Koontz’s suit ignores the public’s strong interest in wetlands protection and the state and federal laws protecting that public interest.  It is critically important for people and wildlife that the Court does not, and that the Supreme Court justices understand and respect the public’s strong interest in wetlands protection and the state and federal laws protecting that public interest.

A white heron with a tiny catch. Flickr photo by Marc Banks.

What the Science Says

The real “friends of the Court” on whose behalf this brief was written are distinguished wetland scientists, academics, and professionals who are former members of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Mitigating Wetland Losses. Their 2001 NRC report, “Compensating for Wetland Losses under the Clean Water Act,” concluded that the widely accepted policy goal of “no net loss” of wetlands was not being achieved. The report recommended policy reforms to ensure that permit conditions reflect a tight nexus between wetland functions lost as the result of permitted activity and wetland functions gained through compensatory mitigation projects.

In our brief, and in our on-going wetlands work, we emphasize:

• Wetlands provide essential ecosystem services and economic value to people, businesses, and communities. These ecosystem services include improving water quality, providing flood control and coastal storm mitigation, supporting fish, shellfish, avian, and other wildlife populations, and sequestering climate-harming carbon.
• The destruction and degradation of wetlands trigger a cumulative loss of wetland functions and services, harming people, communities, and wildlife.
• Consequently, “no net loss” of wetland function is a widely accepted objective of federal and state water law.
• To achieve “no net loss,” wetland impacts must be avoided and minimized to the extent practicable. Any remaining impacts should then be eliminated or offset through compensatory mitigation projects: restoration, enhancement, creation, and/or preservation of other wetlands.
• There must be a tight nexus between wetland functions lost due to permitted activity and wetland functions to be gained through wetland mitigation in order to achieve “no net loss” of wetland functions and services and protect the public’s interest in the water quality, flood protection, and fish and wildlife habitat services that wetlands provide.

Wetland scientist Joy B. Zedler, past chair of the NRC Committee on Mitigating Wetland Losses, sums it up best: “There is no excuse to continue to allow wetland losses, now that we know how effective wetlands are in providing clean water and other essential services.”

The wetland scientists have spoken. Let’s hope the Supreme Court will listen.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the National Wildlife Federation asked you to share your ‘fishable’ photos and your stories about why clean water and fishing matter to you and your family. We had a wonderful response – a testament to the joy of being on the water. Here we celebrate our fishable waters by sharing with you just a few of the highlights.

You can peruse all of the NWF “fish-tales” photos here

Our celebration also spawned a few more in-depth and inspiring fish tales: Montana Sushi Girl, Fishing the Nottoway: A Clean Water Blessing, Hunters and Anglers Favor Restoring Clean Water Act Protections for Wetlands and Streams, and The Clean Water Act: Up Close and Personal.

The River Runs Through It

“Fish On!” shared this classic “River Runs Through It” fish pic capturing the serenity of fishing Alaska’s Russian River…

and his nice Russian River “Sockeye Salmon” catch! He inspires us with his call: “Let’s keep our waters clean and streams and rivers protected with a strong Clean Water Act so my son’s children can also enjoy the bounty our fresh water resources have to offer!”

Bass are Big in the Heartland!

Kristi Pupak, 23, grew up outside of Milwaukee and moved to Jamestown, Kentucky to work at a national fish hatchery. Working to educate others about how natural environments function, fishing has been the one constant in her life that has kept her balanced. “I’m passionate about fish, their habitat, behavior, and how to catch them. I’ve had this obsession all my life.” Fishing in Wisconsin waters for most of her life, and as a recent resident of Kentucky, has taught her a few things about different fishing techniques. A visit to Wisconsin this past summer led to an 18” largemouth bass caught in Washington County.

G-lyn’s neice caught this largemouth bass while fishing by herself at her uncle’s farm in Oklahoma. It was the biggest freshwater fish she had ever caught and she was so excited. She called her dad out to help her take it off the hook and got some great pictures. She would not have been able to have this experience without the clean water necessary for fish to thrive.

Fishing the Waccamaw, River to Bay

Thanks to the Waccamaw Riverkeeper for these Waccamaw fish tales from river to bay. “Fishing from the Bank” by Bill Gobbel shows an angler fishing from the banks of the Waccamaw River near Conway, South Carolina for redbreast to take home to the family. Redbreast is a local favorite.

Downstream, the Waccamaw flows into Winyah Bay near Georgetown, South Carolina, where Jay Preslar captured a mighty big tarpon in his “Tarpon Tales” photo. Tarpon fishing in Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina’s Grand Strand is a fun way to spend an afternoon. Keeping our water clean and healthy supports healthy fish populations, fun recreation and a healthy economy.

Fishable Waters for the Kids!

Fishing is great fun for kids, and we need to “hook ‘em” young so that they learn to love the waters and protect them for generations to come!

