The EPA announced on Thursday that South Carolina will receive over $60Million in Recovery Act funds for water projects, including over $40Million for the S.C.’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low-interest loans for water quality protection projects for wastewater treatment, non-point source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management. In addition, the state will receive $405,500 for its Water Quality Management Planning (WQMP) program whose goal is to improve water quality in lakes, rivers and streams. Some of these funds can awarded to local planning organizations for activities such as monitoring water quality, developing plans to restore polluted waters, and identifying ways to protect healthy waters from becoming polluted. The EPA release says “[s]tates are also encouraged to use these funds for more innovative planning activities, such as developing plans to adapt to climate change, analyzing trends in water availability and use, and creating low-impact development programs.” (EPA news release)

Timely announcement considering another study was just released showing that virtually every watershed in the country has some level of mercury contamination. The U.S. Geological Survey (part of the US Dept of the Interior) released the results of a multi-year study on Wednesday. (See news release on study here.)  Prior studies have addressed mercury contamination in ocean and lake fish, and the latest study found that 27% of fish in rivers and streams exceeded the EPA standards for consumption of two or more servings per week. (See USA Today story here.)

Mercury contamination in watersheds comes mainly from atmospheric mercury, almost all of which is a result of coal-burning in power plants. However, other more easily-identifiable sources include mining operations, landfills, trash incinerators, and chemical and concrete plants.  (See EPA factsheet on mercury here.) The highest concentrations of mercury were found in the “blackwater” rivers and streams of South Carolina and other southern states. Forty-eight states currently have fish consumption advisories, and South Carolina’s map of affected waterways covers virtually the entire state (SC’s Fish Advisory Map).