Facilitated water banking and trans fers. • Inventoried available water inactive in reservoir storage as a potential emergency water supply, • Identified studies needed on drought mitigation and water conservation to maintain crop production and protect the environment; • Continued climate change research to evaluate probable impacts of drought on reservoir system management in the western United States. Water and Power. The Army Corps of Engineers manages over 600 water management projects nationwide, and the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the majority of projects in the West, operates more than 350 reservoirs. These projects manage water resources for irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power, navigation, municipal and industrial use, fish and wildlife purposes, and recreation. Bureau of Reclamation projects, with a storage capacity of 125 million acre-feet of water, deliver water to 28 million people and 10 million acres of land each year. A total of 52 hydropower plants generate 60 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year, making the bureau the eleventh largest producer of electric power in the nation. Water Transfers. Federal water transfers among willing buyers and sellers, in accordance with state law, represent one way to respond to changes in demand for western water supplies without building new storage facilities. The Bureau of Reclamation facilitates trades such as the following, in partnership with the states and other interested parties: • Snake River Drainage. The State of Idaho jointly established three water banks in the Snake River Drainage. Water users with reservoir rights can "deposit" surplus water in the banks, thus making it available to others. • Central Valley Project. On the Friant Unit of the Central Valley Project, water transfers occurred between districts as part of a conjunctive-use program, which manages groundwater and surface water for a common purpose. Southern California water users propose expanding the conjunctive use of Central Valley Project water, and studies are underway to further increase water-use efficiency. • Columbia River Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation traded floodcontrol storage space with the Army Corps of Engineers to aid salmon migration. • Indian Water Rights Settlements. Water settlements have resolved conflicts between Native American tribes and other persons over title to western water. The Bush administration supported inclusion of leasing in Indian water rights settlements. Examples include Fort Hall, Montana, and Jicarilla, New Mexico. With clear title, Native Americans can lease water to their neighbors, putting water to use or maintaining existing uses. Water leasing precludes the need for new storage construction and allows Native Americans a return for the use of their assets. Water Quality The goals of the Clean Water Act are ambitious-fishable, swimmable rivers throughout the nation and zero discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters. The act requires all municipal sewage and industrial wastewater to be treated to reduce or remove pollutants before being discharged into waterways, and it provides federal grants and capitalization of state revolving loan funds to help communities build sewage treatment plants. EPA, in cooperation with the states, establishes limits on the amounts of specific pollutants that may be discharged by municipal sewage treatment plants and industrial facilities, based on available technologies and economic costs of compliance. National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. Under the Clean Water Act, EPA or approved states administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). EPA or approved states issue permits that establish effluent limits for all municipal and industrial dischargers. The federal government currently authorizes 38 states and one territory to operate the NPDES permit program. In addition to technology-based limits, EPA may develop limits based on water quality criteria where technology-based controls are not stringent enough to make waters safe for such uses as fishing, swimming, and drinking. For industrial dischargers, EPA has established stringent standards to control up to 126 toxic pollutants. Currently, about 50 major industries comply with these standards, which are based on the best available technology that is economically achievable. EMAP. EPA is developing the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to monitor and assess the ecological health of major ecosystems in an integrated, systematic manner. EMAP will monitor and assess surface waters, forests, near-coastal waters, wetlands, agricultural lands, arid lands, and the Great Lakes. The program will operate at regional and national scales, over a period of decades, to evaluate the extent and con dition of entire ecological resources. A 4-year resampling cycle will allow approximately 800 lakes and 800 stream sites to be evaluated annually. Improving Water Quality in New York Reservoirs. In July 1992 New York City officials and 400 farmers in the Catskill Mountains and lower Hudson River Valley agreed to voluntary measures designed to reduce water pollution from agricultural practices. If successful, these measures could save the City of New York from having to spend $4 billion on a new filtration system to clean river water. The city's six Catskill and Delaware River reservoirs, which provide drinking water to more than 8 million people, are being contaminated by manure, insecticides, fertilizers, and road runoff from farming