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Congratulations on 39 years of Clean Water
Congratulations on 39
years of Clean Water
By Emily Feinberg,
Waterkeeper Intern
When I’m 39, there are specific goals I hope to have accomplished. I’d like to be happy, perhaps with a family, and be making enough money to afford yoga classes and Whole Foods. From the moment of conception, the Clean Water Act (CWA) set its standards much higher. While the CWA may not be married with adorable twins and a summer house in the Hamptons, it has spent 39 years protecting and supporting our country’s watersheds, and helping us hold accountable those who pollute.
Since the enactment of CWA, there has been a doubling in the number of waterways safe for fishing and swimming. There has been a reduction in industrial discharges by billions of pounds per year, and more than a doubling in the number of Americans served by adequate sewage treatment. Overall wetland areas have increased at a rate of 32,000 acres per year, and soil erosion from cropland has been reduced by more than a third.
I have found 151 US Supreme Court cases using the CWA, which of course excludes cases that were settled out of court or tried in a different court. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the CWA is that anyone may use it; only a fraction of these Supreme Court cases were brought by government bodies, the rest were NGO’s and citizen action groups. This is why CWA is so important to Waterkeepers. We have an inherent right to protect our water, for it belongs to the people, not to industries.
Today, on the 39th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, we ask you to consider the implications of proposed rollbacks by the “Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act.” This bill would strip the EPA of its authority to oversee state water quality standards, and to take action when states fail to measure up. This bill is less about states’ rights than allowing industries, farmers, and municipalities to pollute at will. It would be a crying shame for CWA not to make it to its 40th birthday next year, as it has so much help to give. You can take action here by asking your Senators to stand up for swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters.