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Oregon Earns EPA Approval for Water Quality Standards
Release Date: 7/27/1999
Contact Information: Jim Werntz
werntz.jim@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-0257
July 28, 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 99-28
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Recognized for their improvements, Oregon’s revised water quality standards have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The approval process -- required under the federal Clean Water Act -- ensures that state Water Quality standards adequately protect lakes, rivers and streams for both wildlife habitat and recreational uses like swimming and fishing. In this case, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings of salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and several warm water fish species also necessitated that EPA and Oregon’s Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) evaluate the impacts of the adopted Standards on threatened and endangered species.
The standards reviewed included water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Each of these are particularly critical for fish and other aquatic life, as high temperatures and low oxygen levels can inhibit the ability for reproduction and survival. The temperature standard for salmon and trout rearing in waters across the state is 64 F. EPA approved this standard, while disapproving a higher 68 F standard that was adopted by the state for lower Willamette River.
Oregon’s Water Quality Standards were officially adopted in January, 1996, triggering an extensive review process, which included consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. EPA’s review concluded that the new standards provide more protection for fish, especially threatened or endangered species such as salmon and steelhead.
According to Chuck Clarke, EPA regional administrator in Seattle, Oregon’s Water Quality Standards are among the first in the Northwest to undergo such extensive review by the EPA, National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oregon is blazing a trail for other northwest states to follow,@ Clarke said. AThese approved standards, together with the agreed-to conservation measures, are an important step toward meeting the challenge of protecting water quality and restoring threatened and endangered salmon populations.@ In one of the key conservation measures, Oregon has agreed to participate in the development of a temperature criterion that better addresses the complexities of natural temperature variability across river systems.
Will Stelle, regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which reviewed the effects of the Oregon standards on salmon, emphasized the commitments by EPA and Oregon to continually improve the standards.
“With these standards, Oregon has taken an important step toward salmon recovery,” he said. “The state’s commitment to develop better, more fish-friendly productivity standards was a big consideration for us. We’ll be working with EPA and Oregon on those improvements.”
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