The Clean Water Act

25 Years of Protecting America's Water Resources

WILL-AM 580 Commentary

In 1972 Congress passed a law that said clean, safe water was not the privilege of a few, but the right of every American citizen.  That law was the Clean Water Act.  Rob Moore of Central States Education Center has this commentary.

In 1972 water pollution couldn't be ignored in the US.  A few years earlier the whole nation watched as the Cuyahoga River in Ohio burst into flames.  Boston harbor was little more than a cesspool, and the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, were declared biologically dead.  Outraged at what they saw happening, the American people demanded that their water be cleaned up and protected for future generations.

As a result of the Clean Water Act we have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of pollution reaching Illinois' groundwater and our rivers, lakes, and streams.  Before its passage, industrial polluters used our rivers as public sewers, making them unsuitable for fishing, drinking, or swimming.  Today, much of that pollution has ended and our rivers, and the communities along them, are better off as a result.

Besides cleaning up industrial pollution, the Clean Water Act required communities to do a better job handling stormwater and sewage discharges.  Prior to 1972, a great deal of water pollution in Illinois came from cities and towns, which did little to treat their wastes before dumping them into our rivers.

One can look at the Illinois River to see how the Clean Water Act has benefitted our state.  For years polluters in Chicago sent toxic chemicals and sewage into the Illinois.  In 1972 most of the Illinois River above Peoria was in poor condition.  Fish caught there were considered unsafe for human consumption.  Today the condition of the Upper Illinois is much improved.  The flow of pollution from Chicago and other towns on the Illinois has decreased and the river is slowly recovering.

Because of the Clean Water Act canoeing, boating, and swimming are again popular on Lake Michigan, and the state's rivers and streams.  Hunting and fishing have been steadily rising on Illinois' waterways as a result of the increasing populations of sport fish, waterfowl, and other game.  Activities like hiking, camping, and birding are also on the rise along Illinois' waterways.

But we remain far short of the original goal of making the nation's waters fishable and swimmable, chiefly because we haven't addressed all sources of water pollution and waterway degradation.  We have yet to deal with pollution caused by land-use activities, what's known as polluted run-off or non-point source pollution.  When rainwater and melting snow run off the land it carries pollution in the form of sediments, animal wastes, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.  These materials find their way into our rivers and our groundwater eventually.

Because of this polluted runoff rivers and reservoirs are filling in with silt; fish and aquatic life are threatened; downstream drinking water supplies are contaminated; and entire watersheds are at risk.

One crucial missing piece to the water quality puzzle is wetlands.  Over 85% of Illinois' wetlands have been destroyed and our watersheds have paid the price.  Floods are more frequent and more destructive.  Clean groundwater resources are diminishing.  Wildlife populations, while recovering, are a shadow of what they were 50 years ago.  This happened because wetlands which absorbed the floods, recharged the groundwater, and filtered out pollutants no longer exist.

The Clean Water Act is up for reauthorization soon and many in Congress want to weaken it. In 1995, Congress nearly gutted the Clean Water Act with a bill written by the polluters' lobbyists.  Fortunately, Congress learned that the American people care more about having clean water than saving the profit margins of corporate campaign donors.

What we should do is think about what the Clean Water Act was intended to do: "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters."  Restore and maintain.  The law was not intended to only clean up our polluted waters, but also protect and preserve our clean waters, and we're not doing an adequate job of that in Illinois.  While we're working to clean up the state's worst rivers we're allowing our highest quality waterways to back slide.  Instead of watching the slow degradation of our rivers and streams we need a policy of anti-degradation.

So when reauthorization of the Clean Water Act comes up this year, think about what the Act has done for this country, this state, and your community.  The Great Lakes have been recovering, rivers and streams are running cleaner and clearer than at any point in the last 25 years, wildlife is returning to areas previously considered "dead", and most communities don't worry if their drinking water is safe.

Strengthening the Clean Water Act is essential to protecting current and future generations' water.  It ensures that all states, all communities, and all citizens are entitled to clean water.  Without the Clean Water Act clean water is a privilege.  With the Clean Water Act it is a fundamental right...of everyone.

I'm Rob Moore of Central States Education Center.