Guest columnist: Clean water is big business for WNC.
This summer thousands of people will come to dip their feet into the cool, clear waters of the Davidson River and dip into their wallets at local stores, restaurants and hotels.
Millions of dollars will flow into our local economy when people float down the Nantahala, Tuckasegee, Pigeon, Green and French Broad rivers.
That study found that trout fishing contributes an estimated $383 million annually to our economy and supports about 3,600 jobs — jobs made possible by our clean water.
Dealing with water pollution after it becomes a problem is simply not as effective as keeping it out of water in the first place.
In the decades that followed, our water quality improved because of reduced pollution in streams and rivers protected by the Clean Water Act.
But earlier this year, President Trump announced that he intends to strip Clean Water Act protections from headwater streams and many wetlands.
The administration is then expected to quickly move to eliminate safeguards for headwater streams and many wetlands by proposing a new regulation limiting the Clean Water Act’s reach.
A recent study by Trout Unlimited found that 66 percent of historical trout streams in North Carolina are headwater streams —some of the very streams that would lose Clean Water Act protections under the administration’s proposal.
Polluters might save some money by avoiding pollution controls in streams no longer protected by the Clean Water Act, but the cost of more polluted water would ultimately fall on the public.

Report: Contamination in Ringwood could threaten the Wanaque Reservoir.
David Zimmer/NorthJersey.com High levels of a dangerous chemical at the Ringwood Superfund site are a potential threat to the nearby Wanaque Reservoir, the major source of drinking water for the region, according to a new report for the state commission that oversees the water supply.
The pollution needs to be treated to ensure it doesn’t migrate to the reservoir — just a mile away — and contaminate the drinking water that serves as many as 3.5 million people, the report said.
Subsequent tests found 1,4-dioxane in groundwater throughout the Superfund site — as high as 215 times the state safety standard of 0.4 micrograms per liter.
But since the treatment plant is incapable of removing 1,4-dioxane, the chemical “will impact the finished water quality” if it migrates that far.
Story continues below Treating the groundwater at its presumed source, Peters Mine, "should ensure that contaminants do not migrate downgradient and impact the water supply,” the report reads.
“Data indicates that the Wanaque has not been impacted by site contamination and is not expected to be impacted by site contamination in the future,” Rodriguez said in an email.
The second test came last March, when commission officials ordered tests after reports in The Record showed the chemical was found throughout the Superfund site near the reservoir.
The chemical was not detected at the intake of the reservoir’s treatment plant and the distribution system after the water is treated.
Environmental officials have said there is no imminent health threat from the levels of 1,4-dioxane that were detected, but there is still no clear consensus on how much of the chemical can be in drinking water before it makes anyone ill.

The amended bill, HB 463, which would have required the state to consider tougher standards for acceptable limits of perfluorinated chemicals like perfluorooctanoic acid in drinking water, died Thursday in Concord as a House and Senate conference committee could not agree.
Litchfield, Merrimack, Bedford and Amherst residences have been struggling with PFOA contamination in their water after Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics allegedly released the chemical out of its smokestack.
Byron said DES believes it still has the authority to address this new pathway of contamination, and that the state is still protected.
However, Byron said it would have been beneficial to explicitly indicate this authority in state law.
Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, said in a separate statement that he is “very disappointed House Republicans rejected drinking water standards that protect the public health, particularly prenatal and early childhood health.” Last week, state Rep. Chris Christensen of Merrimack said during a committee meeting that DES already has authority to regulate smokestacks that emit something that results in groundwater contamination.
According to the bill, it would have required DES to establish a drinking water standard and ambient groundwater quality standard for PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonate within 120 days.
However, there is an ambient groundwater quality standard at 70 parts per trillion for combined PFOA and PFOS consistent with EPA’s health advisory standards,” states the bill.
If the bill were adopted and the department determined a lower standard was appropriate, the bill would have resulted in the establishment of a drinking water maximum contaminant level and revised the existing ambient groundwater quality standard.
A preliminary analysis to lower the standards to 20 parts per trillion, the number used in Vermont, would have cost more than $40 million, according to the proposed legislation.
khoughton@newstote.com

