Principles of

Local Officials for Clean Water

Local Officials for Clean Water supports commonsense measures which restore clean water protections for isolated streams and wetlands that protect our drinking water and protect our homes from flooding. 

As a collection of county officials, we have come together to raise our voices in support of clean water for all Americans. 

We all need clean water and healthy watersheds to ensure clean and safe drinking water supplies and outdoor recreation, and to protect bridges, roads, hospitals, treatment plants, and other critical infrastructure.  

As county officials, we are on the front lines in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of our citizens.  Counties need support from coordinated state and federal water quality programs to ensure that communities and industries throughout the watershed and across state lines are working together, to keep the nation’s waters clean and healthy for all.

For nearly 30 years virtually all natural surface waters were “waters of the United States” and protected by the Clean Water Act. Then, in 2001, in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC), and again in 2006 in Rapanos v. United States, a sharply divided Supreme Court redefined “navigable” and questioned Clean Water Act protections extending to “waters of the United States” beyond the traditionally “navigable” rivers. These Supreme Court decisions and subsequent agency guidance run counter to the fundamental water quality protection goal of the Clean Water Act.  

Counties across the nation are facing increased flooding, surface water pollution, toxic blue-green algae outbreaks, and problems caused by jurisdictional determinations—all related to the lack of enforcement of the original Clean Water Act of 1972. 

The EPA estimates that over 110 million people in 5,646 public drinking water supply systems rely on surface water protection areas within headwater and seasonal streams. Without clear Clean Water Act protections, companies can dump industrial chemicals, sewage, or other pollution into those streams, polluting drinking water sources and threatening lives, public health and safety.  The EPA estimates that over half of stream miles outside of Alaska do not flow year-round and receive no Clean Water protection. 

Local Officials for Clean Water believes America deserves the full protections of the Clean Water Act of 1972. 

Founding members of Local Officials for Clean Water:

Dane County WI Supervisor Brett Hulsey

Queen Anne’s County MD Commissioner Carol Fordonski

Calhoun County AL Commissioner Robert Downing

Ramsey County MN Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt

Lane County OR Commissioner Pete Sorenson

Solano County CA Supervisor Barbara Kondylis

Dorchester County MD Council Member Effie Elzey

Mono County CA Supervisor Byng Hunt

Whatcom County WA Council Member Carl Weimer

Albemarle County VA Supervisor Dennis Rooker

St. Louis County MN Commissioner Steve O'Neil

Hardin County IA Supervisor Jim Johnson

Douglas County WI Commissioner Kathryn McKenzie

Oakland County MI Commissioner Marcia Gershenson

King County WA Councilmember Larry Phillips

Orange County NC Commissioner Barry Jacobs

Humboldt County CA Supervisor Bonnie Neely

Lane County OR Commissioner Rob Handy

Lincoln County OR Commissioner Bill Hall

Montgomery County MD Councilmember Roger Berliner

Mathews County VA Supervisor Janine Burns

Cascade County MT Commissioner Peggy Beltrone

Wakulla County FL Commissioner Howard Kessler

Gunnison County CO Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson

New Castle County DE Council Member William Tansey

Leon County FL Commissioner Cliff Thaell

La Plata CO Commissioner Wally White

Snohomish County WA Commissioner Dave Somers

Marin County CA Supervisor Susan Adams

Dane County WI Supervisor Chuck Erickson

Missoula County MT Commissioner Bill Carey

Ingham County MI Commissioner Rebecca Bahar-Cook

Tuolomne County CA Supervisor Paolo Maffei

Lake County IL Board Member Carol Calabresa

Mendocino County CA Supervisor Kendall Smith

Cook County IL Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy

St. Lucie County FL Commissioner Doug Coward

King County WA Council Member Julia Patterson

Alameda County CA Supervisor Gail Steele

San Juan County WA Council Member Howard Rosenfeld

Pitkin County CO Commissioner Rachel E. Richards

Travis County TX Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt

Story County IA Supervisor Wayne E. Clinton

Broward County FL Vice Mayor Sue Gunzburger

For more information, or to join, contact Peg Reagan, Conservation Leaders Network, at 541 247-8079.

Join The Conservation Leaders Network!

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Masthead photo credits left to right--Rolf Sklar, Curtis J. Carley FWS, NOAA

PO Box 46, Wedderburn  OR  97491
541.247.8079 (phone)   541.247.9521 (fax)
info at conservationleaders dot org