A House hearing on Lower Colorado River water quality, May 27 in Tucson, explored what committee member Representative Raul Grijalva described in his opening remarks as an attempt to “help spur the attention that we need to focus on this issue before a crisis does it for us.”

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power to explore what federal measures can help preserve and prevent the degradation of river water quality held the hearing. Much of the testimony agreed on the seriousness of a variety of pollution threats to the river — the source of drinking water for 30 million residents of the Southwest, and a scattershot series of Congressional and Executive interventions were proposed.

It is not yet known how to economically technologically remove pharmaceuticals that have passed through the human body as part of wastewater treatment from the growing population along the river. Uncontrolled septic tanks aggravate the problem. Pharmaceuticals are endocrine disrupting compounds that have caused probable mutations and birth defects in fish and animals. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has detected the compounds in Lake Havasu.

Lake Havasu City Mayor Mark Nexsen appeared before the committee Wednesday.

In addition to funding for sewage infrastructure, Nexsen called for legislation with adequate appropriations to research how to best eliminate pharmaceuticals from effluent, eliminate the quagga mussel, and to expedite the clean up of Moab, Utah, uranium tailings and hexavalent chromium from the old PG&E Topock natural gas compressor north of Lake Havasu City.

Metropolitan Water District of California Assistant General Manager Roger Patterson called for an end to the Department of the Interior approving exploration of uranium near the Grand Canyon. He also asked the EPA to intervene to ensure that the cleanup of perchlorate, a human hormonal disrupter, from old rocket fuel at the Tronox plant near Henderson, Nev., is ensured since Tronox is probably entering bankruptcy. Perchlorate levels in the river have been reduced but continue to show up in potable water in Southern California, however below drinking water standards.

Congressionally, Patterson suggested approval of appropriations to expedite cleanup of hexavalent chromium and of proposed DOI funding to reduce salinity in the river, as well as funding to create a protective berm around, and accelerated cleanup of Moab uranium tailings.

University of Arizona climate expert Jonathan Overpeck suggested that a mix of over allocation of water, drought that will reduce flow, and climate change and more heat would aggravate existing pollution problems. More sediment from floods, more concentration of pollutants as cities grow, and a need to recycle what rainfall and sewage they would have would also negatively impact river water quality.

He proposed a “science and services program” to “avoid future water conflicts among states, Native Nations and Mexico” that would address local stakeholder concerns and integrate greenhouse gas control as part of their mandate.

Overpeck said that a model exists created by the National Oceans and Aeronautics Administration and that it should include the entire Colorado River basin, funded by Congress for 10 years at $20 million per year.

EPA Region 9 Water Division Director Alexis Strauss testified on how the appropriations process works to create funding for wastewater and water systems under the Clean Water Act, stating that Lake Havasu City had received $207.5 million in loans between 2003 and 2008, and another $46.05 million low-interest loan in 2009 for wastewater with an increase expected under President Obama’s proposed budget for 2010 for its Wastewater System Expansion project.

After the hearing, Strauss added “It will not be easy for river communities to push for legislation for federal grants to offset wastewater costs if you look at all the competition from small communities who need the same in other Congressional districts”

Strauss added that, “from EPA’s perspective I don’t think we want increased authority to address lower Colorado water quality. We could use some means to coordinate all these different players doing monitoring and research in the same geographic region. Big players like Cal Met and Southern Nevada authorities have staff and facilities that EPA or state environmental authorities lack that could be coordinating with everyone concerned so we can monitor more efficiently. Much of this type of coordination, if we could establish it, could be electronic and therefore economical. This could speed up our understanding the behavior of pollution in the Colorado, as well as how to address complex issues such as how to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater without expending a lot of energy at a time when we are trying to reduce it.”

Second Congressional District Republican Rep. Trent Franks commented, “The water issues in the Colorado River and Mohave County region are significant. I have consistently supported budget requests for Lake Havasu City and Bullhead City to assist them in complying with federal mandates and to ensure we continue to address pollution issues and preserve a clean Colorado River.”