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What River Are You Drinking?
March 25, 2011 | Clean Water, Greening Water Infrastructure, Small Streams & Wetlands
Stacey Detwiler
Conservation Associate
Fifteen out of twenty people don't know where their water comes from – do you?
If you're like most people, you probably have no idea where your drinking water comes from. Or at least you don't according to a poll released recently by the Nature Conservancy which found that over 75 percent of Americans don't know where the water they drink comes from.
If you live anywhere around Washington, DC, chances are you get your drinking water from the Potomac River. From Portland? Then it's likely the Bull Run River. From Akron? Then it's probably the Cuyahoga River. Yep, that's the one that caught on fire in 1969 and sparked the creation of the Clean Water Act. In fact, rivers are estimated to provide 64 percent of our drinking water supplies across the country.
Step in The Right Direction, But…
We've made huge improvements in protecting our clean water, but it's worth remembering that our clean drinking water doesn't just come mysteriously that way from the tap. Recent attacks in Congress on clean water safeguards would have negative impacts on the Potomac River, which provides drinking water to 4.3 million people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
In one of the latest attacks on clean water, Representative Gibbs from Ohio introduced a bill to weaken the Clean Water Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to exempt discharges of pesticides from the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. In other words, Representative Gibbs' bill would remove a critical tool for keeping pesticides out of our rivers, lakes, and streams–the very same rivers, lakes, and streams that help to supply your drinking water.
Celebrate Your River!
So celebrate World Water Day this week by taking a few seconds to look up where your drinking water comes from and take action to protect these critical waters.
Our rivers might not catch fire anymore, but the fight for clean water isn't over yet.
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Comments List
Submitted by swimmerbob at: April 11, 2012
akron gets its water from gauga and portage county reservoirs. not the same water that flows 100 miles downstream thru cleveland. end of story.
Submitted by JM at: March 26, 2011
Yes, we do get our water from the Potomac, here in Washington, DC? How can anyone who loves our country seek measures that would adversely affect the health of our citizenry, and by extension the strength of our nation?
Submitted by Stacey at: March 25, 2011
Thanks for pointing that out! Akron does get its water from the Cuyahoga River and we've revised the post accordingly. There are public suppliers within the Cuyahoga Watershed including the City of Cleveland, but you're correct that Cleveland doesn't get its water from there per se. See this link for details: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/cuyahoga/DrinkingWtr.pdf
Submitted by Kevin at: March 25, 2011
Uh, guys? Great post, but here in Cleveland, we get our water from a little body known as Lake Erie. Akron, on the other hand, does get its water from the Cuyahoga.