By: Bryan Duggan
CIT Water and Environmental Specialist
Since the birth of human civilizations, human beings have had significant impacts on water quality and water resources in all habitable watersheds. With the explosion of the human population and economic growth over the last 200 years we have further degraded thousands of rivers, lakes and streams to the point that they are no longer capable of supporting native life or the basic uses humans expect of them. Additionally, the persistence of these problems has grown proportionally with the societal awareness to mitigate our collectively harmful activities.
The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) is by far the United States most comprehensive water law. Based on broad, visionary goals for safeguarding human health and ecological integrity, the Act applies to rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and estuaries alike. The CWA directs public agencies and pollutant discharge permit holders to provide significant amounts of protection for our water bodies. The Act also provides the programs to control point and non-point sources of pollution.
Prior to 1972 there had been numerous attempts by the United States federal and state governments to control pollution discharges into our waterways; starting in 1899; it was not until the passage of the U. S. Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (a.k.a. Clean Water Act) that established a comprehensive water law to protect and restore public waters.
Prior to the passage of this landmark legislation, our national water pollution control policy had been based on the belief that pollution was a necessary evil – an inevitable byproduct of economic development. Many assumed that to be more prosperous, we simply had to put up with more pollution. If we follow this logic to its end, then the most polluted of our industrial cities would also be our most prosperous; clearly this is not true for many American cities. This poor system initiated and perpetuated a race to the bottom – and led inevitably to the poor water quality problems of the mid 20 th
century; characterized by Ohio’s Cuyahoga River when it actually caught fire in Cleveland during the summer of 1969.
While not perfect and certainly not a universal remedy, The Clean Water Act is the most powerful tool we have to solve our water quality problems. Everyone working on water issues will utilize one section or another of the CWA to meet their objectives.
The Clean Water Act begins with a set of goals and policies that are the basis for the entire law, with the overarching objective to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.” In order to get there, Congress developed more specific goals and policies that the Nation could strive toward first.
These included: the achievement of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water; the elimination of point source toxic pollutants in toxic amounts; providing

financial assistance for wastewater treatment, and the development and implementation of nonpoint source pollution control plans.
In order to achieve these goals the CWA sets the policies for standards, enforcement, permits, licenses, and research related programs. Policies are set at the
Federal, State, and Tribal levels to meet these goals. The Act also requires direct citizen input in policy and program decisions on the Federal, State, and Tribal level. In fact the
CWA depends on public involvement to set local watershed goals.
The Coquille Indian Tribe monitors water quality on tribal lands, and is interested in defining the overall quality of water and its changes over time, and what waters are in need of protection. To achieve these goals the Tribe uses Federal CWA section 106 and
319 funds through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to monitor water quality and control water pollution. The assistance that the tribe receives allows the Coquille
Nation to directly contribute to the original CWA goal; to restore and maintain the integrity of our common waters.
Although the ultimate goal of the Act is to eliminate the discharge of pollutants, the act does provide a legal means to pollute with a valid permit. The CWA’s primary point source control program is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES). A point source is any discernable conveyance of pollutants into a water body at a specific point, as opposed to a non-point sources originating from multiple areas. The
NPDES regulates the discharging of pollutants from municipal sewage treatment plants, industrial facilities, agricultural facilities, and for stormwater runoff from industrial, municipal, and construction sites.
The CWA also regulates the dredging and filling of wetlands, streams, and lakes through the Section 404 permit system. The Army Corp of Engineers is the lead agency for issuing and enforcing 404 permits, the EPA plays an advisory and oversight role.
Anyone who proposes an activity that would discharge dredged or fill materials into the waters of the United States is required to apply for a permit from the U.S. Army Corp of
Engineers. Currently, the Tribe is applying for a 404 permit to install a culvert within
First Creek on the Reservation, as part of a comprehensive pollution reduction, road improvement project on the Reservation’s North Parcel. The permitting process ensures that corrective and responsible project behavior is enacted in order to protect our water resources.
To date, the nation’s waters are better off today then they were 40 years ago; however; there is much work to be done in order to reach our goal of hydrological integrity within our common waters. The Clean Water Act is a broad, but, effective tool in enabling the Tribe and other public agencies in realizing our common goals of clean and safe water.