One day last June, the border of the United States and Mexico was a place of bipartisan agreement and connection. What sparked this rare unity? Water.
I joined EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and other local and state officials for a roundtable discussion about how to solve chronic pollution in the Tijuana River, which starts in Mexico and flows through southern San Diego County into the Pacific. As raw sewage and trash enter the ocean, the polluted water becomes airborne as sea spray, sickening residents throughout the region. All agreed that the status quo of a sewage-choked river causing illness among residents—as well as Navy Seals, who train nearby—is unacceptable. A few months following the meeting, Administrator Zeldin announced an agreement with Mexico, supported by local leaders and water advocates, to address the pollution crisis.
This is an excellent example of how we must approach the next era of conservation. We must be focused on shared values–in this case, health and safety. We must embrace locally connected solutions. And we must build a more inclusive movement, bridging cultural divides and integrating perspectives from the left and the right, rural and urban communities, businesses, Tribal Nations, and those most impacted by pollution.
Water is the best issue on which to build a new, proactive agenda for conservation. To borrow a phrase from John Haydock, business leader and supporter of American Rivers: “Our common ground is wet.”
We all need clean, safe, reliable water—for drinking, crop irrigation, industry, transportation, and energy production. Our rivers and streams are vital to our outdoor heritage, supporting beloved hunting and fishing traditions and a $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy.
This is an urgent moment for water. Rivers and water supplies across the country are threatened by stormwater pollution, overuse, and the floods and droughts that are coming with increasingly extreme weather. Our families, communities, and businesses shoulder the consequences, facing illness, rising costs, uncertainty, and property damage.
Research conducted by the American Rivers Action Fund shows that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support clean water protections. It is our job to turn this broad, bipartisan support into widespread action. I recently stood with Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) at Lake Lenape Dam on New Jersey’s Great Egg Harbor River, in support of his bill that will update critical infrastructure, improve public safety at dams, and revitalize river health. And in Montana, American Rivers is working with Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) to champion federal protections for the Madison and Gallatin Rivers, supported by anglers, public lands advocates, and local businesses.
While we need bold legal and regulatory action, we also need more market- and incentive-based solutions for clean water. In North Carolina’s Upper Neuse River Basin, we are building a new way of regulating clean water supplies based on a watershed management strategy that pools funds from regulated entities, then uses those funds to implement projects that return value to the community and river health. So far, $13.2 million has been invested in more than 100 projects.
American Rivers is also helping cities like Grand Rapids, Michigan, and towns across the Great Lakes develop and deploy innovative funding strategies to address stormwater runoff pollution that causes fish kills, sewage overflows, and beach closures.
Stormwater credit banks and trading programs provide compliance flexibility while bringing private capital and property into the mix of solutions. Optimized grant programs can target priority outcomes and align with other funding sources. Public-private partnerships and pay-for-performance contracting models can bring private sector financing to bear. “Green bonds” match environmental and community benefits to public expenditures.
These solutions also open the possibility of developing projects on private property. When private property owners can contribute to, and benefit from, municipal green stormwater infrastructure programs, limited public funding and resources can be leveraged to create multiple benefits for the environment and communities alike.
I am optimistic. Because just as many single water droplets form a mighty river, examples like these are collectively demonstrating that water is the lifeblood of the next era of the conservation movement.
At American Rivers, we believe every river in our country should be clean and healthy for people and wildlife. By prioritizing locally connected water solutions in this next era of conservation, we will not only safeguard the life-giving power of our rivers—we will build a more inclusive, bipartisan, effective conservation movement that strengthens our nation and leaves a proud legacy for future generations.
