Briefing: Community Clean Water Priorities for Ohio River Basin
80% of West Virginia’s streams and rivers make their way to the Ohio River. Though there have been significant improvements to water quality in the past few decades, people see that there are still serious threats to our waters and the health of the people and ecosystems that depend on them.
Our local and state governments are under-resourced to handle the magnitude of solutions needed now to address problems in our communities, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, and increased flooding.
Led by the Ohio River Basin Alliance, a design process is underway that will lead to a regional plan to address threats to the waters we all depend on. Ensuring this plan is community–driven requires that those who are most impacted by a problem have a voice in determining the solution.
WV Rivers Coalition worked in collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation, Ohio River Basin Alliance, and advocacy groups along the river to host community listening sessions. We asked: What concerns do you have about our waters in the Ohio River Basin? And what solutions do you think will help address them?
A new report has been released that details the findings of the 31 listening sessions across the 14-state region. Click here to read the report and join us for an upcoming webinar to hear more about the findings.
The findings of this report are informing the regional Ohio River Basin restoration and protection plan. Once that plan is complete, it will be released for public comment. People will have another opportunity to say what they would include in the plan and offer comments and suggestions. The restoration plan will then be finalized and delivered to the U.S. Congress.
Stay tuned for actions you can take to uplift community priorities in the Ohio River Basin and help secure the investments we need for commonsense solutions, pursued with urgency, to protect our drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life.
More soon,
Heather Sprouse
Ohio River Coordinator, WV Rivers Coalition
