The Department of the Interior and Watershed Management Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has long been a proponent of sound watershed management. The Department supports and enables states, tribes, local governments, watershed councils and the public in their watershed-related activities, through its research, monitoring, and information programs and its land and resource management activities.
The Department is committed to watershed-based planning efforts on a large and small scale. We are leading the charge to restore the Everglades in South Florida and the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento and San Jacquin River Delta area. We also work collaboratively with watershed councils and local communities across the country. We are improving the management of watersheds on federal lands and are working in partnership with others to restore priority watersheds. This includes dedicating water to restore and maintain stream flows, restoring natural water flows on national wildlife refuges, restoring sensitive riparian and upland habitats, and screening irrigation canals to protect migrating fish.
The National Research Council just released a landmark report, New Strategies for America's Watersheds, in which it concluded:
Lasting solutions to many remaining water quality and environmental problems require an integrated management approach that addresses all water-related issues within hydrologic boundaries. Such an approach must recognize that all resources within natural watershed boundaries are part of interconnected systems and are dependent on the health of the ecosystem as a whole.
The committee believes that watershed science and management needs a broad endorsement by government at all levels as the primary mechanism for dealing with strategic issues of conservation and enhancement of natural resources, particularly water resources. (page 35)
Thirty-six centuries ago, Emperor Yu of China advised "To protect your rivers, protect your mountains." That same rule applies today. To restore our aquatic species we need to look beyond the water's edge out onto the land that borders it because what happens on the land inevitably is reflected in our streams and rivers.
The Clean Water Action Plan recognizes this important concept and identifies watersheds as the main management tool by which we restore the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our nation's waters, as Congress charged us to do in 1972 with the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Clean Water Action Plan is truly a collaborative effort with our federal, state, tribal and private partners and demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together.
As you may know, the Department of the Interior is composed of eight major bureaus that work in conjunction with other federal entities to manage and enhance our natural resources for future generations. In total, the Department is the responsible steward for managing more than 445 million acres of public lands. The Department faces the same challenges as its private, state and tribal partners; working to preserve its natural resources while managing complex watershed environments.
During the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, Vice President Gore asked the federal family what might be done in cooperation with the states and others to accelerate the effort to clean up our nation's waters in the context of our existing legal authorities and individual missions. The federal agencies responded. The President's Clean Water Action Plan outlines 111 actions that will help improve the quality of our rivers and streams and is supported by the Clean Water and Watershed Restoration Budget Initiative.
The four main objectives of the President's Plan are:
-- improve information and citizens' right to know,
-- address polluted runoff,
-- enhance natural resources stewardship,
-- protect public health.
Today, we know that the actions of all of us, including those of federal agencies, contribute to non-point sources of pollution in watersheds across the nation. As a major steward for land and water, the Department assists all of our partners and customers in protecting and improving water quality. The Department not only has land and resource management responsibilities, it administers the National Water Quality Assessment Program, a major Federal program directed to monitoring and evaluating the nation's water quality.
Non-point source control is difficult and does not lend itself to a "one size fits all" approach. A small watershed in the industrially developed East is not like a large watershed in the arid West--geological, soil, hydrological, biological, and land use conditions vary considerably across the country. Thus, local cooperation and partnerships between all parties involvedÄ-including federal and state agencies, and local, tribal and community interests within any specific watershedÄ-is the most effective way to develop strategies and implement plans to improve water quality.
Highlights of the Department of the Interior's Activities The Department's activities to achieve clean water focus on four areas that support the mission of its bureaus:
--improved stewardship of federal lands and resources,
-- sound science,
--better and more accessible information for states, tribes, and communities, and
-- a watershed approach to resource management.
The Department cannot accomplish these goals alone; the foundation of the Clean Water Action Plan is building partnerships to help communities achieve cleaner water.
Successes under the Clean Water Action Plan The Department is the lead or co-lead on 14 CWAP action items. I would like to highlight some of our activities.
-- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has partnered with other federal agencies and states to identify twenty-six abandoned mine land cleanup projects in twelve states.
-- The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) has expanded its Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative to support stream and watershed restoration projects in 12 states including Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. One example is the Quemahoning Creek watershed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where polluted mine drainage that destroyed a public drinking water supply was cleaned up.
