The Supreme Court made a decision that would take away rights for America’s wetlands. This could have a big effect on rivers that provide drinking water to people in the US.
The rivers in New Mexico will be the ones most affected by this ruling. In Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court said that the Clean Water Act protections for over half of the country’s marshes would be taken away after decades of use.
Tom Kiernan, president and CEO of the environmental group American Rivers, said, “That’s a big reason why most of the most endangered rivers this year are where they are.” The small streams that flow into rivers or the marshes that these rivers need to stay alive are no longer protected.
Ninety-six percent of New Mexico’s streams are open to pollution because they are not protected. This could affect places further downstream, like the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos Rivers.
Getting clean water to drink is dependent on the health of small streams that flow from bigger rivers in many places, including Santa Fe. Officials in Santa Fe County District 2 said that the Sackett decision took away those rights, putting the people who live here in danger.
A lot of bad things can happen to rivers that people use for drinking water. These include climate change, pollution, and even dams that make the water dirty by letting dangerous bacteria or algae grow.
“The combination of climate change putting stress on our rivers and the Supreme Court’s decision to end protections for half of our wetlands—that creates a combination that deeply threatens our rivers,” Kiernan said.
A lot of people are scared about what will happen because they have relied on these water sources for years. With the new law, they could be at risk and might not be safe to drink in some places.