Land commissioner halts oil- and gas-related well easements.
Dunn sent a letter May 23 announcing that he will stop issuing or renewing easements intended for use of freshwater for oil industry activities.
Dunn’s action was in response to the City of Eunice selling water for hydraulic fracturing or fracking, he told Hobbs News-Sun (http://bit.ly/2rETUeZ) Wednesday.
"What my concern is that the Ogallala is a depleting resource," Dunn said.
He recommended drilling into the Capitan Reef for access to non-potable water as an alternative.
Mayor Matt White brought up the issue at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
"The way I look at it, the lifeblood of this town is the water.
Dunn countered by saying that water used in agriculture does not have the lasting impact that fracking does.
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But what would happen if we turned on the tap and nothing came out?
Water is fundamental* to life, which makes warnings about water scarcity* and a possible global water crisis so concerning for world leaders.
He told the UN Security Council that water scarcity was already causing tensions between some nations.
Cities across the world are becoming increasingly thirsty as the demand for water grows and supply dwindles*.
This means, less than one per cent of the planet’s water is actually available to the world’s 7.5 billion people.
But Professor Young, who specialises in water issues, was “extremely optimistic” that a catastrophe can be avoided.
Australia has more than 400 big dams and the largest, the Gordon Dam in Tasmania can hold 12,450,000 megalitres of water.
Write down all of the times and reasons you use water throughout the day.
Information poster A leaked Nestle report expressed concern about the growth in meat consumption leading to a potential shortage of water.
Write a short narrative about waking up one morning and discovering there was a global water shortage.

Ukraine: 750,000 Children at Risk of Losing Access to Safe Drinking Water.
"Nearly three million people in eastern Ukraine rely on water infrastructure that is now in the line of fire," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF`s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, noting that more families are expected to be cut off from safe drinking water, putting children at severe risk of disease and other dangers.
About 400,000 people, including 104,000 children, had their drinking water cut off for four days this week after two filtration stations for the South Donbass Water pipeline were destroyed by shelling.
Urgent repairs were completed yesterday evening.
In Donetsk, power lines providing electricity to the city`s water filtration station were damaged earlier this month, threatening more than 1 million people`s access to safe water.
Girls and boys having to fetch water from alternative sources, or who are forced to leave their homes due to disruptions to safe water supplies, face dangers from ongoing fighting and other forms of abuse.
"All sides of the conflict must allow urgent repairs when water sources are destroyed and immediately stop the indiscriminate shelling of vital civilian infrastructure," said Ms. Khan.
UNICEF has provided access to safe drinking water to more than 1.5 million people in Government and non-Government-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.
In 2017, UNICEF is appealing for $31.3 million to provide health and nutrition support, education, clean water, hygiene and sanitation as well as protection for children and families affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Polluted stormwater eventually makes its way to groundwater, and, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 90 percent of state residents depend on groundwater for drinking water.
And if polluted stormwater makes its way to surface water — lakes, springs, ponds, rivers — an overabundance of nitrates and phosphates can spur algae blooms, not unlike those that plague Florida water bodies.
A new assessment The environmental protection department has developed a stormwater assessment that applies to property in unincorporated Alachua County, or property that is not part of a city.
The stormwater assessment applies to structures, like rooftops, parking lots and other surfaces impervious to water.
The county could go to every impervious property in unincorporated Alachua County and measure its dimensions, but Bird said that wouldn’t be cost-efficient.
Of the remaining half, 75 percent will go to cleaning polluted water, and 25 percent will go to promoting water quality awareness, Bird said.
“It’s not like cable TV.” Manual for developers The environmental protection department is also working on a code for new development within the county.
The county’s stormwater assessment now needs to develop funds to pay for “legacy pollution,” Bird said, and new development codes need to follow research that could work toward protecting the environment.
The ground in Alachua County is different on the east from the west.
“There are certainly things we can do to improve the situation,” said Clark, the UF researcher.