-- The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is working with the EPA and other federal agencies to implement practical workshops for tribes on unified watershed assessments and watershed restoration strategies. The CWAP calls for the tribes to take the lead on these assessments. To date, over 178 individual tribes will be represented at the workshops.
--The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working closely with the EPA to implement a Watershed Information NetworkÄa state of the art Internet-based system that is designed to provide information on more than 2,000 watersheds across the nation.
-- USGS and the National Park Service (NPS) are collaborating to address the large backlog of NPS high priority water quality monitoring and assessments needs.
--USGS is working closely with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to assess water quality in reservoirs and stream reaches affected by BOR projects. Assessments are underway in five priority watersheds across the West; Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, South Dakota and -Arizona.
--The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is developing partnerships with private landowners to identify and restore important fish and wildlife habitat that improves water quality and restores ecological integrity to natural watersheds.
--The Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other federal agencies are drafting a proposed policy for watershed-based management of federal lands and resources that will enhance coordination among federal agencies with respect to natural resource management. The proposed policy will provide a framework for a watershed approach to natural resource management, through development of common assessment tools, better management of non- point sources of pollution, enhanced watershed restoration activities, and a greater role for the public. The proposal will be available for comment and discussion by states, tribes, and the public.
What the Bureaus Are Doing in Support of the CWAP The Department has a range of activities in support of the CWAP. Each Bureau has identified programs that work in partnership with others to advance the 111 actions identified in the plan.
The OSM is the lead agency for the key action item which calls for a 50 percent increase in the number of cooperative projects to clean up rivers and streams polluted by coal mine drainage by fiscal year 2000. This major initiative is an expansion of an existing OSM program, the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative. This initiative is designed as a partnership with states, local government, industry, and the public to collectively address coal mine acid drainage problems. As a partnership, OSM provides the seed money necessary to get various entities involved in cleaning up their local water pollution problems. Through clean water funding, OSM has been able to increase assistance to more states, provide grants to more local organizations, and do more community outreach to support technology development and transfer.
OSM has initiated a pilot program to provide eight summer watershed interns to assist grassroots watershed groups in Appalachia to increase their capacity and sustainability in the long fight for clean water in this old coal mining region. OSM has launched a new cooperative agreement program to assist small local watershed organizations needing to complete funding of stream clean up projects.
As the steward of 264 million acres of public land owned by the American people, the BLM role in the CWAP focuses on its stewardship of important water resources, including watersheds, riparian areas, and aquatic habitat. In addition, the BLM is using Clean Water and Watershed Restoration Budget Initiative funds to accelerate the clean up of abandoned hardrock mine sites, which can be a significant source of water quality degradation.
The BLM is also active in restoration. In 1998, the BLM completed 465 projects to improve 1,460 miles of stream corridors and wetlands, completed assessments of over 5,000 miles of streams and 20,000 acres of wetlands, and maintained 694 riparian and wetland improvement projects.
Improving rangeland health to restore water quality is another focus of the BLM's clean water activities. The BLM's healthy rangelands initiative establishes criteria for rangeland management that aims to improve and protect water quality as well as watershed health. The BLM, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Forest Service are working towards a standardized rangeland inventory and monitoring protocol.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages more than 90 million acres of National Wildlife Refuge System lands in a way that supports the goals of the CWAP. Refuge restoration and enhancement activities maintain and restore watershed health in and around refuges. In 1998, the Refuge System managed 1.4 million acres of wetlands and deepwater habitats including over 40,000 acres on adjacent private lands working with local landowners.
The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program is a voluntary, non-regulatory initiative administered by FWS that provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners to conserve, restore and enhance important wetland habitat. Since its inception in 1987, the Partners program has restored over 409,000 acres of wetlands, 333,000 acres of native grass upland habitat, and 2,030 miles of riparian and instream habitat in cooperation with more than 19,000 landowners.