areas. Under the agreement, the city will pay $3.4 million to the state's Soil Conservation Committee that will in turn provide technical assistance to the farmers through Cornell University and other state and local agricultural and environmental groups. Farmers contend that successful implementation of voluntary measures could achieve up to 80percent compliance with water quality requirements. Groundwater Quality Protection. To protect groundwater, EPA is implementing a Ground Water Strategy for the 1990s that emphasizes pollution prevention. The strategy draws upon federal environmental laws that control solid and hazardous wastes, pesticides, surface waters, underground storage tanks, and waste cleanup, as well as drinking water. As part of a new Comprehensive State Ground Water Protection Program, the states will integrate all federal and state programs relating to groundwater. EPA has provided $12.2 million to the states to implement the program. Safe Drinking Water Program. EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and requirements for treatment under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Federal standards control both manmade and naturally occurring contaminants, and the Public Water Supply Supervision Program, authorized by SDWA, supervises compliance. In most cases, states have the primary responsibility for oversight and enforcement. EPA supports states through grants and technical assistance and, if necessary, enforces SDWA regulations. National Water Quality Assessment. The U.S. Geological Survey administers the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) to describe the status and trends in the quality of the nation's surface waters and groundwater. Within a 10-year period, NAWQA plans to study the populations served by public water supplies and conduct investigations in 60 study units that will represent 70 percent of the water Americans use. Personnel will use physical, chemical, and biological measures to investigate the occurrence of pesticides, nutrients, and sediments. In 1992 the Geological Survey had NAWQA field investigations underway in 20 study units distributed across the nation. Study units consist of watersheds that range in size from 1,200 to 60,000 square miles. Each study unit has a liaison committee with representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, universities, and the private sector. Endangered Species Protection. Approximately a third of all federally listed threatened and endangered species rely on aquatic ecosystems. In July 1992 EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) linking Clean Water Act standards to species protection. EPA agreed to an assessment and consultative process to determine whether CWA standards interfere with provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Where adverse impacts are found, EPA could move to alter CWA standards to mitigate impacts. President's Water Quality Initiative. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has undertaken a major research initiative called the Management System Evaluation Areas (MSEA). The emphasis is on nonpoint-source contamination of ground and surface water by agricultural chemicals. Research results from five study locations in the Mid west will help farmers control and reduce the impact of agrichemicals on water resources. The U.S. Geological Survey is supporting the initiative by conducting geohydrologic studies and research on the fate and transport into groundwater of the pollutants atrazine, carbofuran, alachlor, and nitrate. National Irrigation Water Quality Program. The Department of the Interior administers this program to investigate irrigation-induced water quality problems in the western states. Reconnaissance investigations check for contamination by trace elements and toxic substances including selenium, mercury, arsenic, and pesticides. In 1992 DOI completed ten investigations, during which waterfowl deformities and reproductive problems were found at several locations. The Department has published detailed study reports for the Kendrick Reclamation Area in Wyoming and the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area in Nevada. Nonpoint Source Pollution. Despite progress in improving water quality impacts from industrial and municipal dischargers (point sources), the nation faces significant water quality challenges. The nation's major remaining water pollution problems are caused by less obvious and more widespread sources of pollution-nonpoint sources that affect both surface water and groundwater. These relatively uncontrolled sources of pollution may contribute more to water quality degradation than point sources. Leading nonpoint sources of pollution. include agricultural and urban runoff, forestry practices, and hydromodification. In 1992 EPA awarded 52.5 million to the states to assist in the development of nonpoint management programs. In addition, a 1991 survey by the National Association of State Foresters indicated that 32 states have forestry nonpoint source pollution control programs that emphasize prevention through the use of best management practices (BMPs). In 18 states conducting BMP compliance surveys, compliance ranged from 79 percent for streamside management to 98 percent for forest-site preparation. Combined Sewer Overflow Initiative. Combined sewer overflows (CSOS) occur where sanitary and storm sewers are interconnected. During rainstorms, these systems become overloaded, bypass treatment works, and discharge as much as 90 percent of the pollutants they contain. CSO discharges may contain high levels of sus |