Federal Water Tap, September 23: Construction Begins on Mississippi River Saltwater Barrier

The Rundown

• Army Corps begins building a temporary underwater barrier in the Mississippi River to slow the upstream movement of salt water.
• BLM publishes final environmental review of a Nevada mining project that could become the largest domestic source of lithium.
• EPA releases new water quality data tool and will host a webinar tutorial.
• GAO recommends a policy change for helping colonias with water infrastructure improvements.
• White House publishes a PFAS research agenda to guide the federal government’s R&D activities.
• Army Corps selects finalists for $3.2 billion in low-interest loans for dam safety and repair.

And lastly, the EPA moves to dismiss a lawsuit over its failure to regulate PFAS in sewage sludge.

“Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit claiming that EPA has a non-discretionary duty to regulate several per-and polyfluroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in sewage sludge. Yet Plaintiffs have identified no Clean Water Act (“CWA”) section that requires EPA to regulate PFAS in the manner set forth in Plaintiffs’ second amended complaint. Thus, Plaintiffs have not met the CWA citizen suit requirements and their CWA citizen suit claims should be dismissed.” – Excerpt from a motion to dismiss filed by the EPA in a lawsuit over PFAS in sewage sludge, as reported by Waste Dive. Texas farmers and ranchers filed the suit in federal court in June. They are seeking to compel the EPA to regulate the toxic chemicals in sewage sludge, which is spread on farmland as fertilizer where it can contaminate soil and water.

By the Numbers

18: Projects invited by the Army Corps to apply for $3.2 billion in financing from a new federal program that offers low-interest loans for dam safety and repair. It is modeled on a similar EPA program for water and wastewater infrastructure. Eight of the dam projects are in California.

News Briefs

Building the Wall
The Army Corps of Engineers began construction last week on a temporary barrier on the bottom of the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana.

Built about 64 miles from the river’s mouth, the underwater barrier is intended to halt the upstream movement of salt water. Communities in this part of Louisiana draw their drinking water from the river, and salt water is a threat.

This is the third consecutive year and sixth time overall that the Corps has built the barrier. It is needed when the Mississippi River is too weak to push out the Gulf of Mexico. Drought in the basin has sapped its flows.

Made of dredged sediment, the barrier will erode when the river strengthens.

In context: Salt Water Again Moves Upstream in Weakened Mississippi River, Endangering Drinking Water

PFAS Research
The National Science and Technology Council, an executive branch body, published a five-year federal research and development agenda for understanding PFAS and guiding the government’s response.

The agenda identifies five focus areas. They include how people and the environment are exposed to the chemicals; how the chemicals are measured and monitored; the human and environmental health risks; technologies for removing and destroying the chemicals; and alternatives to PFAS.

Studies and Reports

Nevada Lithium Mine
The Bureau of Land Management published a final environmental impact statement of a lithium-boron mine proposed for southwest Nevada.

The Rhyolite Ridge project is the largest deposit of lithium and boron in North America, according to its developer Ioneer. Those metals are key to clean energy technologies.

Ioneer envisions a 23-year project, including years to reclaim the 2,271 acres of mostly public land that will be mined or otherwise disturbed.

As part of Ioneer’s water rights acquisitions, agricultural use in Fish Lake Valley will be reduced in tandem so that no net increase in groundwater pumping occurs in the area. Water will be delivered to the project area from these existing wells via a new 19-mile pipeline.

Ioneer will also recycle water from the mine pits in its daily operations. The goal is zero discharge.

BLM is listening to public comments and will issue a final decision on the project in at least 30 days.

Water Infrastructure Assistance to Colonias
A federal watchdog’s report warns that, due to population growth, some colonias in Texas – high-poverty, Latino-majority communities in unincorporated areas of states along the Mexican border – may soon be ineligible for targeted federal assistance for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.

The Government Accountability Office recommends that Congress change the eligibility criteria. Currently, colonias in metro areas with fewer than 1 million people can access a pool of funds within a state’s Community Development Block Grant. But when the metro area grows larger, the set-aside requirement disappears, even though the colonias can still apply for funds.

According to the report, three in five colonias identified by the federal government will be ineligible “over the next few years.” This is largely due to growth in El Paso and McAllen, both in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which host 1,222 colonias combined.

Some colonias do not have adequate water, sewer, or other municipal services like stormwater or garbage collection.

Pumped Storage Proposals
FERC updated its maps of existing and proposed pumped storage hydropower projects, including those with pending preliminary permits.

On the Radar

Senate Hearings
On September 25, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a hearing on four Indian water rights settlements.

On September 26, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will discuss the health impacts of PFAS exposure.

Water Data Tool Webinar
The EPA will host a webinar on October 1 to instruct viewers on how to use a new data tool intended to more easily identify water pollution hot spots.

The Water Quality Indicators tool, which focuses on nutrients and pathogens, compares readings from monitoring stations across the country.

Climate Adaptation Tech
The Defense Department’s technology unit is seeking proposals for climate adaptation technology that the U.S. military can use at bases in areas facing a heightened climate risk.

Those areas include Alaska, California, the Sonoran desert, the Southeast, and Pacific islands. The risks are melting permafrost, rising seas, wildfire, floods, and droughts.

Proposals are due October 3.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton