Plans call for developing as many as 18 of these watershed plans annually over the next several years. But many of these plans rely on the voluntary cooperation of local governments and landowners. Courts have supported the EPA's ability to regulate discharge from sewer pipes, but the agency's authority to control farming practices and residential development is untested. Environmentalists support the watershed approach. In fact, the shift toward controlling water pollution throughout a watershed is being made partly because environmental groups have sued states to force action on polluted runoff.
Many activists say the state needs stronger laws.
Only by protecting all the waterways, including small headwater streams, will Ohio be able to fully reach attainment of Clean Water Act goals of fishable and swimmable waters throughout the state, Skelding said. This is a good time to revive the idea, he said, because Gov. Bob Taft promised during his election campaign last year to create a multimillion-dollar bond fund to preserve green space and river corridors.