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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2003
Contact:
Don Ostler, Utah Division of Water Quality Director, (801) 538-6146
(Salt Lake City, Utah) – Utah enjoys cleaner water today due in large part to the efforts of individuals who have served as members of the Utah Water Quality Board since its first meeting 50 years ago. The Board today celebrates 50 years of water quality achievements and honors those who have voluntarily served Utah citizens to provide an abundance of clean, healthy water for drinking, fishing, recreating, irrigating and other uses.
Following passage of Utah’s first water quality protection act, the Utah Water Quality Board first met on June 2, 1953 in the State Capitol Building. They began immediately to classify all streams and lakes according to beneficial uses and to establish water quality standards to protect them. They also established requirements for treatment of waste discharges from municipalities and industries.
These actions set in motion a partnership with communities all over the state to fund modern wastewater treatment plants to protect public health and the environment. Their legacy is our quality of life.
“The Utah Water Quality Board has accomplished a tremendous amount of work and has done so with the understanding that there is a fundamental connection between water quality and life quality,” said Don Ostler, director of the DEQ Division of Water Quality.
For example, when the Board was first formed 50 years ago, there was practically no sewage treatment provided by communities. Raw sewage was discharged directly into our streams, rivers and lakes, polluting the environment and causing a health hazard. Now modern wastewater treatment plants that meet public health protection and water quality standards serve all communities in Utah. Utah was one of the first states to achieve national secondary treatment standards.
To achieve this milestone, the Board has worked with communities to provide nearly a billion dollars in funding for construction of wastewater treatment plants.
Likewise, when the Board was formed in 1953, industries and communities discharged into Utah’s waters with very few regulatory requirements for removing pollution.
Today, under the Board’s authority, there are more than 1,200 discharge permits that regulate the amount and type of pollutants that industries and communities can release into the streams, rivers and lakes in compliance with water quality standards.
The steady trend toward water quality improvement can be seen in the percent of waters now meeting water quality standards. Eighteen years ago, only 60 percent of streams, rivers and lakes met standards. Today, approximately 75 percent of those waters meet standards.
“That is a tremendous improvement when you consider rapid population growth and increase in industrial growth, all of which create more pollution,” Ostler said. “Utah is doing a good job at improving and maintaining water quality, but there’s still more work to be done.”
One piece of work facing the Utah Water Quality Board is the development of water quality restoration plans for the 20 percent of waters in the state still impaired due to pollution. The Board also faces the challenge of controlling non-point source pollution, or polluted runoff, that flows directly into waters from storms and irrigation runoff.
“Over the years, the Board has demonstrated leadership and resiliency to make change happen,” Ostler said. “As we look to the future, we see a continuation of our resolve to preserve water quality and maintain public health and our way of life.”
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