Why We Need An Integrated National Water Policy

America has made great progress in recent decades, protecting the quality and quantity of our water supplies and watersheds. The Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Endangered Species Act have largely accomplished their intended goals. Agencies charged with ensuring safe drinking water and protecting water quality through wastewater and stormwater management have made great strides in moving America toward a more sustainable future.

Today, with a population of more than 300 million, an aging industrial base, a resource-intensive farming system and a network of sprawling cities, work remains and it’s hard work. Elevating the health of our cities and watersheds requires a new approach. The thinking of the past needs to change. No longer can we afford to look at drinking water, wastewater and stormwater challenges from a segregated perspective. No longer can we afford to look at water issues outside the context of sustainable cities and climate change.

To secure a sustainable future for future generations, we need a more comprehensive approach, and an integrated, holistic national water policy.

As our cities, factories and farms become increasingly sophisticated, larger and interconnected, and as their impact on watershed and climate grows more complex, the need for an integrated holistic national water policy has never been more urgent.

The future quality and availability of America’s waters depends on it. That’s why the Clean Water America Alliance is dedicated to working with individuals, organizations and entities throughout the country – both public and private – to forge a new vision for a sustainable future.

We Must Act Now By Addressing The Following Key Clean Water Issues:

Water Sustainability

As we look out to the horizon we can see a variety of daunting challenges, including population growth, a growing demand but an unstable supply of water, the rising cost of material and expertise as the global marketplace grows ever-more competitive, and deteriorating infrastructure requiring significant new investment. There are innovative solutions to these and other water quality/supply challenges, and the Alliance is poised to be the premiere organization to identify such solutions and guarantee the broadest possible awareness of them.

» Reports

Watershed Planning & Management

Air pollution, agricultural contaminants and runoff from construction sites are among the many threats to our national watershed treasures, like the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and Puget Sound. To accomplish the next generation of water quality gains, there must be a paradigm shift to thinking on a watershed basis. The Alliance is committed to creating an integrated approach, beginning with a collective dialogue focused on this vision for the future.

Participants in the CWAA’s 2009 National Dialogue discussed the importance of and challenges related to the incorporation of watershed planning into an integrated national water policy. The following is an excerpt from the resulting report summarizing the Dialogue’s discussions.

One of the biggest challenges is that political boundaries and watersheds usually don’t coincide. In many cases, federal involvement is the only way to make enforceable agreements among jurisdictions (for example, the Chesapeake Bay). Some local areas are doing watershed planning well, but we need to do better on a national level. Those areas that are successful usually have clearly defined the responsibilities of the various parties. It is not simply planning that will serve as the solution; we also need integrated monitoring, permitting and enforcement on a watershed basis.

Climate Change

Climate change is as much about water as it is about temperature and air quality. Precipitation patterns are becoming increasingly volatile, causing wet areas to become wetter and dry areas to become even drier. As a result, water supply and wastewater management are becoming more complex and intertwined. As we look to the future, the most sustainable solutions will be both progressive and innovative. The Alliance is working hard to address these cutting-edge issues by working together with all stakeholders.

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Green Cities / Infrastructure

No longer an environmental amenity, green infrastructure is now commonly perceived as an essential requirement for the sustainability of our industrial and urban locales. Significant evidence suggests that application of green infrastructure in our urban municipal centers may provide solutions to combined sewer overflows, stormwater discharges and other wet weather water quality problems. The Alliance has established the Green Infrastructure Task Force, a network of green infrastructure practitioners, urban water, wastewater and/or stormwater utilities, other city agencies and urban sustainability offices currently implementing green infrastructure. The Task Force is working together to identify solutions to challenges affecting the implementation of green infrastructure at the local level. Learn more about the Green Infrastructure Task Force by clicking [HERE].

» Reports

Energy/Water Nexus

The linkage between energy and water is vital to an effective, integrated water policy, and not only because of the impact of climate change. The production and use of energy, including biofuels, consumes a lot of water, while the distribution, treatment and use of water also consumes a significant amount of energy. The Alliance will be pivotal as we examine this nexus — and the tradeoffs between our choices of energy supplies and water use — and find innovative ways to maximize future sustainability through the efficient use of each.

Participants in the CWAA’s 2009 National Dialogue discussed the importance of the energy/water nexus and how it relates to the development of an integrated national water policy. The following is an excerpt from the resulting report summarizing the Dialogue’s discussions.

Disparities in supplies of energy and water will demonstrate the interdependencies among regions. Furthermore, as much as our water laws often don’t work well together, they hardly mesh at all with energy laws and regulations. If we want to reduce the stovepipe mentality, we must address it in the context of energy and water, too.
A reliable, affordable, and sustainable water supply will be critical to attract and maintain alternate energy sources and ensure continued economic viability and job growth in this sector.