Rivers running through the U.S. are cleaner than they were 60 years ago. We often hear about environmental decline — and that is a real concern, too. But our society has made significant improvements in how we treat our water bodies. Much of that is thanks to something that often generates more complaints than praise: regulation.
In the 1960s, rivers across the country were suffocating from raw sewage, industrial wastewater and chemical fertilizers dumped by companies and individuals. One poster child of abuse, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, had become such "an unregulated sewer" that its oil-slicked water periodically caught fire.
Through activism, political organizing and bipartisan cooperation in Congress, the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. It set limits on pollution and included strong enforcement mechanisms, as well as funding to support cleanup projects. Today, bald eagles feed on sturgeon from the Cuyahoga, and people enjoy canoeing on it. Rivers, streams and ponds across Illinois are cleaner, too, including the Kishwaukee River.
Despite this progress, some policymakers, in the name of removing red tape, are weakening these regulations.
In the past year, that has included excluding wetlands and headwaters from the act’s jurisdiction, preventing states and tribes from blocking polluting projects, and reducing mandatory groundwater protections.
Pollution limits are not an imposition; they are life-giving. I do not want to slip back into burning rivers, fish kills and bacteria outbreaks. I do not want our children to encounter more contaminated water in their lifetime than I have in mine. In honor of World Water Day, I thank the members of Congress who passed the act and the officials who have enforced it over the years. I hope that work continues.
I'm Emily McKee, and that's my perspective.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
