Last week, Ipswich River Watershed Association’s Advocacy Program Manager, Zach Calderón, was in Washington, D.C. There, at a New England Council roundtable discussion, he met Kelsey Cruickshank, Director of Policy and Government Relations for American Rivers, and Rebecca Salay, Chief of Staff for Congresswoman DeLauro from Connecticut, who serves as the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee.
Federal Policy and IRWA
While IRWA’s main policy priorities lie at the local and state level, a lot of what we do is contingent on policies set by the federal government through legislation such as the Clean Water Act, and agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The purpose of these meetings was to learn as best we can what is coming next at the federal level and what we can do to ensure changes are protective of rivers across the country.
While the Clean Water Act is in danger of being eroded by permitting reform, there are few other near-term threats to local rivers.The state polices and regulations that protect our River are not under threat , and there remain clear avenues of advocacy for organizations like IRWA to pursue to protect the Clean Water Act.
What We Can Do
There are a few primary action items that our partners and members can take to push back on attempts to gut the Clean Water Act:
- Send letters to the EPA, specifically from state lawmakers. IRWA will work with our partners to that end.
- Document case studies. Organizations like American Rivers are collecting examples of how recent mass firings and uncertainty around federal funding have directly impacted projects and causes on the ground, and IRWA is working to contribute to such collections.
- Call your U.S. Representative and your Senators. While they already may very well support the Clean Water Act, there is no shortage of issues they are tackling right now and even critical ones can fall by the wayside. Remember, your representatives count on hearing from you to inform their priorities! Find your DC legislators now.
IRWA is grateful to our partners and friends on the ground in DC working to safeguard environmental protections, and looks forward to continued coordination to ensure we are as prepared as possible.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Zach Calderon at [email protected]