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Campaign Overview Water quality | Wetlands | Factory farms | Take action In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act -- a landmark piece of environmental legislation that set a goal of eliminating pollution from all of our nation's lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. The Clean Water Act has been responsible for significant improvements in the quality of our lakes and rivers, and the EPA estimates that the law keeps more than 900 million pounds of sewage and a billion pounds of toxic chemicals out of our waterways every year. Unfortunately, America is still a long way from achieving the goal of cleaning up ALL of the nation's waterways. In fact, the majority of Americans live within 10 miles of polluted water -- water that is unsafe for drinking, fishing or swimming. The goals of the Clean Water Act are still achievable -- all that's missing is the will of our leaders to achieve them. The Sierra Club believes that instead weakening clean water protections, the Bush administration should recommit to finishing the job and to strengthen enforcement of the Clean Water Act. To that end, the Sierra Club's Clean Water Campaign focuses on three areas: water quality, wetlands and factory farms. Water Quality Clean water for some Americans is not good enough. Every community deserves clean water. Our nation needs to: Fund and enforce the Clean Water Act to stop illegal pollution and make polluters pay to clean up their messes. Reduce polluted runoff and assure protection for coastal waters. Provide better information about our water quality, and a national system that requires consistent standards, monitoring and posting of dangerous waters. Contrary to the Clean Water Act’s goal of clean waters for everyone, the Bush administration has issued a guidance removing Clean Water Act protection from many small streams, ponds, and wetlands. The guidance leaves these waters vulnerable to pollution, filling and degradation. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the guidance alone places at risk 20% of the United States' remaining wetlands, some 20 million acres. The EPA is also considering rule changes to further reduce the scope of waters it will protect -- which means many more small streams and ponds could be abandoned in the future. Click here to see how you can make a difference. Wetlands Preservation Wetlands serve several irreplaceable functions: Wetlands help protect us from flooding. Wetlands act like sponges, soaking up rain and runoff, then slowly releasing the water back into streams, lakes and groundwater. Wetlands provide nurseries for fish and shellfish, and homes for wildlife. Wetlands are places to canoe, fish, hunt and watch wildlife. According to the EPA, an estimated 50 million people spend approximately $10 billion each year observing and photographing wetlands-dependent birds. Another 50 million Americans spend $24 billion a year on sport-fishing for striped bass, flounder, trout, and other species. Despite the unique value of wetlands, a 1997 survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that roughly 58,500 acres of wetlands are lost annually. Click here to see how you can make a difference. Factory Farms America's drinking water, rivers, and lakes are at risk from giant, corporate-owned factory farms. Animal feeding operations produce staggering amounts of waste -- about 500 million tons per year. Too often, this waste leaks into our rivers and streams, contaminating our drinking water and spreading disease. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this hog, chicken, and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has announced rules that would allow animal factories to continue dumping millions of gallons of liquefied manure into open pits, called lagoons, and then spray the liquid over fields. Typically the manure runs off the fields into nearby streams or seeps into underground water supplies, polluting water with viruses, bacteria, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and excessive nutrients. The rule exempts this contaminated runoff from Clean Water Act standards by calling it "agricultural stormwater." Click here to see how you can make a difference. For More Information Contact your local Sierra Club chapter or: The National Clean Water Campaign at clean.water@sierraclub.org Photo: Stream, White Mountains, NH. Photo courtesy Philip Greenspun. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club