How the Clean Water Act Helps Communities

Healthy communities depend on clean water and there are many ways in which the Clean Water Act has helped communities thrive. Here are two examples of how Clean Water Act provisions helped create stronger communities:

Clean Water Act Principle: Get Cleaner, Not Dirtier

Both the Clean Water Act's anti-degradation and anti-backsliding requirements are based on the premise that our waters should be getting cleaner, not dirtier.  Anti-backsliding refers to the requirement that when a discharge permit is renewed its limits can stay the same or get stronger, but they cannot get weaker. Similarly, in the context of clean water standards, anti-degradation offers broad protection. There are three tiers of anti-degradation that provide varying levels of protection, but the bottom line is that no activity that would impair existing uses of a waterway can be allowed and clean water cannot be further degraded. 

CASE STUDY:
Helping Communities: Anti-degradation Protects Drinking Water Source for Atlanta

A collection of stakeholders successfully used anti-degradation requirements to fight a permit that would have allowed the Gwinnett County wastewater treatment facility to increase daily sewage discharges to 40 million gallons. The increased discharge allowance would have degraded the high-quality Lake Lanier, which is a primary source of drinking water for Atlanta and a popular recreational destination.

The less stringent rule was unnecessary, as the treatment plant had the technology to produce cleaner effluent. Using Georgia’s anti-degradation rules (adopted under the Clean Water Act) that require permittees to use the highest level of technology available, the groups filed suit to deny the permit. A judge ruled in their favor, denying the permit and forcing the county to work with the state environmental agency to develop a new permit that protects clean water. Learn more

Clean Water Act Principle: Citizens Can Enforce the Law

If agencies fail to respond appropriately when permits are violated, individuals or public interest groups may sue violators directly to achieve compliance. Under the Clean Water Act, pollutant discharges from pipes, ditches, sewers, or other point sources to waters are illegal without a permit. Discharge permits (under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) impose effluent limits based on the type of discharge and existing quality of the waterway.  Government agencies are supposed to monitor and enforce these limits, but when they don’t citizens can step up to enforce clean water requirements.

CASE STUDY:
Helping Communities: River Groups Use Law to Force Sewage Clean-up

Until recently, San Diego had some of the worst sewage pollution in the country. The city averaged one sewage spill per day between 1996 and 2001. Yet local officials did little to maintain or upgrade the aging infrastructure.

In 2001, the San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the city to stop the continuous pollution of coastal waters from sewage. That same year the city approved a sewer rate increase to fund the replacement of old pipelines.  In 2005, after years of lawsuits, the environmental groups and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement with the city of San Diego that secured $187 million for infrastructure improvements and enhanced inspection and maintenance. By 2005 the number of sewage spills was down 84 percent from 2000 levels, making local beaches safer for swimming and providing for a stronger local economy.