“K fishing” shows the West Branch of Perkiomen Creek in southeast PA — the first place this handsome man ever fished! It’s certainly not fit for boating at this point, but there’s no question that it’s an important water worth protecting, just like the even smaller streams that feed it and the nearby wetlands that keep pollution from getting into it.

And, from “Swamp Doc”…you gotta love it: Little Hank immersed in the fishing experience from head to toe!

So, Happy 40^th Birthday, Clean Water Act! Here’s to 40 more years of clean water and great fish tales!

young boy fishes on pristine river (photo taken by tanakawho/Flickr)

As we slog through another scorching summer and head out to swim, paddle, fish and enjoy America’s waterways, the rumblings from Washington indicate that dirtier water may be on the way.

Even though this Congress has made several attacks on clean water, now is still a prime opportunity for candidates to stand up for clean water. What could be more basic to the American people than clean water?

The latest signs from Washington are pointing in the wrong direction

After a year of hard work and thoughtful public and interagency review, the Obama Administration is poised for much-needed action to clarify the waters protected by the 1972 Clean Water Act. But now the White House is dragging its feet in finalizing the “Clean Water Act Guidance,” which, as a June 20 New York Times editorial unfortunately put it, is “another prisoner of election-year politics.”

The House of Representatives has approved a measure (H.R. 5325) to block the U.S. Corps of Engineers from issuing the guidance.

The House of Representatives Transportation Committee has voted out a bill (H.R. 4965) blocking both the Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency from publishing the guidance.

These attacks on the Clean Water Act smell as bad as the Potomac did in 1965—before the Clean Water Act started cleaning up the “Nation’s River.” What’s going on? Big Ag, Big Coal and developer-dominated trade associations want to weaken, not fortify, these rules even though they facilitate business planning.

‘Guidance’ Isn’t a Four Letter Word

“Guidance” may sound like an innocuous word, but in this case, the guidance document has significant implications. It would clarify what waters are protected under the Clean Water Act, a 1972 law credited with cleaning up many bodies of water. The guidance would restore protections for many streams, wetlands and other waters where it is shown that they have a significant nexus—a physical, chemical or biological connection—to traditionally-navigable or interstate water. We are not talking about upland ditches, mud puddles and farm ponds. We are talking about significant rivers, streams, wetlands and similar waters.

EPA’s guidance is needed because a series of court and administrative decisions have created great confusion and uncertainty. The New York Times June 21 editorial explains it succinctly.

The bottom line is that all this industry manipulation of the Congress is taking us back to the old days of dirty water. If the Administration fails to act and Congress’ mischief succeeds, we’ll have dirtier water just when we’re headed to our favorite lakes, rivers and beaches.

Take Action

If you care about clean water and would like future generations to have fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters, take action and call, e-mail, tweet, or Facebook your Congressional Representative today and tell them how important clean water is to you!

Keep America's waters clean for our children's future (Photo by Graham Crumb/Flickr)

But do Americans realize that too many of their own members of Congress are actively working in Washington, D.C., to undermine these successes?

Congressional attacks on the Clean Water Act have been relentless over the last year.

Clean Water Act Under Threat

The Clean Water Act is under attack yet again this week in the form of ill-conceived legislation introduced by Representative John Mica (R-FL) and Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV), HR 4965. The bill is scheduled for markup by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday, June 7th. If enacted, the Mica-Rahall bill would prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing and implementing the much-needed Clean Water Act guidance that would protect the nation’s prized water resources. By blocking agency action, the Mica-Rahall bill would threaten water quality, jeopardize drinking water for 117 million Americans, and accelerate wetland losses that damage hunting, fishing and wildlife watching–pursuits that annually contribute $122 billion in direct expenditures to our nation’s economy.

Summertime and the Livin’ Ain’t Easy

Two sandhill crane chicks just days old forage in a Florida pond with their parent. (Photo by Jim Urbach.)

Currently, millions of acres of wetlands and miles of streams that recharge aquifers help retain floodwaters, provide important fish and wildlife habitat, and provide clean water for iconic systems like the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes are at risk. As these waters are polluted and diminished, their tremendous ecological, economic and public health benefits are lost as well.

Clean water is a public right and fundamental in protecting our livelihoods, wildlife, communities and economy and should never be the subject of partisan wrangling. Every member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee should stand up this week and oppose the Mica-Rahall bill and protect our nation’s water.

Take Action

If you care about clean water and would like future generations to have fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters, take action and call, e-mail, tweet, or Facebook the members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and urge them to VOTE NO ON THE MICA-RAHALL BILL (HR 4965).

