To the Editor:

Last week (June 5-9), wildfire smoke darkened our skies making being outside unpleasant to downright unhealthy. We experienced what it’s like when something fundamental, that we take for granted, such as clean air, isn’t available. Here in the North Country, far from big cities, we expect clean air; yet we were powerless to do anything about the air pollution we were suddenly suffering.

Similarly, clean water is fundamental to our well-being and we expect our waterways to be clean and healthy, but clean water is under threat. “About half of all the river and stream miles and lake acreage in the U.S. fail to meet water quality standards because of pollution, which means half the country’s assessed waterways do not support intended uses like aquatic life and drinking water.” (Environmental Integrity Project, April 16, 2023).

We cannot assume that federal and state protections and agencies adequately protect our waterways and their ecosystems. First, we can’t necessarily rely on those protections to continue to exist. For example, the recent Supreme Court decision https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/us/supreme-court-epa-water-pollution.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare) significantly reduced the EPA’s ability to protect water through the Clean Water Act. Second, funding and staffing shortfalls hamper the ability of those agencies to do their job and enforce protections. For example, the NY State Comptroller’s 2021 report admits that, “…resources may not be adequate to fully cover required agency activities or maintain them over time.” -resulting in: “…declines in certain types of inspecting and findings of environmental violations.”

The good news is that, unlike the helplessness we may have felt experiencing the recent air pollution, we are not helpless with respect to protecting our water. We can help to protect waterways in our communities by advocating for the passage of local laws that recognize the rights of waterways to exist, to flourish, etc.

By codifying that entities of nature, such as rivers, have rights, citizens can act on their behalf in a court of law if the river’s rights are violated. This gives communities the power to protect local waterways. These sorts of Rights of Nature laws have been passed in a variety of places in the U.S. and other nations. The Town of Potsdam has already passed a resolution recognizing the rights of the Racquette River! Water sustains life. It is not being adequately protected. Let’s hope other communities will follow Potsdam’s example.

To find out more about the Rights of Rivers visit: https://nocoenvironment.org/rights

Cathy Shrady
Professor Emeritus,
Geology, Canton