drinking water

“Generally, they’re getting worse.” That was the verdict on Frederick County’s local streams at last night’s public hearing on the County’s Financial Assurance Plan, a document that should outline how the County government will pay for stormwater restoration projects mandated by the Chesapeake Bay Plan.

Local policy push aims to clean up Monocacy and Potomac rivers.

When Baltimore City’s sewer system was first installed in 1909, it was considered cutting edge technology. Now, after over a century of neglect, it is undersized and outdated, and has led to raw sewage flowing into the city’s waterways and flooding residents’ basements.

Right now, over 90 percent of New Jersey's waters do not meet one or more water quality standards. These standards are set by New Jersey under the law and the state is obligated to meet them.

So, one would think that our state government would be doing all they can to improve the quality of our water by ensuring the standards are enforced. Nope. They are, in fact, doing the complete opposite.

Agriculture was a $54 billion industry in California in 2014, and the numbers have continued to grow each year despite the drought.  But that profit comes at a cost and one of those costs is water quality in our farming communities. 

Earlier this month, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Department of Health released an advisory to avoid contact with Scott Pond in Lincoln, Rhode Island due to the presence of blue-green algae in the water.

In the wake of the Flint water crisis, a lot of media attention has focused on the country’s aging water infrastructure, nationally. Here in California, many people do not have access to clean drinking water.

By Jenny Vickers, NJ Communications Manager, Clean Water Action. Follow on Twitter @CleanWaterNJ