GLIN==> Senate Moves to Restore Clean Water Act Protections, Vital Component of Great Lakes Restoration

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
 
Senate Moves to Restore Clean Water Act Protections, Vital Component of
Great Lakes Restoration
 
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (April 2, 2009)—The Clean Water Restoration Act was
introduced in the Senate today to restore historic safeguards to
wetlands, lakes and streams. Passage of the legislation is essential to
restore the Great Lakes.
 
“Reinstating Clean Water Act protections to U.S. wetlands, lakes and
streams, as this bill does, is a vital component of Great Lakes
restoration and economic recovery,” said Jeff Skelding, national
campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
“Millions of people will benefit from the swift passage of this
bill.”
 
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced the Clean Water Restoration Act
today with 23 co-sponsors, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dick
Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Carl
Levin (D-Mich.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.).
 
“We applaud Sen. Feingold for introducing this bill and urge Great
Lakes Senators to lead the effort to pass this bill quickly,” said
Skelding. “Delay in restoring these protections jeopardizes America’s
wetlands, streams and other sources of clean water.”
 
The bill goes through the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee, whose Great Lakes members include: Sens. Gillibrand, Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and George Voinovich
(R-Ohio).
 
The bill introduction follows the release of President Obama’s budget,
which included a new $475 million Great Lakes restoration fund that
supports, among other things, habitat restoration and protection.
 
“Failure to pass this bill will undermine the effectiveness of
President Obama’s initiative to restore the Great Lakes,” said Skelding.
“Restoring wetlands and small streams to protect water quality, while at
the same time allowing them to be destroyed, does not make any sense.
Restoring the Great Lakes depends on reinstating Clean Water Act
safeguards.”
 
The legislation restores Clean Water Act protections that were placed
in doubt by U.S. Supreme Court and Bush Administration decisions. These
decisions placed millions of acres of so-called “isolated” wetlands and
lakes, intermittently flowing streams, and wetlands adjacent to these
streams at risk of losing federal safeguards, leaving them vulnerable to
pollution and destruction.
 
“This legislation stops the roll-back of protections for our nation’s
waters and re-affirms safeguards that Congress originally intended,”
said Skelding. “Waters that have long been covered by the Clean Water
Act’s strong protections have been left vulnerable to the kinds of
pollution and destruction that our nation has been successful at
stopping in the past.”
 
Passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act is essential to protect and
restore wetlands—a core component of the multi-year effort to restore
the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy has a
long-term goal of restoring 1 million acres of high quality wetlands in
the region.
 
More than 66 percent of Great Lakes’ original wetlands have been filled
in or destroyed. In states like Ohio, over 90 percent of wetlands have
been lost.
 
Wetlands provide essential services for people. Healthy wetlands supply
and recharge drinking water; improve water quality; prevent erosion;
provide habitat for wildlife, waterfowl, and fish; and support
multi-billion dollar hunting, fishing, bird-watching and boating
opportunities in the Great Lakes states.
 
One acre of wetlands provides $10,573 of ecosystem services.
 
“Quick passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act,” said Skelding,
“will benefit our Great Lakes and our economy.”
 
Of particular note at this time of year is the critical role wetlands
and intact headwaters play in reducing flooding. One study concluded
that wetlands lost in the Upper Mississippi River basin had the capacity
to store the flood waters of the devastating 1993 Midwest flooding. 
 
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is comprised of more than
100 environmental, conservation, hunting and fishing organizations;
museums, zoos and aquariums; and businesses representing millions of
people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
 
For more information, visit: http://www.healthylakes.org/ 
 
For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2009
 
Contact:
Chad Lord, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, 202-454-3385,
clord at npca.org 
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,
734-887-7109, lubetkin at nwf.org 
 
 
Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation - Great Lakes Office
213 West Liberty, Suite 200 | Ann Arbor, MI 48104
 
Phone: 734-887-7109 | Fax: 734-887-7199 | Cell: 734-904-1589
 
NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our
children's future. www.nwf.org/news/ 
 
Working to restore the Great Lakes by offering solutions to sewage
contamination, invasive species and other threats. www.healthylakes.org
( http://www.healthylakes.org/ )
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