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rization, the debate has focused on the costs of regu- lations on business and the federal costs of helping states pay for non point source pollution controls. EPA had hoped to use the reauthorization process to bolster the effort to curb polluted runoff, but so tar that hasn't happened. THE AUTHORITIES The amalgam of federal and state laws relies on cooperation among government agencies tor implementation. While the CWA grants authority to EPA, most of the implementation is conducted by individual states. EPA monitors the state efforts, provides funding and guidance, and steps in when it believes the federal law is not being met. In California, the authority rests with the State Board, which also is charged under California's Porter- Cologne with its own authority to set statewide water policies and protect water quality. State law also SACRAMENTO RIVER The state's largest river is a case study in water quality problems. The Sacramento River water- shed gathers runoff from the Coast Range, south- ern Cascades and northern Sierra Nevada, and the broad alluvial valley that has formed between the three ranges, before flowing into the largest estuary on the West Coast. Along mosf of that way, the river has been physically transformed, The river and most of its tributaries have been dammed, most of the channel has been constrained by levees, most of the marshes have been diked and drained, most of the streamside forests have been cut. The physical changes have degraded water quality: the dams and denuded banks result in periodically warmer flows. The levees acceler- ate the flow and the erosion, and sediment is captured by dams or held in the main channel. In addition, the river carries away waste from old mines, expansive farms and growing cities. Until recently, Iron Mountain Mine near Redding was the largest polluter of ifs kind in the nation, feed- ing tons of copper, zinc and other metals into the river. Most of the copper, zinc and cadmium in the river come from Iron Mountain Mine and other inactive mines. 16 created nine regional water quality control boards. The boundaries of the regional boards are defined by the major watersheds 01 the state: the North Coast, San Francisco Bay, the Central Coast, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Lahontan Region of the eastern Sierra Nevada, the Colorado River basin, Santa Ana and San Diego. The regional boards set regional water quality standards, issue and enforce the terms of permits, monitor pollution control efforts and implement nonpoint source pollution programs. In the case of polluted runoff, much of fhe action is required of local planning agencies that authorize development of private land and provide public infrastructure. Federal and state agencies that control public lands or regulate resource management on private land - such as the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection - also are obligated to control polluted runoff. As with all public policies, ultimate authority rests with the public. In the spring of 1994, a Times Mirror Poll found 76 percent of Americans do not believe water pollution laws have gone far enough. Farm runoff from agricultural drains has tested toxic to fish and the smaller creatures tI1ey feed on. Winter rains wash pesticides from orchards and summer irrigation runoff muddies the river with sedi- ment and organic matter. While cities and industrial users have treatment works and pollution penmits, carelessness has led to permit violations in the Sac- ramento metropolitan area. The rapidly expanding cities also are creating more runoff - adding petro- leum products, litter, garden pestiCides and other household chemicals to tI1e mix. The river has experienced some successes. Dioxin discharged from a paper mill near Redding and responsible for contaminating a prized trout fishery has been greatly reduced, At Shasta Dam, a temperature control device is being installed that will help keep downstream water cool for fish during key spawning periods. After being pres- sured by downstream water users, state officials have required rice farmers to reduce herbicide discharges to the river, and a federal clean up plan at Iron Mountain Mine is being implemented. But more peopte are working to yield a more diversified harvest from the valley - in agricul- ture and industry - leading to efforts to devise a watershed management strategy to protect the river from increasing development pressures.