U.S. Sen. Tom Udall
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, issued the following statement after the Trump administration issued its final rule rolling back Clean Water Act protections for most of New Mexico’s waterways under the “Waters of the United States” provision of the Clean Water Act:
“Even during a global pandemic, the environmental recklessness of the Trump administration knows no bounds. Americans are rightly outraged that the Trump administration has spent its time during a public health crisis systematically dismantling some of the most basic health and environmental safeguards we have. President Trump’s EPA is moving forward with a plan to strip Clean Water Act protections from the vast majority of New Mexico’s rivers, tributaries, seasonal streams and arroyos, putting our drinking water and irrigation supplies at further risk. Our clean water resources are already strained from drought and climate change, and without these protections, we will have even less water available to drink, to grow our food, and to sustain our cherished landscapes because our waterways and drinking water will be left unprotected from mining and other destructive development, pesticide runoff and other sources pollution.
“These special interest rollbacks would be outrageous and short-sighted even in the best of times, let alone when Americans are confronting the economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shocking but not surprising that the administration is ignoring widespread calls to pause unnecessary regulatory actions during this pandemic, when the public is rightly focused on the pressing concerns of their families’ health and economic security. The proposed rule changes also tie the hands of states and Tribes who would act to protect their water resources. Approximately 93 percent of New Mexico’s rivers and waterways are seasonal or run only after a rain. New Mexico is arid and relies on proper management of these resources to ensure our citizens have safe and healthy drinking water and our wildlife has access to natural habitats.
“The Trump administration’s proposed changes to the protection of our waterways gives developers and industries the green light to dump pollution directly into our water supplies. This pollution will leave a long-term strain on our state and nation’s ability to access clean and fresh water sources that are ever dwindling due to drought, climate change and rampant habitat destruction. The proposed rules could create an entirely new public health and environmental crisis as our food and drinking water becomes contaminated with toxic chemicals. It will fall upon the courts, Congress and future administrations to undo this thoughtless damage to our nation’s clean water resources and wetland ecosystems.”