Editorial: Putah Creek

UC Davis is known for its advancements in environmental science.

Now, it’s faced with cleaning up its own mess.

The university has been fined $78,000 by the Central Valley Water Board for 34 violations of polluting Putah Creek since 2000. UC Davis spokesperson Andy Fell said the university would not contest the fines.

While UC Davis interim director of utilities David Phillips said the violations are minor, their impact on the university’s image may not be.

Being found guilty of these violations makes the university look like “sanctimonious hypocrites,” said Bill Casey, UC Davis professor of hydrology and soil science, in an e-mail interview.

“UCD has been smugly claiming a special voice in environmental matter across the state,” he said, “but treats Putah Creek as a dumping ground.“

Putah Creek covers an area of 70 miles, spanning from Cobb Mountain at the Sonoma-Lake County border to the community of El Macero just outside Davis city limits. It serves as a one of the region’s prominent fishing and boating destinations.

It isn’t UC Davis‘ dump. The fact the university has treated it as such – filling it with excess levels of aluminum, chlorine, copper, cyanide, coliform, salinity, sediment and acidity – isn’t helping the campus‘ sustainability plans, either.

Almost as troubling as the violations is the fact their causes cannot be accounted for.

Fell said the chemicals found in the creek may be the product of campus labs disposing waste incorrectly, but added “there is no explanation” for what resulted in the pollution in other cases.

This fact is troubling given the university’s reputation among environmental circles – especially when the campus invested $20 million in its wastewater treatment plan last year.

UC Davis helped write the book on environmental science. Maybe it could take a look inside.