Environmental Issues: Water

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All Documents in Water Tagged water pollution

Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health
Waste lagoons and manure sprayfields -- two widespread and environmentally hazardous technologies -- are poorly regulated.
News

Factory farms -- giant livestock farms that house thousands of cows, chickens or pigs -- produce staggering amounts of animal wastes. These wastes are often stored and used in ways that expose people to dangerous bacteria, toxic gases and other hazardous substances, and punish the natural environment.

Seizing a Watershed Opportunity in the Chesapeake Bay
NRDC’s Plan to Clean Up the Chesapeake Bay and Its Beaches
Issue Paper

As the largest estuary in the United States, and the third largest in the world, the Chesapeake Bay is home to a wide range of wildlife and an important resource for millions of people who live, play, and work in the region. On the heels of reports from seven federal agencies commissioned by President Obama to clean up this national treasure, this paper delves into the sources of pollution that undermine the health of the Bay and provides recommendations for mitigating them.

In Fracking's Wake
New Rules are Needed to Protect Our Health and Environment from Contaminated Wastewater
Issue Paper

Natural gas development has exploded, fueled by advances in an extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Unfortunately, federal and state safeguards to protect people and the environment from the hazards of fracking have not kept pace.

Safe Water in Peril
Addressing the Effects of Global Warming on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
Fact Sheet

Nearly eight hundred million people do not have access to safe drinking water, and two and a half billion people live without adequate sanitation. These dire conditions already pose the greatest worldwide threat to environmental health, and global warming is making matters worse. More frequent, severe droughts and floods are increasing water shortages and causing widespread contamination and sanitation challenges. To avoid an outright global water catastrophe, local, national, and international leaders must urgently pursue a two-part strategy of reducing pollution to minimize further climate change and prepare vulnerable communities to deal with the changes in climate already in progress. Get document in pdf.

Water for the World
Solving the World’s Most Pressing Environmental Health Problem
Fact Sheet

For the nearly one billion people who don't have access to it, clean water is the world's most pressing problem. Lack of safe drinking water and sanitation is the single largest cause of illness in the world, contributing to the deaths of 2 million people a year, the majority of which are children. The solutions to this global public health crisis are well-known and cost-effective, yet more than 780 million people are without clean drinking water, and approximately 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation.2 In 2005, recognizing the urgency of the crisis, the United States passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act, landmark legislation designed to address the need for global affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation. Get document in pdf.

Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond
Report

Philadelphia encourages property owners to install green infrastructure techniques with a flagship stormwater billing structure. This report -- a joint product of NRDC's Water Program and Center for Market Innovation -- uses Philadelphia as a test case to explore how cities can attract billions of dollars in private investment in stormwater retrofits, saving on public infrastructure costs while cleaning waterways and greening communities.

Rooftops to Rivers II
Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows
Report

This November 2011 report is a policy guide for decision makers looking to implement green stormwater strategies to stop water pollution at its source. It includes case studies of cities that have successfully used green infrastructure techniques to reduce runoff and combined sewer overflow (CSO) pollution to create a healthier urban environment.

Stormwater Runoff
Challenges and Solutions for American Communities
Overview

Water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, picking up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash and disease-carrying organisms on its way. But there are ways to control it.

Re-Envisioning the Chicago River
Adopting Comprehensive Regional Solutions to the Invasive Species Crisis
Fact Sheet

In response to a public health emergency more than 100 years ago, engineers reversed the Chicago River and built the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to carry wastewater away from Lake Michigan, the city’s source of drinking water. The canal also provides a shipping link between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes, opening navigation not only to recreational boats and commercial barges, but also to invasive species, and it diverts massive amounts of water from Lake Michigan. The unfolding Asian carp crisis reveals more than just the challenges faced by local, state, and federal agencies in stopping invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. It also exposes critical infrastructure deficiencies in the region’s wastewater, stormwater, and transportation systems.

Get document in pdf.

Clearing the Waters
From the Chesapeake to California, NRDC is fighting to restore America’s threatened waterways
Overview

The United States has made significant progress cleaning up the nation's waterways since Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, but much more remains to be done. Although some of the most obvious signs of contamination have disappeared, other sources of pollution persist, and water resources are frequently overtaxed, particularly in the West.

What’s Coming Out of the Tap?
How to Ensure That Your Family’s Drinking Water Is Safe
Fact Sheet

Despite the many sources of pollution that can affect drinking water, with a little research, proper testing, and treatment (if necessary) you can help to ensure that the water you and your family drink is safe. NRDC is joining with local communities to keep drinking water clean and to curb pollution long before it reaches your tap. Get document in pdf.