In addition, the FWS administers the North American Wetlands Conservation Program; another voluntary program that leverages private funds with federal dollars to restore, protect, and enhance wetland habitat important for waterfowl, wildlife and local communities. Overall, $249 million in Act funds have been matched by $517 million from more than 960 partners to conserve more than 28 million acres in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Most of the FWS's activities benefit water quality and watershed restoration efforts whether it is through the work with partners through the coastal program to restore and protect sensitive coastal habitats, the data collected through the National Wetlands Inventory program, or the technical assistance the contaminants program provides to federal, state and local government agencies and communities to reduce impacts associated with point and non-point source pollution.
As the nation's largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, USGS is involved in a wide range of clean water activities. USGS works cooperatively with local, state and federal partners across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific information. USGS is the agency that originally mapped the nation's watersheds. To support the CWAP, USGS is providing information and technical assistance to federal, state, tribal and local agencies to help meet watershed priorities and restoration goals; estimating and modeling the sources and transport of nutrients in large watersheds, such as the Mississippi River and Chesapeake Bay; and participating in multi-agency efforts to address the effects of non-point pollution on coastal watersheds.
Funds through the CWAP are directed at such efforts as new National Water Quality Assessment projects on the Delmarva Peninsula and the Yakima River, Washington, and federal/state cost- share studies of non-point source pollution. USGS is supporting the BOR and the NPS in their priority water quality assessments. USGS provides funding for relevant grants programs at State water resources research institutes.
The Department, through the USGS supports the National Water Quality Monitoring Council, in which local, state, and Federal agencies, tribes, non-profit organizations, academia, and the private sector cooperate toward a goal of consistent nationwide acceptance of appropriate, rigorous water-quality monitoring methods. The Council is responsible for two CWAP key actions having to do with consistency in monitoring.
USGS also conducts rigorous water-quality monitoring programs at the local, state, and national levels. At the local and state level USGS cooperates, on a cost-share basis, with government agencies to collect basic data on streamflow and water quality. At the national level, USGS monitors water quality in the nation's largest rivers and conducts the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program to study water and aquatic biological quality in relation to land use in 59 river basins (at least part of one in every state) that represent most of the population and water use in the nation. The NAWQA results are integrated into national assessments of the occurrence of contaminants such as nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds (such as solvents and fuels) in water and fish tissue.
While all Federal agencies have trust responsibilities, the BIA is the federal government's lead agency with Indian tribes and Alaska Natives, and is responsible for protecting tribal trust resources. Under the CWAP, BIA is providing leadership for an interagency tribal coordinating committee, to ensure that tribes are involved and consulted in clean water activities. BIA is organizing workshops for tribes nationwide on tribal unified watershed assessments. BIA's main effort is to facilitate the flow of information between tribes and the federal family.
In its role as manager of federal water resources and facilities in the West, the Bureau of Reclamation is cooperating with other agencies on several action items that affect federal land and resource managers. Sustaining water quality is a major goal for BOR, and many of the action items addressed in the Plan are already a part of their programs including providing technical assistance to states and other entities to address water pollutant problems. As already noted, BOR, in coordination with USGS, is assessing the water quality of several reservoirs and streams that are affected by its operations. Assessments in five priority watersheds are targeted for this year. Strategies will be developed, in consultation with the states, on ways to resolve identified water quality problems.
The National Park Service manages 83 million acres of parks, monuments, historic sites, and wilderness areas. The CWAP supports an NPS/USGS assessment and monitoring partnership to identify the status and trends of water quality in National Parks. This year, USGS initiated three projects to ensure safer beaches and drinking water in National Recreation Areas. The USGS also has begun baseline water quality monitoring efforts in twenty-four parks, and two multi-park projects to assess effects of atmospheric deposition at eight parks. The NPS is also cooperating on the regional level with other federal land managers to develop strategies to implement several key actions.
Conclusion
The Department has been a leader in the watershed-based approach to land and resource management. We are strongly supporting the President's Clean Water Action Plan in the context of our existing mission and responsibilities. Clean water is the business of every federal agency, and the Department will work closely with other agencies, states, tribes, local communities and the public to protect and restore our nation's water resources. Actions we take at the Department under the CWAP will help us more effectively and efficiently manage the nation's public lands and trust resources, improve access to watershed information by our citizens, take real steps toward protecting public health, and provide cleaner water and restored aquatic resources for generations to come. We believe this initiative will have very positive environmental and economic impacts nationwide.