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We have an abundance of water, until we don’t. In many months of the year, parts of our region are underwater, flooded from the backwaters of the Mississippi and Ohio. No one here thinks about a water shortage, ever, until we don’t have any.

More often than we would like, ice storms, tornados (!), or other natural phenomena knock out power, sometimes for the entire region. As tireless work crews (heroes!) busy themselves trying to restore the electricity, those of us that live away from cities are hoping, among other things, that we stored enough water to get us through the power outage.  Because our water often comes from a well powered by electricity, when the power goes out, so does our water. 

When you first experience this, you are not prepared. During my first time, I bucketed algae-filled water from a nearby lake — after breaking the ice--to flush my toilets for a few days, and we used camping gear to cook meals. You quickly learn to get a gas-powered generator and to always have a bunch of large jugs filled with water. You are better prepared the second time it happens, and even more prepared the third, and the fourth.  

You appreciate water when you don’t have it anymore.  Ask the citizens of Flint, Michigan how much they appreciate clean water. Even in a city, their water was contaminated, something that seems amazing given the technologically advanced society we live in. If you live in a rural environment, however, you understand.  Water is not to be taken for granted, ever.  

Yet we often do. If we had to carry our water for miles by hand like in some developing nations, we would change our tune quickly, and realize how precious this resource really is. But when you can turn on a tap and have clean water, or drop by a drinking fountain within any building, or see it spouting dozens of feet in the air in front of a hotel or golf course, you cannot help but take it for granted. It seems limitless.

It’s not. Freshwater is only 2% of all the water on the planet, and a good 25% of that is in ice — or was until recently, since it is now melting due to climate change.  It turns out that 2% is actually plenty for humans to subsist on, if we are careful. Even our burgeoning billions can utilize that 2% sustainably and thrive. Unfortunately, that just hasn’t happened. Many of us waste water, and many others live in areas with natural water scarcity.  Some live in countries that don’t protect their water, and allow pollution to poison it.

This year is an especially important one to celebrate water because it is the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act.  The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. legislation to address water pollution. Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in 1972, and after those amendments went into effect the law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act.

Those amendments included numerous provisions for better regulating pollution and funding the construction of sewage treatment plants.  Since that time, the Act has been amended in a variety ways, but it still stands as the most important water legislation in the U.S., and one that the Environmental Protection Agency uses to enforce pollution standards.

The great thing about the Clean Water Act is that it worked. Although problems still persist in some areas, including situations like flint, our water is now much cleaner that it was even though there are now more people in our nation that have the potential to produce even more pollution than we did in 1972.  

Consider Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a second. Growing up in the outskirts of this city as a fishing fool, I never thought for a second about wetting a line in the multiple rivers that flow through Pittsburgh. They were just too polluted. Now, in part due to stricter regulations, the rivers have been reborn.  

In the same rivers that my friends and I wouldn’t fish in, bass fishing tournaments are now regularly held, monster flathead catfish are targeted by anglers, and fish-eating predators like bald eagles and river otters thrive within the city limits. The Clean Water Act worked, and the fishing is great — for humans and wildlife.

Unfortunately, some industries have been trying to weaken the Clean Water Act almost since its inception, and some politicians have followed suit. Some believe that regulations hurt our economy, yet so do sick workers that drink polluted water or eat contaminated fish. The reality is that clean water is critical to keep our economy going, and much of that clean water we get for free, because of the natural filtration of wetlands. The Clean Water Act builds on these free ecosystem services, and although there are certainly more kinks in the Act’s armor than there once was, it remains in place and is continuing to help keep the water in our rivers, lakes, reservoirs, bathtubs, and drinking fountains clean for everyone.

On an anniversary like this, we should all do something to help strengthen, not weaken, our Clean Water Act. If you agree, contact your senators and representatives, and tell them you support the Clean Water Act and would like to strengthen it even more. Tell them you appreciate clean water, and enjoy fishing and other water-related activities, and want to keep it that way. 

In celebration of the anniversary, Murray State’s Watershed Studies Institute, the Jackson Purchase foundation, the City of Murray, the four Rivers Watershed Watch, and the MSU Arboretum are focusing their annual four Rivers Watershed Sustainability festival on the importance of clean water. There will be an all-ages family Day on April 5 at the Murray State Arboretum with a variety of events, including “Hooked on Science” with Jason Lindsey. The festival is also sponsoring two Cinema International movies on April 21 and 23 and an academic Summit in the Curris Center on Earth Day, April 22.  On April 23, the MSU student chapters of The Wildlife Society and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers will hold a “Beast feast” of wild game and fish at the Murray City Park, which will include invasive Asian carp delicacies prepared by Ms. Angie Yu of Two Rivers fisheries. The festival will end with a Four Rivers Watershed Watch Litter Cleanup on April 30. You can check out the family Day schedule on the four Rivers Watershed Sustainability festival Facebook page, and more scheduling updates will be posted soon.

Water may seem abundant, and luckily it is where we live, but we cannot take it for granted any longer.  Our lives and our economy depend on clean water, and keeping it that way across the globe is one of the ways we can start living sustainably on a planet with limited water resources.  

What better time than a golden anniversary to celebrate water and work to ensure its protection for future generations? I hope you will join me in both the celebration and continued protection of this precious resource. 

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