Water, Water, Everywhere

It is true that we receive a lot of things, including our lives, from water. However, our relationship with it is even more complex and precious.

Our reliance on water is one of the most important ways our actions related to the environment come back to us. We are largely water, so whatever we put into our water eventually becomes part of us. For these reasons, I want to acknowledge that tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.

After nearly a half of a century, even the most important legislation can be taken for granted, but water is so crucial to our lives, we can't afford to forget the value of the CWA. The act was passed just three years after the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught on fire because of the pollution it contained. Since that time, we have made improvements in our management of water pollution, but we have also created new threats, and many waterways continue to struggle.

Remembering our connection to water is a key step in maintaining high water-quality standards and pollution regulation.