The Work Ahead

The goal is clear – clean water. To achieve it we need get our local communities, counties and states the power and enforcement tools they need to stop the pollution of their waters. In the short term there are three specific actions that must be accomplished to achieve clean water.
 
1.  We must get the Environmental Protection Agency to step up and begin enforcing the law, and requiring that the individual states do the same.  Pollution affecting our local waters can be significantly reduced by enforcement of the law.  And we want the EPA to gain some additional power, from Congress, to make sure everyone is playing by the same rules and not taking advantage of loopholes or lack of will.

2.  We must ensure that Congress writes new policy and funding priorities in transportation that get results in protecting our waters.  Making the transition to a clean energy future, increasing our transportation options, and improving road design are crucial choices for clean water.

3.  Choosing clean water means reducing the impact of global warming pollutants. Changes are occurring in migration and habitat patterns, new incidents of flooding, drought, sea level change, and storms are being observed nearly everywhere. Nobody knows exactly how local communities will need to adapt to such changes, but it is prudent to be prepared and make sure we have the ability to take appropriate action.