Holds for PG&E Hydropower Projects on Yuba and Bear Rivers
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) is pleased to report that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Order on September 5, 2023 that upholds the California State Water Board’s authority to require a “water quality certification” for new hydropower licenses for the Upper Drum-Spaulding, Lower Drum, and Deer Creek hydroelectric projects.
The Possible Impacts of the EPA Redefining “Waters of the United States” on the Yuba Watershed
Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act established a nationwide approach to improving the quality of our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, and other water bodies. One of its features is that it prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point source into “navigable waters” unless otherwise authorized under the Act. “Navigable waters” are defined in the Act as “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”
EPA Weakens Protections for Wetlands and Streams
This week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency released new rules for the regulation of many of the wetlands, streams and seasonal creeks throughout the United States in order to ensure conformity with a recent US Supreme Court decision on the Clean Water Act.
The U.S. Supreme Court is weakening protections for watersheds. We’re restoring them.
With Clean Water Act protections in jeopardy, on-the-ground restoration is more vital than ever