Clean Water Act Wars
The Yuba River Development Project (YRDP) is a hydropower project on the Yuba River that has been the epicenter of challenges to Clean Water Act section 401. New Colgate Powerhouse, pictured here, is a major component of YRDP. Image courtesy of Yuba Water Agency.
I confess. It’s hard to keep up with the state of play in the nationwide and California efforts to defend Clean Water section 401, which gives states and some tribes authority to ensure that federal actions meet state and tribal water quality standards.
At Friends of the River, that means hydropower licensing, relicensing, and other decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission affecting most non-federal dams. If you care about conditions on many rivers in the extensively plumbed California, this is place where you want to have influence.
We’ve taken our defense of the Clean Water Act to FERC, the State Water Resources Control Board, the U.S. EPA, state and federal appeals courts, and the California and U.S. Supreme Courts. We and our lawyers have been busy. We expect to stay busy.
These are resource-intensive efforts. They cost money. But, it’s worth it. The Clean Water Act is a bedrock protection for rivers, and it’s essential that we prevent any legal shifts that reduce that protection.
