In 1972, the U.S. government passed The Clean Water Act. Due to the escalating deterioration of America’s water resources, this measure was passed easily. The Act’s primary purpose was to restore the physical, chemical and biological integrity of our country’s waters by reducing toxic pollution and protecting endangered wetlands.

Now, more than 31 years later, The Clean Water Act finds itself under pressure from the oil companies, chemical producers, mining industries, real estate developers and corporate polluters. These powerful commercial groups are trying to eliminate key provisions of The Clean Water Act legislation that bans polluting of countless lakes, streams, marshes, wetlands, ponds and other waters.

Earlier this year, the EPA initiated a plan to reclassify which types of waterways should be protected under the Act. They created a new regulatory category called "Isolated Waters," or water bodies deemed inadequate for commercial navigation. This provision allows the federal government to exclude hundreds of thousand of water bodies and wetlands from receiving federal protection.

In fact, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already been directed to immediately cease upholding any existing protections over these so-called "Isolated Waters," unless the EPA says otherwise. Now, many intra-state water sources that should be protected by The Clean Water Act are already being damaged by pollution, development, dredging and filling.

What Does This Mean to You?

The bottom line is that all of our country’s water sources are inter-connected. The millions of lakes, streams, creeks, rivers, ponds, underground aquifers, marshes and wetlands make up our nation’s water supply. Thus, when one body of water becomes contaminated, it’s only a mater of time until that contamination reaches another body, and another, and another.

Sadly, this is further proof as to why we, as individual citizens, must take responsibility for monitoring the safety of our own water supply. Harmful levels of dangerous contaminants simply cannot be detected by sight, taste or smell. Trace levels of some toxins are so dangerous that they are measured in parts per billion and are detectible only by sophisticated laboratory equipment.

The heavy metal mercury and the cancer-causing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) MTBE, PCBs, Atrazine and Vinyl Chloride are just a few of the many toxins that are found in our water sources nationwide. A Fall 2003 study conducted by the State of New Jersey found that 25 percent of the private wells they had tested were contaminated.

Certain compounds found in ordinary gasoline (like MTBE and Benzene) are so toxic that one single ounce of spilled gas will contaminate close to 10,000 gallons of drinking water.

The only way to be sure of the quality of the water that enters your home, is to test it regularly. If your water is contaminated, detecting and treating the problem is essential in protecting your family’s health. Now that 2004 is here, please resolve to test you family’s water supply each year.