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Clean water is vital to our health, communities, and economy. Streams and wetlands provide many benefits by trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, filtering pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. People depend on clean water sources for their health: about 117 million US residents — one in three people – get drinking water from streams that are vulnerable to pollution.

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, a divided US Supreme Court held that the Clean Water Act (CWA) does not authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose what the Court called “end-result” requirements in discharge permits — that is, permit provisions that make the permittee responsible for achieving water quality standards in the receiving water without specifying the concrete steps necessary to do so.

US President Donald J. Trump has said he wants our country to have “the cleanest water,” but several of his executive orders have had significant impacts on water and rivers as well as communities’ ability to have access to and a say over decisions about the health of their water sources.

Reducing water pollution is a pressing problem. However, sound empirical research to provide guidance on water quality regulations is frequently absent or ignored. Partially, that’s because we live in a time in which scientific, peer-reviewed research is dismissed as irrelevant.

Peer-reviewed research is substantiated by going through an evaluation process in which journal editors and other expert scholars critically assess the quality and scientific merit of the research prior to publication. Benefits of using peer-reviewed research include knowing that the quality of the research and validity of the findings are high, information is available on highly detailed subject matter, and the analyses are complex and nuanced.

The current administration in the White House doesn’t respect scientific inquiry, as it is often contrary to the self-interests of Trump and his cohort.

Here are two case studies in which the safety of water sources has proven secondary to private industry’s ability to gain favor with government entities like the Trumpies.

Rivers are an Important Public Drinking Source — But are They Safe?

Iowa’s water-quality created a problem for the state. Were high cancer rates related to poor water quality?

To find out, Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment (CISWRA) invited science advisors—”all respected researchers and experts across multiple disciplines –” to study the problem. The team designed a $1 million landmark study to determine the degree to which hydrology — the study of water’s movement and distribution throughout the Earth — and health issues were related.

Approximately 4,000 hours of analysis and assessment took place. Acknowledgements at the beginning of the resulting report commended the “depth, breadth, and comprehensive interpretation.”

The narrative explained that river flow, ecological health, drinking water, and river and lake recreation are all intrinsically connected to the region’s water quality. Rivers are the primary source of drinking water for roughly 600,000 people in Iowa. Considered important recreational state assets, many of the state’s rivers, the authors concluded, are rife with harmful contaminants that include phosphorus and nitrogen, bacteria from animal and human waste, pesticides, and other chemicals.

The research found that nitrate comprised approximately 85% of the overall total nitrogen load in several of the region’s rivers. In essence, nitrate levels in key drinking-water sources were measured in quantities far higher than is allowed under federal safety standards. Groundwater nitrate pollution significantly increases treatment costs for drinking water suppliers. More specifically, a 1% increase in groundwater nitrate levels is associated with an increase in treatment costs by about 0.048% to 0.052%.

Their conclusions revealed without any qualms that agricultural pollution was a significant source of the state’s water problems. The CISWRA report was meticulously cited, and a wide swatch of its data pointed to Iowa’s politically powerful farm industry and its links to water pollution and resulting human and environmental health risks.

Important recommendations sought out reductions in chemical inputs for crop production, crop diversification, and limits on the density of livestock.

You can guess what happened next.

The approximately $400,000 left in the budget to make the public aware of the findings was withdrawn.

Also, the designation of impaired waters — which triggers stricter regulatory measures to limit pollutants entering the waterways and other enhanced measures aimed at reducing the inflow of harmful contaminants — were reversed by the EPA.

Adam Shriver, director of wellness and nutrition policy at the Harkin Institute at Drake University, discussed with the Guardianhow hiding impaired waters is dangerous to Iowa’s citizens.

I think it shows just how far we still have left to go. The farm bureau opposed the initial impairment designation and was taking a victory lap with the recent EPA announcement. As long as they continue to get whatever they want from every level of government while other stakeholders are ignored, public health is going to suffer.

Aquamarine Freshwater Springs: Fragile Water Sources

Did you know that Florida has more than 1000 freshwater springs? Their aquamarine color and cool temperatures attract humans and wildlife.

The Floridan aquifer system is one of the most productive aquifers in the world. It underlies an area of approximately 100,000 square miles beneath all of Florida and parts of southeastern Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. Residents, farmers, and businesses in these states depend on the groundwater from the Floridan Aquifer. The availability of this clean water is important for natural ecosystems, agriculture, the economy, tourists, and residents.

The volume of permits being issued for water use drawn from the Aquifer isn’t sustainable, though, as it doesn’t have an endless supply of water. Because of the porous nature of the state’s bedrock, millions of gallons of water find their way to the surface in the form of clear, clean springs that, in turn, feed into rivers. The highest concentration of springs are in central and northern Florida, including most of the 30 “first magnitude” springs — those that discharge at least 65 million gallons of water every day.

It costs bottling companies just $115 for a permit allowing them to withdraw millions of gallons of water in perpetuity.

All but four of the region’s springs are considered polluted The future of these freshwater springs is uncertain, as several are threatening their water quality.

• Agriculture: In rural Florida, runoff from fertilizers and pesticides used in farm fields is a major part of the problem. Fertilizers containing phosphates and nitrogen promote algae blooms that can suffocate a spring. Livestock waste contributes, too.
• Development: More paved surfaces keep rainwater from percolating down into the aquifer. More pollutant-laden runoff from lawn fertilizers, parking lots, ever-widening roads, and sometimes septic tanks add to the problem. Attempts to limit construction to stay within safe drinking water limits are needed.
• Climate change: The Earth’s changing climate is altering rainfall patterns and threatening the balance that feeds Florida’s springs. Some coastal springs are facing an intrusion of saltwater, and four major springs are becoming increasingly brackish because of sea level rise and declining rainfall. Ryan Smart, executive director of the nonprofit Florida Springs Council, told the Boston Globethat there is too much pollution going into the ground and too much water coming out of the ground.

And when you get that combination, you end up with springs that are no longer blue and vibrant and full of life. When that algae covers everything, then you lose all of the seagrasses. The seagrasses are the forests of the water,” Smart said. “Then you begin to lose the biodiversity. And it even puts our drinking water at risk.

Powerful agricultural interests and related political pressures have blocked progress on the nitrogen reduction plan that was expected to take about 20 years. Phosphate mining has also taken a toll on springs, as their operations require a great deal of water, which reduces water pressure available for springs.

Florida spends billions every year on water quality projects, including about $800 million this year for Everglades restoration work. State funding for springs runs about $50 million a year. Environmental advocates say these allocations are not nearly enough, nor are they directed at the most heinous polluters.

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