California State Water Status Summary

The Clean Water Act turned 25 in October. Passed into law in 1972, the goals of the Clean Water Act were clear and ambitious: All water was to be safe for fishing and swimming by 1983, and discharges of pollutants into rivers, lakes and oceans would be eliminated by 1985.

At the time of the passage of the original Clean Water Act, an alarming decline in our nation’s water resources was documented. Clean Water Action founder and current President David Zwick, then head of Ralph Nader’s water pollution task force, contributed to the growing body of evidence detailing the extent of the nation’s water quality problems in his book Water Wasteland . Of particular concern were findings of toxic and cancer causing chemicals tainting many communities’ drinking water supplies, and other health-threatening pollution.

Two thirds of our rivers, lakes and streams were too polluted for human use. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. Lake Erie was considered dead. The Potomac River in Washington, D. C., reeked of sewage and was called a "national disgrace" by President Johnson. Here in California, our coastal beaches were fouled by massive oil spills and barely treated sewage and toxic waste flowed freely from discharge pipes into the San Francisco Bay. In response, Clean Water Action and other citizens’ groups formed, joining efforts to pass the Clean Water Act on October 18, 1972.

The Clean Water Network, an alliance of over 1000 organizations including Clean Water Action recently released the report, Prescription for Clean Water: How to Meet the Goals of the Clean Water Act that outlines nationwide concerns. The report for California is summarized below.

Where are we today in California?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 1994 Report to Congress, only 22% of our rivers and streams and 21% of our lakes fully support aquatic life. Another 70% of rivers and 74% of lakes partially meet aquatic life criteria. Agriculture is the leading contributor to the pollution impairing our rivers, estuaries, bays and ground water. Polluted waste water from feedlots, dairies and fields spoils our waters with pesticides, fertilizer/excess nutrients, and microbial contaminants. Diversions of fresh water for farms consume 80% of the state’s developed water robbing our waters of needed flows to support fish, waterfowl, and wetlands. Urban runoff, land development, and habitat modifications are the leading sources of degradation to the state’s lakes.

Toxic Discharges: California ranks 13th in the nation for toxic releases into surface waters with data from 1995(the most recent year available) shown below.


2,641,665 pounds of toxic chemicals were released into lakes rivers and streams.

12,883,050 pounds of toxic chemicals were released into public sewers and then made their way into surface water. More than half of this amount came from just five companies: Proctor & Gamble, Arco, Unocal, IBM, and Siliconix. 70% of these chemicals are not monitored or regulated by sewage treatment plants or the State!

Clean Water Enforcement: According to a recent study by the California Public Interest Research Group, over the four years (1992-1996) studied by the group, 1 out of every 3 major dischargers violated its permit at least once. Overall there were 4,492 Violations of the Clean Water Act reported, 15% of these were violations for exceeding toxic chemical or heavy metal discharge limits. Out of compliance facilities took an average of two years to come back into compliance after the violation occurred.

Wetlands Destruction: California has lost 91% of its estimated original 5 million acres of wetlands (c1780)--only 454,000 acres remain. Wetlands provide critical habitat to more than 200 rare species, filter pollutants, store water, and provide flood protection.

Coastal Conditions: There were 1,061 beach closings in California in 1996 due to poor water quality. Nine beaches were closed permanently and 7 were closed for extended periods. Coastal Tourism which depends on clean beaches generates $54.1 billion in revenue and 323,014 jobs.

Funding: EPA’s "Clean Water Needs Survey" (August 1997) shows that California needs $11.5 billion in water infrastructure projects over the next twenty years ($574 million per year)--but the necessary dollars are not available. Over the last 9 years, California has only allocated an average of $140 million per year to meet clean water needs.
EPA also admits that the report probably underestimates needs in some areas due to lack of adequate documentation. For instance the $512 million estimate for controlling poison runoff covers agriculture, feedlots and logging practices but fails to cover pollution from abandoned mines, dumpsites, construction, dredging, and urban sources such as roads, bridges, and lawns. The absence of information for these sources is a serious and likely very expensive gap in EPA’s needs estimates.

Jobs: EPA estimates that between 16,000 and 20,000 jobs are created for every billion dollars of public spending for clean water improvements. Another 18,000 to 35,400 jobs are generated indirectly for each billion dollars spent on clean water according to the National Utility Contractors Association.

Drinking Water: California ranks second in the nation for the total population affected by drinking water violations. From 1994-1996, California had 570 drinking water systems out of compliance with drinking water safety standards. 12% or over 4.3 million Californians were affected by these violations! Marguerite Young is the California Director of CLEAN WATER ACTION based in San Francisco .