"We all live downstream" is more than just a slogan or a blog title, it is the truth of our drinking and sporting waters in America.

You've seen the reports on "gender-bending" fish in waterways around the country, and pharmaceutical drugs detected in drinking water sources. And the thousands of water pollution or safe drinking water violations that go unpunished each year.

For every "regulated" contaminant there are tens of thousands for which safety standards have yet to be set. Under-funded government agencies are years behind in meeting environmental cleanup, research and health protection targets.

We need to move away from our system of after-the-fact treatment and clean-up, which requires the conclusive proof of harm only us human lab rats can provide, before action is even considered.

Looking upstream means holding companies accountable for their products' "downstream" impacts. Proof of safety should be required before any new chemical enters the marketplace, rather than proof of harm once the contaminant shows up in our water and our bodies.

Our idea to look upstream to protect our waters from toxic pollution has made it to the final round of voting in Change.org's Ideas for Change in America competition...and you helped put it there! Now, please vote and ask your friends to vote to make our idea that every American should have access to clean, safe water free from toxic pollution #1 of the Top 10 Ideas for Change in America!

Take Action: Tell the EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that Florida's waters should be protected!

photo by Justin Henry

On January 15, 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new pollution limits that may finally make it possible to protect Florida's waters. Unfortunately, special interest industry insider's who don't want to pay for the privilege of polluting our water are gearing up in opposition!

We need you to be on the record that Florida needs the highest possible standards to protect all of our waters. Send your comments to the EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection now.

Low and unenforceable water quality standards in Florida have resulted in runoff triggering harmful algae blooms which poison water supplies, kill fish and choke marine life. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus have led to significant water quality problems and declines in wildlife habitat in both our inland and coastal waters.

Minnesotan’s Stories on our Environment and Health

How do new threats to our water and health impact Minnesotan’s lives and communities? In Ripple Effects, Minnesotans share their personal stories on how global problems such as climate change, toxic chemicals and polluted waters are being experienced locally.

Below is a sample of the stories covered in this project. To find additional stories about a particular issue, click on the issue links below.

Vicki Hendricksen: Distrust of Drinking Water

Many Minnesotans pour themselves a glass of water from their kitchen faucet without a second thought. However, more and more people are becoming concerned about the safety of their drinking water.

“I don’t trust our water,” states Vicki Hendricksen, a Woodbury mom of three, “we get all our water for drinking and cooking from our fridge because it’s filtered.” When Vicki moved to Woodbury two years ago to be closer to work, she learned the city’s water was contaminated with PFCs— chemicals used in non-stick pans, stain resistant clothing, and thousands of other products. Even though the level of PFCs in Woodbury’s water is considered to be at safe levels according to the state, Vicki has her doubts. “I wonder if the level they set is really acceptable—will this change years later when they learn more?”

Read the full story and see the video here

Read more stories about

Toxic Chemicals

Global Climate Change

Water Pollution

Pesticide Contamination

To share your story, email us at mncwa@cleanwater.org.

Help make sure all of America's waters are protected. Tell your Representative to restore the Clean Water Act!

For three decades, the Clean Water Act protected America's waters from industrial pollution, oil spills, sewage and outright destruction. Recent interpretations of the law have put drinking water sources for 110 million Americans in jeopardy of losing protections.

Big polluters are talking to our Representatives, claiming the Clean Water Act should not cover numerous wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes that have been historically protected. In just one year more than 500 enforcement cases have been dropped by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department.

We cannot go back to the days of dirty water. Congress must reverse this damage and pass legislation to repair the Clean Water Act this year.

Proposed legislation restates and clarifies the original intent of the Clean Water Act - to protect all waters of the United States. Please take a moment to e-mail your Representatives and urge them to send legislation restoring the Clean Water Act to President Obama's desk this year!

Take Action: Tell your Representatives to restore the Clean Water Act.

Clean Water Restoration Act is key to safeguarding water resources for millions of Americans

Washington, DC - Today, Clean Water Action applauds passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee by a vote of 12 - 7. Clean Water Action also supports the efforts of the committee to meet the needs of agriculture, while going a long way toward restoring the historic protections of the Clean Water Act.

"This vote is a strong rejection of the Bush Administration's "No Protection Policy" that threatened the drinking water sources for at least 110 million people," said Clean Water Action President John DeCock.

Beginning in early 2003, special interests pressured the Bush Administration to put policies in place that confused and delayed permits under the Clean Water Act and limited enforcement of the Act's programs. These policies, coupled with misinterpretations of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, brought enforcement of the Clean Water Act to a virtual halt and left America's water supplies and public health safeguards at risk.

Do you believe in magic? Big Oil and their supporters hope so, as they advocate their latest domestic energy source: oil shale.

Oil shale is neither oil nor shale. This finely-grained sedimentary rock - more properly known as organic marlstone - is infused with kerogen, not oil. Kerogen is a dense blend of ancient algae and pond scum, and is an essential ingredient in oil and natural gas. But transforming kerogen to oil requires millennia, coupled with intense heat and crushing geologic pressure. Otherwise the kerogen remains a relatively energy-poor waxy deposit in sedimentary rocks, such as oil shale.

In 1983, 1987 and 2000, Maryland Governors and their counterparts in Virginia, the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed signed formal agreements that set timelines for cleaning up the Bay.  The most recent agreement called for deadlines that were to be met by 2010.  That deadline will not be met.

The drinking water of between 15 and 20 million Californians is contaminated with perchlorate, a salt that is used as the primary component of solid rocket fuel.

Perchlorate poses a health threat by impacting the thyroid's ability to take up iodide and produce thyroid hormone. Even a short term reduction in thyroid hormone can irreparably impair brain development in fetuses and infants, and impact iodide deficient individuals and those already with thyroid problems.

Despite these serious health impacts, there is no federal drinking water standard for perchlorate thanks to pressure from the White House and polluters such as the Department of Defense.

Take action now: Tell Governor Schwarzenegger that we do not want rocket fuel in our drinking water and that we support lowering the perchlorate public health goal.

Since 1998, Clean Water Action has won a number of legislative and regulatory victories.

2008

Lead Levels in Children's Products Restricted
Clean Water Action and allies in the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut turned back intense opposition from big chemical companies, the toy industry, and dozens of in-state retailers and recently won new legislation to phase out toxic lead and asbestos in children's products.

With 1,350 miles of coastline, the 700 mile wide Lake Okeechobee and 10 million acres of wetlands including the Everglades, Florida is known for its abundance of water. Yet, even with an average of 54 inches of rainfall a year, the sunshine state is still suffering from a severe drought that is only expected to worsen in 2008.

Add to this the 175 gallons of water the average Floridian uses each day -- about 65 more gallons per day than the average American.

It's time we all do our part to protect our most important natural resource. Here's how you and your family can make a real difference in just a few simple steps.

Check out your savings with our water calculator