Conservation Federation of Missouri!

The restoration of protection and regulatory enforcement for streams and wetlands under the federal Clean Water Act was the focus of a daylong "Waters for Wildlife" summit Thursday at Bass Pro Shops.

Some 30 representatives of state and national conservation organizations met to discuss developing grass-roots support for legislation that would restore key provisions stripped from the Clean Water Act by a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Three-fourths of Missouri streams that are considered "intermittent flowing" as well as "thousands of acres" of wetlands either fall outside of or are in danger of falling beyond provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1972, said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetlands and water resources counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. She said the act was "severely affected" by Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006.

"The big step that has to happen is for Congress to pass an amendment to the Clean Water Act that clearly provides protection for all streams," Goldman-Carter said. Among other things, the existing act requires a permit to discharge treated and untreated water into any waterway or wetland area. The high court’s decisions changed the definition of regulated waterways and wetlands, she said.

Glenn Chambers, president of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, said the state’s rich natural history is the direct result of its water resources.

"If you’re a Missourian, it’s important," he said, noting that Missouri has 127,000 acres of wetlands and a half-million farm ponds. Add Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, waterways in the Ozarks as well as the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and Missouri has a lot of water.

"We’re water-oriented," Chambers said. "This is important to us. We’ve just got to get organized and united."

The economic impact of water quality also is substantial, said Goldman-Carter. She cited a Missouri Department of Conservation statistic that indicates 15,000 Missouri jobs are directly related to its fisheries programs.

The sponge-like function of wetlands in reducing flood risk and filtering contaminants also is important, said NWF spokesman Jim Murphy. He said clean water is "at risk" for 2.5 million Missourians.

"The average citizen needs to have a greater awareness of how this affects them," said Scott Yaich of Ducks Unlimited. He said it’s especially important to get the agriculture industry on board with the conservation groups, adding that agriculture groups are being misinformed about the effect of restoring protections under the original Clean Water Act. Yaich said the goal is to return regulation to what it was before 2001, not to expand federal jurisdiction.

"We just want to go back to the level of protection we had," Murphy said, charging that water quality standards were jeopardized by "esoteric, ideological nitpicks" of the Bush administration. Both Murphy and Goldman-Carter said they are optimistic the Obama administration will create more favorable conditions for restoring the legislation.

Goldman-Carter said the Clean Water Restoration Act was presented during the last session of Congress but was sidetracked by the national election and other issues.

Meanwhile, existing regulations and enforcement efforts are caught up in "nonsensical" layers of bureaucracy, she said.

As a result of Thursday’s summit, representatives from Missouri conservation organizations next month are going to a Teaming With Wildlife event in Washington, D.C., where they will carry their "Waters for Wildlife" message to Missouri’s congressional delegation.

Reach Jodie Jackson at (573) 815-1713 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .