The Clean Water Act’s Midlife Crisis

The Act turns 50 next year. Let’s make it young again.

A half century ago, the highly polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire, spurring the creation of the Clean Water Act “BE077062” by Sabatu is marked under CC PDM 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

When you turn 50, three questions inevitably arise:
1) Who am I?
2) What have I done?
3) What else can I do?

Forty years ago, the U.S. Congress, in an uncharacteristically uncowardly move, overwhelmingly overrode President Nixon’s veto and passed the most powerful law for the protection of water in American (and perhaps world) history. Yes, this year the Clean Water Act officially enters its midlife crisis years.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 mandated that United States waters be “fishable and swimmable” by 1985

Since it is a law, and not a person, we won’t expect it to buy a red sports car and hook up with another law half its age. But having aged and weathered and yet oftentimes stood firm against its adversaries even if its knees became not quite what they used to be, it is worth asking this much buffeted piece of legislation in its 50th year, the three essential questions of mid-life.

So, to begin with, Clean Water Act, who are you?

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, known as The Clean Water Act was not the…