A really bad Bill could destroy Tennessee's heritage of clean water:

From: Michael Campbell
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:19 PM
To: Tommy Kilby
Subject: Don't exclude "limited resource waters" from "waters" of the
state

Mar 20, 2008

Senator Tommy Kilby
6th Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243

Dear Senator Kilby,

As a concerned Tennessee resident who believes the state has an important role to play in protecting biodiversity, I urge you to oppose House Bill 4185/Senate Bill 4119.
The bill proposes to eliminate protections from "limited resource
waters" -- ephemeral bodies of water that flow primarily in response to
rainfall, for which groundwater is not a significantsource, and that do not support a significant indigenous population ofnative fish or aquatic life. However, limited resource waters are vitaland sensitive headwater habitats which are home to or are upstream ofsome of the richest biodiversity in the world. If these waters losestate protection, these streams could be polluted or filled in, which would threaten aquatic life and community drinking water supplies.

Pollution dumped into unregulated dry creekbeds can wash into our rivers just as easily as pollution dumped into perennial streams, posing a real public health threat. Tennessee's waters are special. In North America, no region has a greater diversity of aquatic life than the Southeast Rivers and
Streams: more than 250 species of crayfish, nearly 300 species of
mussels, and over half of all freshwater fish species in the United
States are found in the waters of the Southeast. Many native species are
found in just one stream or watershed here.

I urge you to do all you can to support Tennessee's waters and oppose
House Bill 4185/Senate Bill 4119.

Sincerely,

Mr. Michael Campbell
507 Northern Ave
Signal Mountain, TN 37377-2858

And the Response:

Dear Mr. Campbell,

I sincerely appreciate your thoughts on the "limited resource waters"
bill. I am opposed to SB4119 as the bill is presently written.

I am glad that there are people who care enough about our state and our
environment to take time out of their busy lives to help me make the
best choices for the people. It is only with the help of caring people
like you that our system of government can function at its best. I will
definitely take your ideas and opinions into consideration when dealing
with this issue and I hope you will continue to share with me how you
feel about future legislative decisions. Thank you for taking the time
to contribute.

Sincerely,

Tommy Kilby
State Senator
District 12
10A Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0212
Office (615) 741-1449
Fax (615) 253-0237