Joni Mitchell first sang this lament in 1970 – at the dawn of the environmental movement – and on February 2, 1971, world leaders adopted the Convention of Wetlands in Ramsar, Iran, on the Caspian Sea, to provide the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Now, the environmental spirit of the 70′s lives on and February 2 is officially recognized as World Wetlands Day, providing the perfect time to reflect on the great value of our wetlands.

A Bittersweet Anniversary for the Clean Water Act

Protect river otters and their native wetland habitats. (Photo: Eric Kilby/ekilby Flickr)

In 1972, Congress recognized the importance of protecting wetlands and other “waters of the United States” when it passed the landmark Clean Water Act. For almost 30 years, this key environmental safeguard put America on the path toward much cleaner water and dramatic reductions in wetland loss. This year is the 40^th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, but it will be one without much celebration, unless the administration acts swiftly to restore protections that once helped stem the loss of wetlands and maintain clean water.

The erosion of clean water protections is taking a serious toll on wetlands. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wetland losses are once again on the increase after decades of success protecting these vital ecosystems. These massive wetland losses harm people and wildlife. Wetlands provide flood protection, clean drinking water and provide habitat for wildlife such as waterfowl, trout, frogs and river otters.

Restore Protections for Wetlands

More than 20 million acres of wetlands and about 2 million miles of streams in the continental U.S. are at risk of losing the same Clean Water Act protections that successfully cleaned up the nation’s waters following passage of the Act in 1972.

America needs to renew its commitment to clean water so that we do not slide back into that time almost four decades ago when you could light a river on fire because of the pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers must act soon to finalize a revised Clean Water Act guidance and rule-making to safeguard our waterways and wetlands.

In honor of World Wetlands Day, urge the Administration to restore longstanding Clean Water Act protections for our nation’s wetlands, lakes, and streams before they are gone.

Sea otters in Morro Bay, CA (via Flickr's MikeBaird)

Clean Water Act Faces Challenges

Murky Supreme Court decisions in SWANCC (2001) and RAPANOS (2006) and conflicting agency guidance are eroding the Clean Water Act and putting millions of acres of wetlands and streams at risk for contamination and destruction. Tributaries and wetlands that provide clean water to iconic systems like the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin and Delta are at risk. These at risk waters supply at least some of the drinking water for 117 million Americans. These water bodies provide important fish and wildlife habitats that fuel local economies and support outdoor traditions across the country. As these resources are polluted and diminished, so are the tremendous natural and public health benefits they provide, including food, drinking water and flood protection.

Great Egret (via Flickr's MikeBaird)

We cannot protect our drinking water or restore the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, or Florida’s clear springs and bays unless we commit to strengthen, not weaken, the Clean Water Act. It is time for the Administration to move forward and sustain that legacy by restoring longstanding Clean Water Act protections for the Nation’s wetlands, lakes, and streams.

The Time for Action is Now

New guidance from the Administration will clarify which waters are protected under the Clean Water Act, removing confusion for landowners, conservationists and state and local agencies. Providing a stronger, clearer definition of “Waters of the United States” through new guidance and rulemaking is a policy based on commonsense and common ground between conservation and industry interests.

The Corps and EPA took a positive first step this year by submitting draft guidance for public comment. Their proposal respects the Supreme Court’s rulings and related science. The agencies received over 230,000 comments on the guidance. To protect America’s waters, in keeping with the Clean Water Act, this guidance must be finalized quickly. The agencies must also initiate a vigorous and transparent rulemaking process to clarify and reinforce the safeguards and scope of the Clean Water Act for landowners, developers, conservationists and state and federal agencies.

The Corps and EPA are now prepared to take final action – but time is running out.

Send a message to the Obama Administration, urging them to act now to restore Clean Water Act protections to small streams and wetlands.

Clean water sustains lives and livelihoods and habitat for fish and wildlife. Renewing America’s commitment to a strong and effective Clean Water Act also strengthens our country, our quality of life and our commitment to our children and grandchildren.

Great Egret Fishing, Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, credit: Shawn Beelman via flickr

When Congress passed the 1972 Clean Water Act, it committed “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”  For 30 some years, we made progress; we cleaned up our burning, polluted rivers and protected valuable wetland and stream habitat by safeguarding all “Waters of the United States” – from the babbling brooks of New England to the duck breeding prairie potholes of the Dakotas and the playa lakes of the arid Southwest.

The Clean Water Act was effectively broken when the historic understanding of the broad scope of “Waters of the United States” was called into question by two sharply divided Supreme Court decisions, the SWANCC decision in 2001, and the Rapanos decision in 2006.  These decisions and subsequent agency interpretations have:

• Removed or jeopardized Clean Water Act protections for over 20 million wetland acres and an estimated 59% of the stream miles on which fish and wildlife, and our communities depend.
• Added uncertainty, cost, and delay to the Clean Water Act permitting process, undermining the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act itself.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that over 117 million people – more than one-third of Americans – rely on surface water protection areas fed by waters that may no longer be protected by the Clean Water Act.  Without these protections, we are at-risk of fouling our most precious resource – water – for our children and grandchildren.

