List of California's polluted waterways getting longer
Alex Breitler
RecordNet
08/09/2010
Every two years, experts pull out a working list of polluted waterways and take another look.
Some rivers, streams and lakes are taken off the list; others are added.
But overall, the list is only getting longer.
This time, the State Water Resources Control Board staff recommended deleting 131 water bodies from the list - and adding 1,328. Its report, with some changes, was approved last week.
Is the water really getting worse? The list grew more than 50 percent in length this year because experts have learned so much more about water quality since the list was last updated, a staff report says.
Conservationists say that with better monitoring, even more rivers and streams would require listing.
More than 90 percent of Californians live within 10 miles of a polluted waterway, the California Coastkeeper Alliance reports.
"The new list reflects a staggering water pollution problem in California," Executive Director Linda Sheehan said.
The Delta and many Stockton-area feeder sloughs and rivers were already on the list. But some are now listed for a half-dozen or more pollutants.
