Protecting America's Waters

Vision

1. Increase enforcement of Clean Water Act regulations/violations 50 percent by 2030.
2. Measurably reduce microbiological contamination, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and toxic pollution in the Great Lakes by 25 percent by 2030.
3. Achieve no loss of existing wetlands and restore 1 million acres of wetlands by 2025.
4. Reduce urban stormwater runoff by 25 percent by 2030 through the application of green infrastructure techniques.
5. Engage youth and anglers to become active partners in advancing environmental protection.

Campaign Achievements

• Water Sentinel Lynn Henning won the Goldman Environmental Prize for North America by exposing the dangerous manure disposal practices of concentrated animal feeding lot operations in her local Michigan community.
• The Club's Water Sentinels Program has trained over 12,000 volunteers working in all 50 states, monitoring approximately 48,000 square miles of watersheds that are home to 184 million Americans.
• GreenLaw and the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the Sierra Club and our allies, won a key legal challenge to two state water permits for the proposed 850-megawatt coal-fired Plant Washington power plant in Sandersville, Georgia. A Georgia administrative court ruled that the water withdrawal and water pollution discharge permits issued by Georgia Environmental Protection Division for the proposed power plant are both legally flawed. If built, the facility would withdraw up to 16 million gallons of surface water from the Oconee River daily and discharge wastewater and other effluents back into the river. Chlorine, chromium, and zinc are among the pollutants of concern from the coal plant.
• To reduce algae blooms on the Florida coastline, the Sierra Club played a lead role in the finalization of the first set of numeric nitrogen and phosphorous limits -- those relating to lakes, streams, rivers, and springs -- by the EPA in November 2010.