Protecting Texas Waterways: Clean Rivers, Lakes and Streams

What's New

On April 21st, U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced America's Commitment to Clean Water Act (H.R. 5088), or ACCWA, to restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act. The bill would reinstate protections for the 11.5 million people in Texas who get a portion of their drinking water from intermittent, ephemeral or headwater streams. Last June, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved similar legislation, known as the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787).

Brief Summary

Texas waterways are an important part of our natural heritage, providing us with drinking water and places to swim and fish.

Over the last 30 years, we have made significant strides in cleaning up our water, but we still have important work to do. Today, many of our great waterways from the Brazos River to the Gulf of Mexico to the Colorado River are struggling from too much pollution.

But instead of curbing this pollution, the Bush administration spent much of the last eight years creating loopholes that enabled it. First, Bush officials exempted various types of pollution – from pesticide spraying to mountaintop mining – from standard clean water protections. Then these officials used court decisions to issue a “no protection” policy, which put thousands of wetlands, headwaters, and streams beyond the reach of the Clean Water Act.

Now Environment Texas is working with Congress and the Obama administration to reverse these rollbacks – so that all of our waterways are protected from all types of pollution under the Clean Water Act.