Protection stripped from streams, wetlands that help provide drinking water for 117 million Americans
If you want to swim in, fish in or drink clean water, you need to protect the smaller streams and wetlands that feed and filter larger rivers, lakes and bays. What happens upstream doesn’t stay upstream.
Unfortunately, this logic couldn’t sway the Trump administration. On Sept. 12, the administration formally revoked the Obama-era Clean Water Rule. The move effectively weakens the Clean Water Act by stripping its protection from streams and wetlands that help supply drinking water for 117 million people.
“By repealing the Clean Water Rule, this administration is opening our iconic waterways to a flood of pollution,” said Bart Johnsen-Harris, clean water advocate for our national network, in a statement to AP News. “The EPA is abdicating its mission to protect our environment and our health.”
Businesses from 30 states, ranging from outfitters to brewers to farmers, have joined our network in supporting the Clean Water Rule.
Photo: America’s streams and wetlands help provide drinking water for 117 million people. Credit: Jeff Gunn via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)