Keeping pollution out of your water: How the Clean Water Act protects your water
For over 50 years the Clean Water Act has been the first line of defense for your drinking water.
It might seem obvious to state that the Clean Water Act (CWA), established in 1972, is critical to the drinking supply of millions of Americans. After all, this fundamental U.S. law is specifically tasked with reducing water pollution and protecting the nation’s water resources. Unfortunately, the incoming administration is very focused on deregulation, and polluters are working to undermine or outright gut vital clean water safeguards. This means some or all of the Act could be on the chopping block. With this risk in mind, let’s look at five ways the Clean Water Act is so important to protecting your clean water.
1. It sets water quality standards
The Act mandates that states establish water quality standards for all surface waters, defining the desired condition of a water body and the necessary protections to achieve that condition. These permits set scientifically based limits or restrictions on the types and amounts of pollutants, ensuring that waters are safe for activities like swimming, fishing, and most critically, as a source of drinking water.
What does this mean for you?
Strong federal standards are important because everyone in our country should have clean, safe, reliable drinking water – it shouldn’t matter who your governor is or what zip code you live in. It doesn’t matter what political party is in office in your state, wherever you live in a city or the country, there are water quality standards that protect your drinking water. Plus, rivers and streams flow across state boundaries. Without federal safeguards, the actions in a neighboring state could pollute your water, even if your state has good protections.
2. It regulates direct discharges into waterways
The Clean Water Act requires facilities to obtain permits before discharging pollutants directly into bodies of water. These permits set limits on the types and amounts of pollutants that can be released, ensuring that discharges do not harm water quality or public health. This system helps control pollution from sources like factories and wastewater treatment plants.
What does this mean for you?
Your river should not be used as a sewer or dumping ground. Companies need to responsibly dispose of their waste. These safeguards are in place so no one can just dump chemical waste in rivers, which prevents an untold amount of harmful contaminants from getting in your drinking water.
3. It funds wastewater treatment facilities
The Clean Water Act provides financial assistance to states and communities to support the construction and improvement of sewage treatment plants. This funding is crucial in reducing the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater into rivers, lakes, and streams, thereby improving overall water quality.
What does this mean for you?
The cost of wastewater treatment infrastructure is significant, especially in communities with polluted waterways. The financial assistance the Clean Water Act provides helps offset this large cost for communities in need.
4. It calls out nonpoint source pollution
The Clean Water Act recognizes that pollution also comes from indirect sources like agricultural runoff and urban stormwater. Through a variety of regulations and programs, it encourages states to develop and implement plans to manage and reduce this type of pollution, which is a significant contributor to water quality issues nationwide.
What does this mean for you?
Nonpoint pollution (contamination that comes from many sources and can’t be traced back to a single point) can be difficult to identify, but this guidance gives states the ability to attempt to manage these pollution sources, which can cost a lot of money to remove from your drinking water. If left unchecked this type of pollution can fuel toxic algae outbreaks and impact drinking water sources.
5. It protects wetlands and aquatic river ecosystems
The Act includes rules to protect wetlands and other vital small streams from being filled or degraded. These areas are essential for maintaining water quality, providing wildlife habitat, and supporting biodiversity absorbing floodwaters. By regulating activities that could harm these ecosystems, the Clean Water Act helps preserve their ecological integrity.
What does that mean for you?
Wetlands filter pollution and help safeguard our drinking water. They also absorb and store floodwaters, protecting communities. What’s more, they provide vital wildlife habitat. Freshwater species are going extinct at a significant rate, largely due to loss of livable habitat. Protecting wetlands and streams means the critical ecosystems that house so many species can continue to support this important biodiversity.protects the entire web of life.
For over 50 years, the Clean Water Act has played a pivotal role in improving the health of U.S. waters, making them safer for recreation, wildlife, and as sources of drinking water. Eliminating the Clean Water Act or any part of it puts your drinking water at risk and potentially damages ecosystems that support thousands of species. We must support and strengthen these federal clean water safeguards, to ensure everyone in our country has safe, clean, reliable water. This bedrock law must be maintained, and federal protection of our rivers, streams, and wetlands must continue.