Press Release - 12/23/2005
Statewide Water Monitoring Program

Contacts:

Laurel Ames
(530) 541-5752
laurel@watershednetwork.org

Michael Wellborn
(714) 964-0516
michael@watershednetwork.org

The California Watershed Network has joined with numerous other organizations around the state requesting that the State Water Resources Control Board support continued funding for the SURFACE WATER AMBIENT MONITORING PROGRAM (SWAMP). Recently, at a December 9, 2005, meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board, the on-going funding for the program was raised in a workshop.

CWN believes that the current monitoring program is modest at best as it is dependent on the limited funds raised from the surcharge on permittees. A fully funded monitoring program would provide for adequate monitoring that would both demonstrate the success of watershed restoration programs and upgraded water treatment systems, and reveal any failures of permit standards as well as the damages caused by those who pollute.

The California Watershed Network recognizes that both enforcement and program support are key programs of the State Water Resources Control Board - - and that neither can be effective without solid, scientific-based, and timely water quality monitoring programs.

At a time when community efforts across California to restore local watersheds are gaining momentum through the formation of partnerships of citizens, local government, landowners and state agencies, the consideration of decreased funding for this program is a step backward. Our concerns are not to be confrontational with the Board, but to support a program of good science that adds value to watershed restoration practitioners as well as the local government agencies regulated by the Board through Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements.

Watershed restoration projects can be found in watersheds as diverse as Elkhorn Slough, the Sacramento River, the Tuolumne River, and the Arroyo Seco. There are more than 400 watershed groups spread across the state, from south of San Diego to north of Crescent City, from San Francisco Bay in the west to the east side of the Sierra Nevada.

A PDF version of this press release is available here.