WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA to restrict the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act will jeopardize drinking water supplies for millions of people and threaten the health of the nation’s streams and wetlands.  

“For 50 years the Clean Water Act has been instrumental in revitalizing and safeguarding drinking water sources for people and wildlife, wetlands for flood control, and habitats that sustain our wildlife heritage,” said Jim Murphy, director of legal advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation. “Federal protections that don’t depend on local politics or regional polluter influence are essential to vulnerable and disadvantaged communities nationwide. The court’s ruling removes these vital protections from important streams and wetlands in every state. We call on both Congress and state governments to step in, plug the gap, and protect our threatened waters and the people that depend on them.”

For more on the Clean Water Act and the uncertainties facing waters across the nation see the National Wildlife Federation’s recent report, Five Decades of Clean Water.