East Ukraine fighting imperils water access for 750,00 children: UN.
More At least 750,000 children in eastern Ukraine are at imminent risk of losing access to safe water supplies after a surge in fighting between the government and separatist rebels, a UN report said Friday.
Approximately 400,000 people, including 104,000 children, had their drinking water cut off for four days this week after two filtration stations for the regional pipeline were destroyed by shelling, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said.
Urgent repairs were completed only Thursday evening, it added.
"Nearly three million people in eastern Ukraine rely on water infrastructure that is now in the line of fire," said Afshan Khan, the agency’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.
"We expect more families will be cut off from safe drinking water, putting children at severe risk of disease and other dangers."
In the rebels’ de facto capital of Donetsk, power lines serving the city’s water filtration station were hit earlier this month, threatening access to clean water for more than one million people, the report said.
Children who lose access to clean drinking water can quickly contract water-borne diseases including diarrhoea, UNICEF warned.
"All sides of the conflict must allow urgent repairs when water sources are destroyed and immediately stop the indiscriminate shelling of vital civilian infrastructure," Khan said.
More than 10,000 people have died and almost 24,000 have been injured since the pro-Russian insurgency began in April 2014, while 3.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 1.5 million have been forced from their homes.

UNICEF East Ukraine fighting imperils water access for 750,00 children.
At least 750,000 children in eastern Ukraine are at imminent risk of losing access to safe water supplies after a surge in fighting between the government and separatist rebels, a UN report said Friday.
Approximately 400,000 people, including 104,000 children, had their drinking water cut off for four days this week after two filtration stations for the regional pipeline were destroyed by shelling, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said.
Urgent repairs were completed only Thursday evening, it added.
"Nearly three million people in eastern Ukraine rely on water infrastructure that is now in the line of fire," said Afshan Khan, the agency’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.
"We expect more families will be cut off from safe drinking water, putting children at severe risk of disease and other dangers."
The latest clashes between government troops and Russia-backed rebels reportedly killed ten Ukrainian soldiers over the past week, while schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure were seriously damaged.
Children who lose access to clean drinking water can quickly contract water-borne diseases including diarrhoea, UNICEF warned.
"All sides of the conflict must allow urgent repairs when water sources are destroyed and immediately stop the indiscriminate shelling of vital civilian infrastructure," Khan said.
More than 10,000 people have died and almost 24,000 have been injured since the pro-Russian insurgency began in April 2014, while 3.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 1.5 million have been forced from their homes.

New research from Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Northeastern University in Boston details PFC pollution in tap water supplies for 15 million Americans in 27 states and from more than four dozen industrial and military sources from Maine to California.
EWG and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute at Northeastern collaborated to produce an interactive map that combines federal drinking water data and information on all publicly documented cases of PFAS pollution from manufacturing plants, military air bases, civilian airports and fire training sites.
On the map, blue circles show public water systems where PFCs were detected in public drinking water systems – the larger the circle, the more people served by the system.
Red dots indicate a contamination site in Northeastern’s PFAS Contamination Site Tracker.
Drinking water contamination Despite widespread contamination and mounting evidence of health hazards, there are no federal regulations for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
EWG’s analysis of the results shows that the tests found PFOA and/or PFOS in 162 systems serving 15.1 million Americans.
Because the EPA only required reporting of detections at or above 20 ppt for PFOA and 40 ppt for PFOS, all of those water supplies had detections exceeding Grandjean and Clapp’s safe level of 1 ppt.
There is no ongoing national-level testing of PFCs in drinking water, and the EPA has said it could be 2019 or later before it decides whether to set a national drinking water standard for PFOA and PFOS.
The Site Tracker provides detailed information for 50 industrial or military contamination sites in 18 states and Guam, plus Australia, Canada and the Netherlands.
Groundwater at the base was found to have 580,000 ppt of PFOS.