Clean Water

County commissioners from across the country have been advocating for clean water protections.  Most county officials know that we all need clean water and healthy watersheds to ensure clean and safe drinking water supplies and outdoor recreation, and to protect bridges, roads, hospitals, treatment plants, and other critical infrastructure.  

Their recent "Clean Water for All--County Leaders Speak Out for Clean Water" report is now available on our website.  Go to:  Clean Water for All Report.

Unfortunately, more than two years of clean water work at the National Association of Counties was undone at its Annual Conference in Reno NV in July 2010. 

Lane County OR Commissioner Pete Sorenson recently wrote of that event, "I can tell you it was a disaster for the environment. Resolutions against reasonable climate change legislation and a platform change in opposition to clean water were both passed. We were really out-organized by conservative political forces who stacked the deck at the Reno conference, both on the traditionally extraction-oriented Public Lands Steering Committee, but also on the more-balanced Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee."  Call the Conservation Leaders Network at 541 247-8079 if you'd like to learn the details.

We are now diligently working towards different results at next year's Annual Conference in Portland OR.

Reno also saw the launch of "Local Officials for Clean Water," a collection of county officials who have come together to raise their voices in support of clean water for all Americans. The group supports commonsense measures which restore clean water protections for isolated streams and wetlands that protect our drinking water and protect our homes from flooding.  Click here to read the "Principles of Local Officials for Clean Water."  If you'd like to join, reply to info at conservationleaders dot org. Click here to see photos of the launch.

Last year we had written:

NACo’s Environment, Energy and Land Use (EELU) Committee is the committee charged with dealing with water quality issues. EELU voted overwhelmingly (54 to 1) in support of the Resolution in Support of Clean Water for All at the annual conference in Nashville TN in July. This resolution was a compromise effort which sought to bridge the divide at NACo, drafted after NACo staff asserted that the Clean Water for All resolution was in conflict with the NACo platform (something resolutions are not supposed to do).  

The Committee also voted down, for the second year in a row, the existing Waters of the US resolution, which seeks to shrink the number of American waterways which enjoy clean water protections. 

In a repeat of last year’s actions, the NACo Board of Directors chose to disregard the recommendations of the EELU Committee, even though this is the committee that is responsible for “All matters pertaining to air, water, and noise pollution control; solid and hazardous waste management and disposal; the preservation and proper utilization of water resources; energy; and the use of land resources, including comprehensive planning, coastal zone management, growth management, energy facilities siting, and recreation.” The Board rejected the Resolution in Support of Clean Water for All and approved the Waters of the US resolution, exactly the opposite of the committee’s recommendations.  It leads one to wonder why a national association establishes a Steering Committee and then disregards its recommendations repeatedly. 

The Conservation Leaders Network has been supporting county officials who value clean water for all Americans.  We helped them reverse EELU's position in opposition to clean water in 2008 and worked with them again this year.

Click here if you'd like to see a Fact Sheet that demonstrates that the Resolution in Support of Clean Water for All is consistent with the NACo Platform.  In fact, it is the Waters of the US resolution that is in conflict with the NACo platform. Click here to find that Fact Sheet.

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Masthead photo credits left to right--Rolf Sklar, Curtis J. Carley FWS, NOAA

PO Box 46, Wedderburn  OR  97491
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