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EPA ANNOUNCES $840,000 NEW FUNDING FOR NEVADA CLEAN WATER EFFORT

Release Date: 11/3/1999
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA,(415) 744-1578

     EPA CHIEF PRAISES "OUTSTANDING JOB" ON PLAN TO STOP POLLUTED RUNOFF

    (San Francisco) -- The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Felicia Marcus today announced the agency has approved $840,000 in new federal funding to prevent polluted runoff from Nevada's streets and highways, parking lots, farms, forests, and rangelands. The funding comes as a result of EPA's approval of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's plan for reducing polluted runoff over the next five years, which includes funding for locally-based efforts.

     "The Nevada Nonpoint Source Program is doing an outstanding job," said Marcus. "The Program's excellent plan to reduce polluted runoff has made it possible for EPA to award $840,000 in new funding for watershed restoration. We look forward to working with the State to support local initiatives to protect and improve water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams."

     Polluted runoff is now the nation's leading cause of water pollution in the U. S.  Nonpoint source contamination is polluted runoff from land -- for instance, motor oil, fertilizers, and animal waste -- that affects rivers, lakes, and streams.  Because it comes from numerous diffuse sources, rather than a single point such as a wastewater pipe, polluted runoff has proven difficult to control. The Clinton Administration's Clean Water Action Plan, a blueprint for restoring and protecting the nation's precious water resources, includes numerous actions to prevent water pollution from nonpoint sources.

     Nevada's Nonpoint Source Program focuses on the state's five largest watersheds, which encompass the major rivers and lakes: The Humboldt River, Walker River, Carson River, Truckee/Tahoe and Las Vegas Wash/Colorado River watersheds.  The program has a five-year schedule for assisting in the development of locally-led watershed management plans for each of these priority watersheds.  The plans will build on cooperative efforts already underway to reduce polluted runoff in these key watersheds.The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, which houses the Nonpoint Source Program, coordinates its activities closely with recommendations from the interagency Nevada Ecosystem Advisory Team (NEAT).