The Clean Water Act turned 45 today. We’re celebrating. But we’re also mobilizing. Because, despite the progress we have made, our clean water is under attack.
The Clean Water Act is visionary. The people who wrote it imagined a time when all of our water would be free of pollution; a time when we would have stopped the dumping of waste and toxic chemicals into our water. And we achieved a lot.
We have made a lot of progress in 45 years, but we still have work to do. While Lake Erie has come back from the dead, the Cuyahoga River no longer catches fire, and vital watersheds like the Chesapeake Bay are healing, too many streams, rivers, and lakes are not fishable, swimmable, or drinkable. Too many Montana communities still face the threat of contaminated drinking water. And new threats are emerging every day, whether toxic algal blooms in Canyon Ferry or on the Beaverhead River, or hoot-owls on the Big Hole River. Among those threats are polluters and their allies in our Montana legislature and Congress. They are empowered like never before, so we have to fight back with everything we have.
The good news ─ we know what to do. Upper Missouri Waterkeeper was founded specifically to empower Montanans in standing up for their right to clean, healthy waterways, guaranteed by the Clean Water Act. We’ve been mobilizing people concerned about their water to take action since our start, 5 years ago, and we’ve been using strong science and the law to uphold critical protections for Montana’s waterways just as long. Our team of experts and advocates are 100% dedicated to protecting clean water ─ we’re not going to stop now.
Working to protect Montana’s clean water is the fight of a lifetime – join us today. Make a $45 donation to power our campaign protecting and strengthening clean water protections for Montana rivers and the communities they support. Help us fight polluters and indifferent government and hold our decisionmakers accountable to protect and improve our local streams and landscapes.
One of the keys to passing the federal Clean Water Act 45 years ago was strength in numbers. Visionary leaders made sure elected officials in Washington knew that citizens expected them to take bold action to safeguard health, our communities, and our water. And they did. The Clean Water Act passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support and overcame President Nixon’s veto.
We can achieve a victory like that again, here in Montana. We just need you.