A Supreme Court decision that stripped protections from America's wetlands will have reverberating impacts on rivers that supply drinking water all over the U.S., according to a new report.
The rivers of New Mexico are among the waterways that will be affected most by the May 2023 Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, which rolled back decades of federal safeguards under the Clean Water Act for about half of the nation's wetlands and up to four million miles of streams that supply drinking water for up to four million people, according to the report, titled "America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2024.".
MORE: More than half of water from Colorado River used for agriculture industry, report finds
The Supreme Court decision cut protections for streams that only run during the rainy season or for periods of the year after snowmelt, which is typical for the arid environment in the Southwest.
"When you look at the most endangered rivers this year, most of them are a result of that," Tom Kiernan, president and CEO of environmental nonprofit American Rivers, told ABC News about the Supreme Court decision. "Those stretches of small streams that lead into the rivers or wetlands that support these rivers are no longer protected."
About 96% of New Mexico's streams are now vulnerable to pollution due to the lack of protections, with potential harmful downstream impacts in other states in the Southwest along the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan and Pecos rivers, according to the report.
MORE: North America experienced an unprecedented 'hot drought' in the last century, new research shows In Santa Fe, the drinking water depends on strong protections for small streams that feed into the Santa Fe River and the Rio Grande, Anna Hansen, Santa Fe County Commissioner for District 2, said in a statement provided to ABC News.
"The Sackett decision has stripped away those protections and our residents are now at risk," Hansen said.
In Connecticut and Massachusetts, the hydroelectric power dam on the Farmington River is increasingly causing algal blooms to grow in the water, Kiernan said, which "are very much harming the health of that river and the ability for that river to be a source of drinking water."
MORE: Supreme Court cuts EPA's Clean Water Act protection for wetlands
Climate change is also a concern, as researchers are monitoring increased water temperatures in rivers throughout the country, he said.
"The combination of climate change stressing our rivers and the Supreme Court deciding to stop the protections for half of our wetlands -- that creates a combination that profoundly threatens our rivers," Kiernan said.
Although the majority of the endangered rivers on this year's list are not broadly known, they are "critically important" for drinking water, wildlife habitat, commerce and recreation, Kiernan said.
MORE: States dependent on Colorado River required to conserve unprecedented amount of water in deal
They are especially crucial in arid states in the Southwest, he said, adding that New Mexico needs to pass legislation to strengthen state laws and provide permanent funding for conservation programs.
"We have depended on this water for hundreds of years," Vicente Fernandez, community leader in New Mexico and mayordomo, or manager, of a centuries-old network of irrigation ditches called acequias, said in a statement. "This is our tradition, this is our culture. We don’t want to be a people that loses its traditions because we haven’t taken the right steps to protect our rivers."
The report is a call to action for Americans to protect their rivers, Kiernan said.
MORE: Here's what will happen if Colorado River system doesn't recover from 'historic drought'
These are America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2024, according to the report:
1. Rivers of New Mexico: Threatened by loss of federal clean water protections.
2. Big Sunflower and Yazoo Rivers in Mississippi: Yazoo Pumps project threatens wetlands.
3. Duck River in Tennessee: Excessive water use threatens water levels.
4. Santa Cruz River in Arizona, Mexico: Water scarcity and climate change threaten water levels.
5. Little Pee Dee River in North Carolina, South Carolina: Harmful development and highway construction are negatively impacting the river.
6. Farmington River in Connecticut, Massachusetts: Hydroelectric power dam creating increasing algal blooms.
7. Trinity River in California: Outdated water management impacting the river.
8. Kobuk River in Alaska: Road construction, mining impacting the river.
9. Tijuana River in California, Mexico: Pollution affecting water supplies.
10. Blackwater River in West Virginia: Highway development impacting river.
FAQs
The Clean Water Act helps to protect rivers, streams, and wetlands through two permitting programs. One requires permits for any point source—for example, discharges from a factory or wastewater treatment plant—discharging into “waters of the United States,” thereby limiting pollutants added to lakes and streams.
