According to the EPA, the Clean Water Act's requirements prevent more than 900 million pounds of sewage and a billion pounds of toxic chemicals from entering our waterways every year. Dirty Water is Everybody's Problem Half our lakes and one third of America's rivers and are still unfit for swimming or fishing. More than 2,000 beaches were closed in 1994 to protect the public from harmful bacteria and other pollutants found in the water, EPA figures show. Advisories or bans have been issued for more than 1,500 water bodies to protect the public from eating chemically contaminated fish. We must halt this harmful contamination.
Citizens have a right to know whether their water is safe for drinking, fishing or swimming.
We need better alerts and access to information about our water quality, including fishing advisories. We need a national system that requires consistent standards, monitoring and posting of dangerous waters. America's wetlands are being destroyed at the rate of 117,000 acres per year, says a report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Nationally, we've lost half of the wetlands that were present when settlers arrived on the continent. We must preserve what's left of this precious resource.