Report shows lack of water quality monitoring

By Blair Lyons
Contributing Writer

In the aftermath of the Flint, Mich. water crisis, the public remains on high alert about water safety and a report released on April 13, 2016 found that 26 states received failing rates for water quality monitoring. Louisiana was among that group.

Louisiana received a D grade for the overall effectiveness of the state’s monitoring of streams and rivers, according to the study conducted by the Izaak Walton League of America, based in Gaithersburg, Md. The state was graded in categories such as: transparency, volunteer engagement and frequency of water sampling. In transparency, Louisiana earned a B, and even though Louisiana only monitors a small number of its streams and rivers, it does a good job of precisely relaying the problems faced to the public, compared to the other states, according to the Izaak Walton League report.

“Most states are not monitoring enough sites to get an accurate picture of water quality at the local level,” said Scott Kovarovics, the executive director of the IWLA. “The public needs better information and more timely information in order to be self aware,” Kovarovics said.

In its frequency of sampling, Louisiana earned a D. The state, which is often referred to as a “Sportsman’s paradise,” requires the monitoring of its streams and rivers’ for healthy fisheries.

“For the relatively small amounts of waters that the states in the U.S. test, 55 percent didn’t meet the basic standards for designated uses, such as drinking or swimming,” Kovarovics said.

There are two major problems with water quality in this country, Kovarovics said: polluted runoff and lack of public knowledge. Louisiana does better than most states in limiting old data use, he said, compared to an average of 5 to 10 years. The only issue with that for the state is that pollution spills can poison waters in only a matter of days, he said.

The report also noted that only two percent of the rivers and streams nationwide are being effectively monitored and more than half of all states received a D or an F for overall effectiveness of monitoring. Louisiana’s standards for nutrient pollution are weak, even though nutrient pollution is the greatest threat to the health of American waterways, according to the report. Louisiana does make up for these weak standards for nutrient pollution by having strong standards for the pH levels in the water, the report states.

With regards to volunteer engagement, Louisiana received an F. While monitoring water quality is very crucial for public health, it can often be physically demanding, the organization noted. Volunteering at various monitoring stations can help increase public knowledge of what’s happening in the local water system. Volunteer engagement is important, Kovarovics said, because of the weight it has on a state’s overall evaluation. Volunteer engagement counts for 50 percent of the final report grade. It significantly impacted the states overall grade, he said.

The organization hopes that the reports will provide the tools citizens need to become engaged in improving their water safety. Kovarovics said the crisis in Flint, Mich. was not only a result of lack of knowledge at the hand of the local government, but by citizens as well. The organization is urging residents across the country to volunteer at a monitoring station in any state, when needed. For a state like Louisiana, Kovarovics said this is even more important as many of city’s industries from fishing to restaurants depend on safe water qualities.

This article originally published in the April 18, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.