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WaterNews for June 3, 1999WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. Inside this week's WaterNews:
1) President Clinton Gives Radio Address on Water Quality 1) President Clinton Gives Radio Address on Water QualityIn his radio address on May 29, President Clinton announced three new executive actions to improve water quality and public health. The first directs the National Park Service and other agencies to expand public health protections on beaches managed by the federal government and challenges states to improve their water quality standards. The second directs EPA to develop stronger measures to prevent sewage spills, the major cause of beach closures. In the third, President Clinton directs federal agencies to adopt a comprehensive strategy to better safeguard rivers and other bodies of water on federal lands, a key action under the Clean Water Action Plan.For a copy of the radio address, visit http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/6/1/14.text.1 on the Internet. For a copy of the directive to federal agencies on clean water, go to http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/6/1/15.text.1 on the Internet. 2) Results of Beach SurveyEPA published the results from the second annual National Health Protection Survey of Beaches. EPA gathered information on approximately 1,400 beaches nationwide, an increase of approximately 400 beaches since last year. The review of coastal beaches (U.S. coastal areas and the Great Lakes) showed that of the 1,062 coastal beaches, more than 350 beaches had an advisory or closure in 1998.Also on the BEACH Watch web site, for the first time, the public can pull up area maps of beaches and get information on water quality monitoring efforts in their communities and if any advisories or closures were issued at local beaches over the past year. Although the database includes a significant number of coastal and Great Lakes beaches, it does not include all U.S. beaches. Only the beaches whose monitoring officials responded to EPA's survey are included. EPA intends to conduct this survey each year and as new information becomes available, it will be added to the BEACH Watch web site. The results of the 1999 beach survey and the area maps of beaches are available on the BEACH Watch web site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches on the Internet. 3) Workshops on Unified Watershed Assessments for Tribal GovernmentsIn an effort to enhance the participation of Tribal Governments in the activities of the Clean Water Action Plan, EPA and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Interior, and Defense are conducting a series of workshops for Tribes on Unified Watershed Assessments. The workshops will provide Tribes with a handbook of key natural resource data, instructions for assembling Unified Watershed Assessment documents, and a matrix of federal programs for watershed management and restoration.The workshops will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Reston, Virginia; Portland, Oregon; and Albuquerque, NM. For more information on the workshops, please contact Richard Regan at regan.richard@epa.gov.
Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA's Office of Water. To subscribe to the WaterNews listserve:
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