LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 1980s 



Although major advances were made during the 1970s, emphasis in three areas is 

 needed in the next few years to capitalize on the foundation established during the 

 decade of the 1970s. First, continued development of physical-chemical simulation 

 techniques should be coupled with accelerated research efforts to establish criteria 

 for interpreting the results of these simulations for a wider variety of target species. 

 Conceptual models must be developed before additional elements can be factored 

 into the instream assessments of water planning. These elements should include 

 freshwater inflow to estuaries, sediment transport and channel change, water 

 requirements of riparian vegetation and wetlands, and the response of aquatic 

 organisms to rapid fluctuations resulting from hydropeaking and pumpback storage. 



Lastly, focused attention is needed in the legal-institutional arena. Although 

 several states have established a vehicle for providing legal protection under state 

 law, in other states there has been virtually no progress. The Clean Water Act, as 

 amended (PL9 1-500 and PL95-2 1 7) requires that the waters of the Nation be fishable 

 and swimmable by 1983. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has promul- 

 gated standards through the assistance of the state water quality agencies. For the 

 most part, these standards are based on what it takes to kill fish or conversely keep 

 them alive (lethal doses). To meet the intent of the law, we need to do more. We need 

 to provide sufficient habitat. Numerous studies including the Second National Water 

 Assessment have called for an integration of water quality and water quantity 

 segments of the water planning community. A major advance toward this integration 

 would be to make depth and velocity water quality parameters for which state 

 quantity standards could be set. In early 1980, Region 8 of the U.S. Environmental 

 Protection Agency produced a draft white paper describing several major environ- 

 mental threats which require attention. Among these was the promulgation of water 

 quantity standards. 



Several 208 planning agencies, operating under existing legislation, are now 

 attempting to implement water quantity standards through their 208 water quality 

 plan. The Clean Water Act provides that states may use federal funds available 

 through Section 106 to research and develop such standards. The Act requires that 

 every three years the states update and upgrade the water quality standards. 

 Coupling quantity to quality standards provides an orderly process through which 

 the eventual goal of fishable and swimmable water could be realized. 



By accelerated attention to the life history requirements of the fishes of concern, 

 e.g., management objectives or target species, coupled with the promulgation of 

 guidelines for establishing water quantity standards, the decade of the 1980s could 

 see continued momentum in efforts to protect instream values across the Nation. 



REFERENCES 



1. U.S. Water Resources Council. 1968. The first national water assessment. 

 Washington, D.C. 



2. Stalnaker, C. B.,and J. L. Arnette. 1976. Methodologies for the determination 

 of stream resource flow requirements: an assessment. FWS/OBS-76/03. 

 Office of Biological Services, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI. Washington, 

 D.C. 199 pp. 



3. Orsborn, J. F., and C. H. AUman, eds. 1976. Instream flow needs. Proc. Spec. 

 Conf. Boise, Idaho. (2 Volumes) American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Md. 

 1157 pp. 



4. Wesche, T. A., and P. A. Rechard. 1980. Instream flow research needs and 

 fisheries methodology. Eisenhower Consortium Bull. No. 8. Rocky Mountain 

 Forest and Range Experiment Station. Fort Collins, Colo. 



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