Congress must reinstate federal protections for all streams and wetlands

Serpent Lake wetlands, NM | Jim O'Donnel

In 2023, the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision removed federal clean water protections for millions of miles of streams and wetlands across the nation. This "gutting" of the Clean Water Act shifted protections for these critical waterways to the individual states, where there is little consistency with protections if there are any enforceable ones at all.

This loss of protections should be a call to action for clean water everywhere. Clean drinking water is imperative to our health, no one can argue with this fact. The reality is:

Water is a basic need. Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves clean drinking water.
Much of our drinking water comes from rivers and streams.
We need to strengthen the Clean Water Act to make sure it protects all streams and wetlands from pollution that could flow into the sources of our drinking water.

Please join us in asking Congress to recognize the value all streams and wetlands have in the process of providing us with clean water. These waterways deserve federal protections, and Congress must reinstate these key protections to the Clean Water Act.

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Dear {contact_data~salutation}{contact_data~lastName},

In 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA was catastrophic for clean water protections across the country. By removing Clean Water Act safeguards, the court's decision leaves millions of miles of small streams and wetlands unprotected. Since all water is connected, leaving these areas without protection risks toxic pollution flowing into the rivers that are our sources of drinking water. The facts speak for themselves:

- Water is a basic need. Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves clean drinking water.
- The May 2023 ruling stripped federal protections for half the nation’s wetlands and up to 4 million miles of streams – the drinking water sources for 40 million Americans.
- Because streams and wetlands are the building blocks of rivers, if they aren’t healthy, our rivers aren't healthy, and drinking water is threatened. 
    
I am writing to ask that you reinstate federal protections for all streams and wetlands. Whether this is by re-enabling the protections stripped from the Clean Water Act or by enacting additional laws, we cannot leave the health of our rivers to the whim of state legislatures.

Thank you for your attention, and for standing up for the health of rivers and clean water.

Sincerely,

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