Over a decade ago, because San Francisco Bay was determined to be impaired, all rivers draining into it were automatically declared impaired without first examining any of them, simply in order to obtain funds to finance further study and to discover the sources and causes of the Bay's impairment. No one ever determined that the Napa River was actually a contributor to these problems or that the Napa River water quality met any specific criteria that might justify its designation as "impaired". In fact, no such objective determination could have been made, because no water quality criteria had even been established. Even today, the Regional Water Quality Control Board refuses to state any water quality criteria that must be met in order to remove the Napa River from the "impaired" list. They simply state that they will decide when and if to remove it from the list. The decision to list the Napa River as "impaired" was thus a political decision, not a scientific one, and the decision to de-list it will also be political.
The Napa River was not always as clean as it is today. Decades ago, tanneries operated on the west bank of the river, reportedly dumping chemical waste right into the water. Fortunately, those tanneries no longer exist. Decades ago, one or more petroleum distributors operated on the east bank, and leaks and spills apparently contaminated soils there, and possibly the water. Fortunately those sources of pollution are also gone, and the contaminated soils have been removed. Also decades ago, Napa lacked an erosion control ordinance and land owners were not as aware as they are today of the adverse effects of erosion and sedimentation. Fortunately, environmental consciousness has been raised, and in 1991 Napa County passed its Hillside Ordinance, which prohibits any soil disturbance on slopes over 5% without first submitting an erosion control plan prepared by a registered civil engineer and implementing the erosion control measures depicted on that plan as a condition of being issued a permit. Since passage of the 1991 Hillside Ordinance, landowners, contractors, and grape growers have learned how to prevent soil erosion, and willingly comply with best management practices. As a result, sediment levels in the Napa River have been reduced by 85%.
These are developments of which we can be very proud, and as we see opportunities to make even greater improvements, we should take advantage of them, because clean water and a healthy river benefit all of us. But this progress has been made and will continue to be made in the absence of draconian restrictions on the use and enjoyment of private property.
Today's Napa River is certainly not impaired by any reasonable and objective standard. Mike Napolitano of the Regional Water Quality Control Board says that the Napa River now supports more fish species than any other California river. A Friends Of The Napa River study of benthic macro-invertebrates in the Napa River watershed begun in the spring of 2000 includes a report from its testing laboratory which states that the "invertebrate richness that we encountered in many of your streams was astounding." The "Phase 1 TMDL Study" (also called the "Napa River Basin Limiting Factors Analysis"), which was commissioned by the RWQCB and performed by U. C. Berkeley and Stillwater Sciences, concludes that neither excessive turbidity nor fine sediment infiltration into spawning beds are currently limiting factors on migratory fish populations. Furthermore, the Napa River is featured on the federal government's own Cleanwater.gov website as a major watershed management success story. Does that sound "impaired" to you?
Promoting draconian new restrictions on the use and enjoyment of private property based on the contention that the Napa River is impaired is a cruel and cynical hoax. To prevent this injustice, please vote NO on Measure P.