BlueGreen Alliance Comments in Support of the Clean Water Rule
Clean waters are a powerful economic engine supporting millions of jobs across recreational, manufacturing, and transportation sectors. Protected watersheds that provide clean drinking water and support abundant fish and wildlife are critical to the health of communities and local economies.
Rescinding or otherwise weakening Clean Water Act protections would threaten the health of America’s water bodies and drinking water for millions of Americans. This would come at a time when we are being reminded of the serious implications that an action like this could have on the health of residents nationwide. From Maine to California, we have seen how communities are struggling to provide clean, safe drinking water to their communities. Rolling back or weakening these vital protections would put hundreds of thousands of miles of ecosystems at risk of dangerous pollution and endangers the health of our environment and citizens.
It is common sense that a clean, safe environment—including bodies of water and drinking water—would benefit the health of Americans, and our economy. These waterways help avert floods, recharge groundwater supplies, remove harmful pollution, and provide a safe habitat for fish and wildlife. Streams and wetlands also serve as economic drivers throughout this country because of their roles in fishing, hunting, agriculture, recreation, energy, and manufacturing. We urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers need to put the health of our residents and our economy first and keep the Clean Water Rule in place to protect bodies of water that help drive our local economies and supply our children and families with clean, safe drinking water.