’s proposed baseline water quality standards would usher in new Clean Water Act (CWA) protections for Tribal Nation waterways.
Fifty years ago, Congress established a goal in the Clean Water Act (CWA) that waters should support fishing and swimming wherever attainable. All states and 47 Tribes have established standards consistent with that goal. However, the majority of U.S. Tribes with Indian reservations lack such water quality standards. This proposal would extend the same framework of water quality protection that currently exists for most other waters of the United States to waters of over 250 Tribes and is the result of decades of coordination and partnership with Tribes. Read more
Additional information:
Strengthening the Nation-to-Nation Relationship with Tribes to Secure a Sustainable Water Future (2021)