PA Environment Digest Blog: Ohio River Basin Alliance Releases Restoration And Protection Plan Urging Action To Address Threats To Ohio River Basin; Public Comments Invited

On June 5, the Ohio River Basin Alliance, the National Wildlife Federation, and the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute released the Ohio River Basin Restoration and Protection Plan for public review.

The Plan is a comprehensive report that recognizes the numerous environmental improvements in recent decades while calling attention to existing and emerging threats that command a basin-wide, collaborative effort to ensure drinking water, healthy ecosystems, and vibrant economies throughout the region.

The report draws from the expertise of a diverse technical committee, including local, state, and regional agencies, academic institutions, industry, and non-governmental organizations, along with input from our Tribal partners and residents in the region who participated in community input sessions.

[The Allegheny and Monongahela river watersheds in Western Pennsylvania are the headwaters of the Ohio River. Those rivers come together at The Point in Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River.]

“This report highlights the significance of the Ohio River Basin to our region’s economy and quality of life,” said Chris Lorentz, Ph.D., Chair of the Ohio River Basin Alliance and professor of biological sciences at Thomas More University. “It provides a blueprint to restore our waterways, invest in community-driven solutions, and bring national attention to the challenges and opportunities of the region.”

“There is an urgent need to address threats impacting people and wildlife in the Ohio River basin,” said Jordan Lubetkin, senior director, Ohio River restoration, for the National Wildlife Federation. “Implementing the recommendations in this report would be a gamechanger for the 30 million people and the wildlife that depend on these waters for their drinking water, health, jobs, and quality of life. We have manageable solutions, and it’s time to use them. Delay will only make the problems worse and more expensive the longer we wait.”

“Everyone deserves access to clean, safe and affordable water, yet too many communities continue to have to worry about their children’s and seniors’ health due to point and nonpoint source impacts of their ground water and recreational waterways,” said Ted Smith, Ph.D., director of the Center for Healthy Air, Water and Soil, a part of UofL’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute. “We see this as an important and needed step to make communities healthier, safer, and more prosperous. Combined with other efforts, restoration investments can ultimately contribute to better health outcomes for people in the region.”

“We all have a role to play in the restoration and protection of the natural resources that make this region such a special place,” said Harry Stone, past chair of the Ohio River Basin Alliance. “Through collaboration and trust we are putting together a roadmap to improve our environment, our health, and our local economies. By continuing to work together, we can secure a healthier environment and a better future for all of the people who call this region home.”

Background

The draft report, “Healthy Waters, Healthy Communities, Healthy Economies: A Collaborative Plan to Restore and Protect the Waters of the Ohio River Basin,” seeks to address several threats to local waters including inadequate water infrastructure, toxic pollution, nonpoint source pollution, mining issues, hydrologic modification, loss of habitat, invasive species, and extreme weather and flooding.

Despite progress over the last 50 years to restore the region’s waters by local, state, Tribal and federal partners, serious threats remain: 69 percent of assessed stream miles and 64 percent of lakes in the region do not meet water quality standards due to a variety of pollutants.

The report provides a case statement for increased collaboration with, and engagement by, the federal government to accelerate progress in addressing water quality concerns.

The report recommends:

-- Increasing federal investment in proven restoration actions;

-- Increasing monitoring and research to guide future actions;

-- Increasing coordination across the region to manage ecosystems holistically; and,

-- Increasing technical assistance to ensure local communities benefit from restoration actions.

Authors of the report aspire to secure long-term federal investments to help reverse longstanding environmental problems, akin to annual federal investments that are working to restore some of the nation’s iconic waters, including the Chesapeake Bay, Everglades, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, Long Island Sound and others.

The plan supports solutions for cleaning up pollution, reducing runoff, restoring wildlife habitat, modernizing water infrastructure, mitigating the impacts of floods and the prevention of non-native, invasive species.

Locally driven clean water priorities anchor the plan to ensure local workforce development and to help communities most impacted by pollution and environmental harm.

Low-income communities suffer disproportionate pollution and environmental harm, according to data from the U.S. EPA.

In the Ohio River Basin, approximately 50 percent of people in the region live in counties considered economically distressed or at risk.

Residents who live in distressed or at-risk communities have shorter life expectancies, higher incidences of heart disease, diabetes, and mental distress; and more drug-related deaths than people who reside in more prosperous communities.

The draft report was based on the work of a technical work group consisting of people from academia, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, utilities, businesses and other areas of expertise; community listening sessions in towns and cities; and outreach to Tribal Nations, which is still ongoing.

June 12 Webinar Introducing The Plan

Join the Ohio River Basin Alliance to learn more about the collaborative Ohio River Basin and Protection report on Thursday, June 12 at Noon Eastern.

In this webinar, hear from ORBA and NWF leadership to learn more about the report, ask questions, and offer feedback.

Click Here to register.

Public Meetings

Public engagement sessions have been scheduled for--

-- June 25: Pittsburgh: The Spartan Community Center of Hazelwood: 134 East Elizabeth St., Pittsburgh from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Questions should be directed to Jon Burgess at jkburgess@pitt.edu and Annie Quinn at annie@monwaterproject.org.

-- June 25: Louisville, Kentucky

-- June 26: Huntington, West Virginia

-- June 27: Covington Kentucky

-- June 17: Dayton, Ohio

Click Here to RSVP for any of the meetings.

Submitting Comments

The plan will be open for public comment through July 18 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 5 PM Central.

Click Here to submit comments.

More Information

-- Copy of Ohio River Basin Restoration and Protection Plan

-- Restoration Report Fact Sheet

-- Restoration Report Press Conference Recording [Facebook]