Like to fish and swim? Too bad.

October 2007 marks the 35th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, a landmark environmental law passed in response to environmental catastrophes of the 1960's that evoked public outrage, such as the "death" of Lake Erie and the fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

The ambitious goals of the Clean Water Act, however, have not been met in its 35-year lifespan. The Act called for the elimination of pollutant discharges into waterways by 1985 and fishable, swimmable waterways by 1983. Over 20 years later, almost half of our country's water is too dirty for these fundamental uses. Raw sewage flows into our waterways when it rains. Toxics leach into the water from inactive hazardous waste sites. Wetlands are filled in as protections are rolled back.

The Clean Water Act must be revitalized, toughened, and enforced. No more excuses. As Senator Ed Muskie of Maine argued during the passage of the original Act in 1972,

"Can we afford clean water? Can we afford rivers and lakes and streams and oceans which continue to make possible all life on this planet? Can we afford life itself? Those questions were never asked as we destroyed the waters of our nation, and they deserve no answers as we finally move to restore and renew them. These questions answers themselves."