Does the Clean Water Act protect streams? ›
The Clean Water Act helps to protect rivers, streams, and wetlands through two permitting programs. One requires permits for any point source—for example, discharges from a factory or wastewater treatment plant—discharging into “waters of the United States,” thereby limiting pollutants added to lakes and streams.
Did the Supreme Court take away the Clean Water Act? ›
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped federal oversight from millions of acres of wetlands long protected under the Clean Water Act. Now, erecting safeguards to ensure those waters are not polluted, drained or filled in by developers falls to the states.
What did the Clean Water Act do for wetlands? ›
One of the primary tools we have as a nation to protect and restore wetlands is the Clean Water Act. Wetlands covered by the act's pollution control, prevention, and cleanup programs may not be filled in without a prior environmental review and a permit that is designed to minimize (and often mitigate) any damage.
What is the big legal battle over clean water laws in the United States court system? ›
The case, Sackett v. EPA, is backed by polluters who want to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to safeguard the streams and wetlands that are critical to our drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat and flood protection.
Are streams clean water? ›
Never drink water from a natural source that you haven't purified, even if the water looks clean. Water in a stream, river or lake may look clean, but it can still be filled with bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can result in waterborne diseases, such as cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis.
What does the Supreme Court ruling on wetlands mean? ›
The Supreme Court took a hammer to the Clean Water Act with its decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stripping federal protections from countless wetlands and leaving these critical ecosystems exposed to devastating pollution and other damage from agriculture and other industries.
Who broke the Clean Water Act? ›
In 2017, before he was a lawmaker, Republican California representative John Duarte was fined $1.1 million by federal regulators for disturbing wetlands and streams on a five-hundred-acre plot of land owned by his business, Duarte Nursery.
Did Congress pass the Safe Drinking Water Act? ›
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was passed by Congress in 1974, with amendments added in 1986 and 1996, to protect our drinking water.
What did the Clean Water Act make illegal? ›
The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained: EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls discharges. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches.
By: Alex Brown - June 16, 2023 11:27 am
Last month, a U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down federal protections for wetlands covering tens of millions of acres across the country, leaving no regulation of those areas in nearly half the states.
Is a creek a wetland? ›
Wetlands include salt and freshwater marshes, wet-meadows, swamps, ponds, vernal pools, bogs among other areas many of which are identified as bordering vegetated wetlands on site plans. Protected water bodies include streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, creeks, estuaries, the ocean. ...
How do wetlands clean water naturally? ›
When it reaches wetlands and their forested buffers, the water is absorbed and the purification process begins. These planted areas slow the flow of water, trap sediments, and allow plants to use the excess nutrients, resulting in cleaner water. This water then enters our groundwater systems, streams, and rivers.
Do Americans have a right to clean water? ›
The human right to water is recognized in international law and some U.S. state and local laws. Although the U.S. federal government does not recognize this right, some provisions of federal laws promote particular aspects of the right to water.
What states are fighting over water rights? ›
Maryland and Virginia fight over the Potomac; South Carolina squares off against North Carolina over the Pee Dee River, and against Georgia over the Savannah River; and in what is perhaps the most contentious of these battles, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia clash over the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint ...
What was the Supreme Court decision on water rights? ›
The Court's decision in Arizona v. Navajo Nation held that the United States did not have an affirmative treaty or trust obligation to identify and account for Navajo Nation water rights in the Colorado River.
What does the Clean Water Act protect? ›
The CWA aims to prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution in the nation's water in order to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters", as described in CWA section 101(a).
Which of the following does the Clean Water Act not protect? ›
The Clean Water Act does not directly address groundwater contamination. Groundwater protection provisions are included in the Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Superfund act.
What waters does the Clean Water Act apply to? ›
Clean Water Act programs, including Water Quality Standards, TMDLs, and sections 311, 402, and 404 address “navigable waters,” defined in the statute as “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”
Does the Clean Water Act protect aquatic species? ›
Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect all "waters of the United States.” Fifty years later, the law is still the main way we are able to safeguard our nation's waters from pollution and destruction, protecting public health and wildlife habitat.
