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Water
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Two pieces of legislation in the early 1970's - the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act - have contributed mightily to the quality of the water we drink, fish and swim in today. Prior to enactment of these landmark laws, as much as two-thirds of the surface water in the United States was considered polluted. Our waters are noticeably clea ner and less polluted. Today, we can fish and swim in virtually all our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.
Water resources are central to the region's aesthetics, economics and health. There are some 60,000 miles of rivers and streams in Region 2, including waterways of major importance such as the Hudson and Passaic Rivers, the ports of San Juan and New York/New Jersey Harbor, Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls and the St. Lawrence Seaway. New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a combined 685 miles of ocean coastline as well. Clean and safe water is essential to the health and livelihood of the region's 31 million residents.
Wastewater Treatment: Includes issues relating to stormwater, pretreatment of industrial wastewater, animal feeding operations (AFOs), and combined sewer overflows (CSOs).
Watershed Protection: We all live in a watershed - the area that drains to a common waterway. Many water quality and ecosystem problems are best solved at the watershed level rather than at the individual water body or discharger level. Due to our geographic diversity, Region 2 has a wide variety of waterbodies and a number of programs to protect its estuaries, lakes, rivers and streams, wetlands and oceans more efficiently and effectively.
