“We at the Water Foundation love what we do. Water is the source of life. It can be a uniting force that brings us together. On this World Water Day, we want to applaud the Biden-Harris Administration, not only for today’s announcements, but for their vision of a clean water future for everyone in the United States.
We share their steadfast commitment to safeguarding and stewarding all of our nation’s waters, from the forested headwaters that supply the nation’s drinking water, to the millions of wetlands that protect our communities from floods, to the thousands of small creeks and streams that serve as refuges for fish and wildlife and sources of wonder for our children. The release of a federal Wetland and Water Protection Resource Guide and a new Army Corps of Engineers’ memo on waters and wetlands are critically important to protect clean water.
Everyone deserves access to safe, reliable, and affordable water and water services. We have seen what happens in places like Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Lowndes County, Alabama; the Central Valley of California; and the Navajo Nation, where communities have been deprived of access to water for their basic needs. Release of a new report on water affordability clearly identifies the scale and disproportionate impact of the problem.
We thank the Biden-Harris Administration, and all the legislators who passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, for their unprecedented investments in new water infrastructure to provide those services, build resilience to climate change, and restore and sustain the freshwater ecosystems that provide the water we use in our homes, and particularly for directing it to those communities that for so long have gone without.
Tribes and Indigenous people across the nation understand the interconnectedness of life and the importance of water and rivers to people and nature. We are pleased to support the agreement that Tribes, states, and NGOs negotiated with the Administration to honor our nation’s promises to the Tribes of the Columbia River Basin and return their salmon populations to abundance. We also celebrate with the first people of the Klamath River Basin, who are restoring their river with the support of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
We and our partners understand the important role that philanthropy must play, alongside government, to organize and mobilize resources toward a clean water future for people and nature. Happy World Water Day!”