Updated at 5:50 p.m. with quote by Sara Parker Pauley; updated at 3:41 p.m. with quote by Lorin Crandall.
The Missouri Clean Water Commission has approved a sweeping regulatory overhaul of the state's water quality standards.
In a vote held on Wednesday morning, the governor-appointed seven-person panel unanimously approved revised regulations that greatly expand the number of protected water bodies in the state. An additional 2,100 lakes and 90,000 miles of rivers and streams will gain protection under the law, including specific limits on bacteria and other pollutants.
The director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Sara Parker Pauley said the changes should significantly improve the state's water quality.
"You're looking at potential implications for drinking water, if that particular water supply is used for drinking water," Parker Pauley said. "It certainly will have benefit for aquatic life living in those bodies of water, and we'll have protections from a public health standpoint as well."
But the Missouri Coalition for the Environment's Lorin Crandall said the measure's passage is bitter-sweet because it does not go far enough.
"You know, we're not satisfied that this rule fulfills the promises of the Clean Water Act," Crandall said. "But we are really glad to see Missouri moving forward and attempting to bring our program up to par with what's going on with the rest of the country, [because] we've been way behind for way too long."
Thirteen years in the making, the new rule aims to bring Missouri's water quality standards into compliance with the federal law.
The latest version of the new water quality standards can be found here.
The Commission also approved new effluent regulations to limit E. coli contamination and update water monitoring procedures.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources expects the new rules to go into effect at the end of February.
Follow Sarah Skiöld-Hanlin on Twitter: @Skihan
Follow Véronique LaCapra on Twitter: @KWMUScience
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