Adding insult to injury, Clean Water Act safeguards have been further compromised by loopholes that allow mining companies to dump toxic waste into pristine lakes and streams. Places like Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, one of America’s most spectacular places and home to the world’s largest runs of sockeye salmon, is at risk from a gold and copper mine that would depend on these loopholes to operate.

In the face of almost a decade of Congressional inaction and serious on-going pollution and destruction of America’s waters, it is now up to the Obama Administration – through the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers – to fulfill its Clean Water promises by formal rulemaking to restore and clarify the scope of Clean Water Act protections in a manner that is consistent with the law, the science, and the public’s health and welfare.

As the new decade dawns, let us all renew our commitment to clean water and hold our elected officials accountable to the values we established almost forty years ago. Whether you’re concerned about the water from your drinking tap, Alaska’s salmon runs, North America’s duck populations, or flooding due to wetland draining and filling, your voice can make a difference in ensuring healthy clean water for people and wildlife alike.

Caroline Wick contributed to this post.

Want to do something about it?

Be one of 80,000 people to sign a petition to President Obama, urging the Administration to restore protections for the nation’s wetlands.

We have the opportunity this year to pass legislation to restore long-standing protections for these vulnerable wetlands. Through a series of Supreme Court and agency decisions, America’s wetlands are losing protections they were granted under the 1972 Clean Water Act.

Americans and the American economy rely on wetlands because they:

• Filter water and maintain water quality, which reduces costs for municipalities. Towns and cities are strapped for cash and need all the help they can get. Wetlands keep our water safe—which is crucial to all Americans—at much lower cost than expensive drinking water treatment systems.
• Reduce the risk of flooding. Wetlands slow and store flood waters, helping to keep our communities, homes, and businesses safe from flooding.
• Provide habitat for 5 to 7 million waterfowl. Hunters, boaters, bird aficionados, and everyone in-between appreciate the habitat that wetlands provide for fish, birds, and other wildlife.
• Protect coasts from storms. Wetlands absorb the damaging winds and waters that surge toward the mainland from hurricanes and other storms that hit our coasts.

One more statistic: economists estimate that one acre of wetlands provides $10,000 worth of “ecosystem services,” which include the benefits listed above, and many more. Based on this estimate, if America loses 80,000 wetland acres per year, our communities are losing an estimated $800 million in ecosystem services annually. How many wetland dollars will we waste in 2010?

Written by Caroline Wick and Jan Goldman-Carter. You can follow them on Twitter @NWFCleanH20.

It might be hard to believe, but it’s happening here in America every day.

An extensive New York Times article, released earlier this week, describes what it’s like to live in a community with contaminated water and why violations of America’s Clean Water Act are so common.

When the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, the country saw a dramatic revitalization of the nation’s waters. Now however, the violations are increasing and despite being reported, they go unpunished.

As a result, the report estimates that today one in 10 Americans has been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails a federal health standard.

Part of the challenge lies in the fact that it’s hard to prove that the water specifically caused the diseases that people are experiencing. A further problem is that most pollutants are odorless and tasteless.

Yet regardless of these challenges, the fact still remains that last year 40 percent of the nation’s community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once.

As the article makes clear, stronger enforcement of both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act is crucial to protecting our drinking water and our health, and bolstering Clean Water Act enforcement is an important first step.

You can help ensure that polluters won’t continue getting away with lax enforcement: Tell your senators to support the Clean Water Restoration Act today.

Caroline Wick also contributed to this post.

As summer wanes, you might consider how much clean streams, lakes and beaches mean to you and your loved ones.

Sadly, this moment of reflection is also being forced on many of us: according to a recent Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report, beach closings due to pollution are on the rise, climbing above 20,000 for the last four years in a row.

Across the country, 746 communities in 32 states face water contamination, fish consumption warnings, and beach closings from the release of raw sewage into nearby water bodies.

Without restoring Clean Water Act protections, the releases that occur in smaller streams, creeks, tributaries, and canals—which are vulnerable to Clean Water Act protection loss—may no longer be regulated, polluting life’s vital resource.

America’s waters are degraded, endangered and sorely need protection—in part due to two recent Supreme Court cases that have limited the effectiveness of the historic Clean Water Act. These decisions have left many of America’s streams and waterways at risk once more.

Luckily, the U.S. House of Representatives is getting ready to consider restoring Clean Water Act protections when they return to Washington DC next month. And with everything else on Congress’ plate right now, it wouldn’t be good to let them forget how important our waters are.

While your representative is home for August recess, consider urging him or her to vote to restore critical protection to America’s waters.

Caroline Wick also contributed to this post.