Clean Water

WildEarth Guardians seeks to keep our clean waters clean forever. Whether through watchdogging the use of toxins or other sources of pollution, we work protect water quality throughout the West.

Clean Waters, Wild Forests

Clean waters and wild forests go hand-in-hand. Some of our nation’s most pristine wild places are found in roadless forests and wilderness areas. Undisturbed by human activity, roadless areas are not only serene and beautiful refuge for numerous wildlife species but streams flowing out of roadless areas are among our purest.

Sadly, our nation’s 58.8 million acres of roadless areas are not currently protected from threats such as logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling. WildEarth Guardians is working to change that.

Using the federal Clean Water Act, WildEarth Guardians is petitioning the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission to designate waterways within roadless areas as “Outstanding.” Once designated as “Outstanding” under the Clean Water Act, any additional pollution to the waterway is explicitly prohibited. Because waters are not always polluted by one blatantly damaging activity, the cumulative effect of road-building, logging, off-road vehicle use, livestock grazing, and other activities leads to degradation.

With our Clean Waters, Wild Forests campaign, we have the potential to permanently protect our land and water against these activities. Once this campaign succeeds in New Mexico, WildEarth Guardians implement the same method in other western states.

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