Read our Water Issues newsletter

 

Our Water Issues newsletters, which are available by clicking on the links below, offer readers a snapshot of the work being done by the water committee, as well as additional sources of information.

 

The newsletter is distributed to members of the water committee, Group chairs, and other interested parties.

 

To be added to the distribution list for the newsletter, contact Barbara Benson.

 

To read current and back issues, click on the links below:

 

New: September 2009

May 2009

March 2009

January 2009

November 2008

September 2008
July 2008
May 2008
March 2008
January 2008
November 2007
September 2007
July 2007
May 2007
February 2007

 

About our water issues committee

 

The Water Issues Committee is co-chaired by Thomas Au and Barbara Benson. The rest of the committee is comprised of Group water issues and conservation chairs. The committee works with a number of other environmental and civic organizations (see the Water Brigade) to ensure that our state's waters are protected.

The water committee is currently focusing its efforts in the following areas:

Partnering with the PA Campaign for Clean Water
To help keep our waters clean, the PA Chapter has joined the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water. We participate as members of the PCCW Steering Committee and the Stormwater, Wetlands, Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling, and Exceptional Value Waters Workgroups.

Buffers 100 Campaign - Protecting our Streams
Find out more about our new campaign to improve water quality by requiring 100 foot buffers along all streams. Learn more at the Buffers 100 website. Use our sample letter as the basis for an email to DEP acting secretary John Hangar in support of the campaign.

Chapter 102 and 105 Rulemaking Changes
This PCCW webpage provides links to our recently prepared recommendations to DEP Deputy Secretary Cathy Myers for improvements to Chapter 102, Erosion and Sediment Control and Chapter 105 Stream Encroachment rulemaking.

Clean Water Act Passage
The Clean Water Act is the federal law which governs the pollution of our nation’s rivers and streams. Recent actions by the federal government have limited protection for our small streams and for so-called isolated wetlands. This would place 59% of stream miles in our state at risk and endanger the drinking water of 110 million Americans! The PA Chapter has partnered with the PA Campaign for Clean Water to write our state representatives on several occasions, urging them to support legislation that would make it restore the full authority of the Clean Water Act, and we have also directly communicated on this matter with our Water Issues Committee. The Clean Water restoration Act would ensure that all of the waters in United States are protected. See our April 2007 Letter to Congress.

Healthy headwaters and streams
With the federal protection of small streams and wetlands in question, the Sierra Club and American Rivers asked eleven scientists to summarize the services wetlands and small streams provide society and the consequences of degrading these waters. This report (Where Rivers are Born: The Scientific Imperative for Defending Small Streams and Wetlands) provides an excellent overview and should be widely read and circulated.

Stroud Water Research has published, with Sierra Club support, a new study "Protecting Headwaters: The Scientific Basis for Safeguarding Stream and River Ecosystems". An executive summary, and full printable version are available. The water issues committee has printed copies that can be provided for use at tabling events/meetings. Contact Barbara Benson to make arrangements.

Want to get on the National clean water email list? And stay tuned to national clean water efforts? Join the Sierra Club’s clean water email list by sending a request to Dalal Aboulhosn.