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• Board Meeting Date: 7/11/2007
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

The letter reads in part, "Water is a precious and scarce natural resource. The prolonged
drought over large portions of the United States, particularly the West, has had a range
of adverse effects: record wildfires, crop failure, threats to endangered wildlife and
municipal water shortages. Recognizing this, it is increasingly critical that we provide
the resources necessary to gather the data required to make sound decisions related to
our present and future water use.... One such invaluable data source that federal and
state agencies have come to rely on is the Landsat Program, a series of satellite missions
jointly managed by NASA and the US Geological Survey.... The thermal infrared (TIR)
data provided by Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 is used to calculate evapotranspiration and
water use on a field-by-field basis, as well as to monitor related land uses and changes
over large areas. However, these satellites are failing, having served well beyond their
designed useful life.... NASA is scheduled to deploy Landsat 8, a "free-flyer" spacecraft,
in 2011. The President's FY 2008 request...does not include funding for a thermal
infrared sensOf.... We respectfully request that the Appropriations Committee add $35
million...and direct NASA to immediately take the necessary steps to ensure a thermal
sensor is included on Landsat 8 to continue providing this vital information for current
and future natural resources management."

Good Samaritan Settlement Agreements: On June 6, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EP A) announced that it is issuing new policies that will reduce legal
uncertainties for public and private entities, or Good Samaritans, willing to volunteer to
help clean up and reclaim hardrock mine sites that are degrading water quality
throughout the western United States.

Under the new set of policies and model tools, EP A and volunteer parties will now be
able to enter into "Good Samaritan Settlement Agreements," which will provide key
legal protections to Good Samaritans as non-liable parties, including a federal covenant
not to sue under the Superfund law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). They will also provide protection from
third-party "contribution" suits.

There are an estimated 500,000 orphan mines in the United States, most of which are
former hard rock mines located in the West. At many orphan mine sites and processing
areas, disturbed rock and waste piles contain high levels of sulfides and heavy metals.
These piles, when exposed to air and water, undergo physical and chemical reactions
that create acid drainage. As this drainage runs through mineral-rich rock, it often picks
up other metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and zinc. When this runoff
enters local streams and rivers, it can severely degrade water quality and damage or
destroy insect, plant and animal life. Thousands of stream miles and watersheds are

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