Restoring protection
to all waters

When Congress passed, and President Nixon signed, the Clean Water Act in 1972, they set lofty goals: make all U.S. waters swimmable and fishable by 1983 and eliminate the discharge of pollutants into waterways by 1986. Unfortunately, it’s 2008 and we’re not even close. But if a growing number of members of the current Congress have their way, we just might get America’s waters back on the right course.

Over the past five years, the Bush administration and the U.S. Supreme Court have chipped away at protections for our waterways, especially those designed to protect smaller streams and wetlands.

Promising to restore protections to tens of thousands of miles of small streams and millions of acres of wetlands nationwide, over 170 members of Congress have endorsed the Clean Water Restoration Act.

“Failing to protect the small streams, ponds and wetlands that feed our rivers is simply foolhardy,” said Environment America Clean Water Advocate Christy Leavitt. “Whatever goes into the stream ends up in the river. Pave over the wetlands and you lose the wetlands’ ability to filter pollution before it reaches larger waterways.”

Troubled Waters
On Oct. 11, the  35th anniversary of the Clean Water Act’s passage, we released our “Troubled Waters” report, exposing facilities that exceeded their Clean Water Act permits during 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available). Our aim was to cast a spotlight on the troubled state of waterways, call for better enforcement of the existing permits, and build support to strengthen the law.

Rep. James Oberstar (Minn.), who played a key role in passing the original Act, joined us at the Washington, D.C., release of the report. Rep. Oberstar is the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is responsible for sending the bill to the full House of Representatives.

“We are at a turning point in history, and our responsibility to this generation and our legacy to future generations is to advance the cause of protecting the most precious of natural resources—clean water,” said Chairman Oberstar.

The report was released in 29 states and featured in local and national media outlets across the country, including a front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle, an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, and a feature article in the Des Moines Register. 

We’re urging members of Congress to sponsor or support the restoration bill. To find out how you can help, visit our Web site. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.