Opinion

All waterways are interconnected

Posted September 22, 2019 1:00 am

Commenting on Mr. Filar's 9/18 letter regarding the Trump administration's "mastery of air, land and water" by relaxing "burdensome regulations regarding farmers and developers," I seriously question the basis for his opinion.

As a licensed civil/environmental engineer with a master's degree and 47 years' experience, I suggest he review the hydrologic (water) cycle to see how virtually all water bodies, including isolated ponds, are closely interconnected to this cycle. I also suggest he study the serious pollution issues related to the Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic "dead" zone caused primarily by Midwestern agricultural runoff.

Then let's see if he still agrees with relaxing the Clean Water standards. There is an old expression that environmental engineers use: "We all live downstream."

"Isolated ponds" and "intermittent streams" are, in fact, not hydraulically isolated after all and polluting them can and does affect other waters of the United States.

Andrew P. Ftacek Jr.

Wauconda

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