Protect Our Rivers
Short-sighted legal decisions have left thousands of miles of Georgia's streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands vulnerable to pollution and development. Now, polluters’ allies in Congress are trying to block the EPA from restoring vital safeguards. To protect Georgia's rivers, we need to show massive public support for clean water.
In Georgia, 40,000 miles of streams at risk
From the Savannah to the Flint to the Chattahoochee, our rivers help make Georgia special—and they should be clean enough to enjoy any day of the year. But despite their beauty, and wealth of recreational opportunities, Georgia’s rivers continue to be treated like a personal sewer for some of the Southeast’s largest polluters.
Right now, thousands of miles of Georgia’s streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development. Polluters can dump garbage into streams, developers can pave over wetlands to build strip malls, and the cops on the environmental beat can’t do a thing about it. And it’s not just small streams and wetlands that will suffer — these waterways are the same ones that feed the Chattahoochee, the Conasauga, and all of our beloved rivers, and help to keep them clean.
Polluters are fighting to block protections for the Chattahoochee, and all our waters
In April, the Environmental Protection Agency took the first major step in decades to protect Georgia’s rivers by setting new guidelines to prevent pollution from flowing into our waters, and those across the country. But already the coal and oil industries, Big Ag, and their allies in Congress are doing everything they can to take this clean water victory off the books.
We know that a win for polluters means less protection for Georgia’s rivers. And we know that we can’t compete with them dollar for dollar. But we also know the public is with us— and if we can prove that to our elected officials, we can win. That’s why we’re mobilizing Georgians to take a stand with our waters.
Our plan to defend Georgia's rivers
We refuse to let polluters and their allies in Congress open our precious waterways to more dumping and development. We’re bringing together Georgians from all walks of life to protect the Chattahoochee, the Conasauga, and all of our rivers. From anglers to white-water enthusiasts, clergy to scientists, local officials to ordinary families, we all have a stake in keeping our water clean.
Our citizen outreach staff has been knocking on doors across the state, educating Georgians about what’s at stake.
Tell the EPA that you want to see all of America’s waters protected.
Key Facts
- 40,000 miles of Georgia's streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development.
- Over the past decade, developers and other polluters used the courts to put protections for our rivers in legal limbo — and then blocked any attempt by Congress to restore them.
- In April, the Environmental Protection Agency took the first major step in decades to protect Georgia’s rivers by setting new guidelines to prevent pollution from flowing into our waters.
- Powerful polluters, and their allies in Congress are doing everything they can to take this clean water victory off the books.