By Archer Castle
As discussed in the previous part of this article, Delaware is facing a water quality crisis of great magnitude. With the state’s water quality being the worst in the nation, and the situation worsening every day, the natural reaction is to want to help alleviate the problem. This is why the second part of the article exists–to give readers a way to take part in the effort to improve the quality of the water that they use every day.
The way that many citizens have been taught to approach environmental issues is from a personal perspective. They may ask questions such as, What can I do in my daily life that will make the water I drink cleaner? Terms like “reduce, reuse, recycle” come to mind, and those with a strong drive may resolve to take shorter showers or to pick up litter wherever they go. If every Delawarean did these things on a daily basis, surely the issue would be resolved, and our waterways would be cleaned! This mindset, while commendable, leads to an incorrect conclusion. The main source of pollution in Delaware is not from private citizens, but rather from industry as a group, whether agricultural or chemical.
These industries need to be regulated to mitigate the destructive power of large-scale waste or runoff. Since the federal government has fallen behind in regulating the pollution in Delaware’s waterways, it’s up to the state to pick up the slack. This must be done in a number of ways, each of which presents unique challenges and will likely draw sharp opposition from industry if done right. First, the state needs to crack down harder on corporations and industries that are currently, or have historically been, at the root of the issue through harsher fines, litigation, and stronger regulations and permitting restrictions. Second, Delaware needs to move, as other states have, to ban the usage of certain chemicals that are known to wreak havoc on our waterways and on human health or the environment like PFAS chemicals. Third, and the focus of this article, the state must guarantee adequate funding that ensures the clean-up of pollution that has already occurred and must begin to remediate its devastated waterways and public and private drinking water sources. However, no matter the perspective, state legislators must be the ones to lead the charge to clean Delaware’s water.
They’re certainly aware of the problem and have even begun taking certain steps to reverse the terrible conditions of Delaware's waterways. Most recently, House Bill (HB) 200, or the Clean Water for Delaware Act (CWDA), was passed into law in July of 2021. The flawed Act that ended up on the Governor’s desk was not the original version, however. When it was originally introduced in 2019, the bill aimed to “[provide] a funding source to enhance and accelerate Delaware’s efforts in cleaning up its contaminated water resources, ensuring that all [Delawarean] citizens have safe drinking water, reducing flooding, and protecting jobs in agriculture and tourism.” The summary of the bill also included specific figures related to tackling water issues throughout the state. This bill never passed, however, but it reemerged in the next legislative session as HB 1, with new text. HB 1, while creating that same funding account, removes all mention of monetary amounts. This version of the bill eventually passed, and this final version is now state law.
While this legislation was a step in the right direction, it wasn’t nearly enough to solve Delaware’s issues long-term. Senator Bryan Townsend, representing Delaware Senate District 11, explains what the CWDA does in these terms: “The [CWDA] basically establishes a checking account to be used for clean water projects. That’s different than making sure the account has money in it.” The CWDA, even in its original form, wasn’t what Delaware’s Clean Water and Flood Abatement Task Force recommended to fix the issue. This Task Force, chaired by Senator Townsend, recommended HB 270, a bill which would have not only created fees to fund clean water projects, but also a “constitutionally protected “lock box”... to provide permanent protection against the fee[s] being diverted for operating expenses.” This bill ended its life tabled in committee and hasn’t been touched since.
While organization is valuable, especially with such a large task as cleaning Delaware’s severely polluted waters, what the state needs to fix its issues is money for longer-term projects available over many years. The CWDA does not ensure this because it relies on yearly allocations in the state budget, rather than a dedicated funding stream.
Due to the unreliable nature of the funding for this effort, it’s very possible that eventually funding for critical projects could either be depleted or siphoned away from clean water. At the moment, Delaware has an abundance of capital resources. “A key question will become, what happens when those resources are no longer present?” Senator Townsend asks. If clean water doesn’t remain a priority going into the future, it will be on the chopping block when the budget gets cut.
So how does clean water become a priority? How do citizens of the state effectively motivate their legislators to create meaningful change? It starts from a group understanding of the issue. If the people and their representatives don’t have a comprehensive view of the state of the waterways, then neither knows how to enact effective change. Regrettably, a lack of knowledge is one of the issues Delaware faces. Senator Townsend describes that, “confusion has been present in the public, and even among elected officials.” If Delawarean citizens (both elected and not) were more aware of the dire situation that our waterways face, there would certainly have been more pushback on bills like the CWDA. These kinds of measures that don't fully resolve the issue get passed mostly without any real opposition, as critics are also usually ostracized and labeled as being unrealistic. If not enough awareness and passion are present in conversations surrounding clean water, the end result (as Senator Townsend describes it) is a “lack of political courage.” So how do Delawareans put courage in the hearts of their elected officials when it comes to clean water?
The answer comes in two simple forms: time and money. Investing time and effort into being heard by your elected officials is the best way to effect real change in Dover. There’s no better time than now—Gallup Polls rated drinking water as a top environmental concern among Americans followed by rivers, lakes, and streams just last year. In 2023, the Supreme Court will consider Sackett v. EPA, a case in which the ability of the EPA to regulate waterways will be decided. Considering their recent anti-environmental decisions, a continued state-level commitment to clean waters would be sound. In Delaware specifically, primary elections are less than ten days away, and letting both previously elected officials and new candidates know about these issues can help encourage positive change. Now is the time to contact those who are, or will be, in power and let them know how deeply Delaware cares about its waterways.
If you don’t have a lot of time to give, donating to organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Delaware Nature Society so they can advocate on your behalf can be effective as well. In addition, getting involved in these organizations is the most efficient way to find others who care deeply about these issues and will mobilize to instigate change. Special interest groups are the American institution that lets legislators know that large groups of people will rally to promote important issues; clean water can and should be one of those issues in Delaware.
Hopefully, after reading these two articles, Delawareans will better understand the gravity of the situation relating to their water and how to fight for effective change on that front. Unless some of the practices described in this article take place, then nothing is going to get any better and we will be stuck hoping that the limited funding and measures contained in the CWDA will be enough.
Do it for the environment, but also for each citizen of the state currently being denied the right to the world around them. Do it for the Delawareans that haven’t been born that should be able to appreciate the clean waterways that once flowed through their state.
Get energized. Get aware. Get active.
To contact your representatives and senators:
https://legis.delaware.gov/FindMyLegislator
To contact current Primary and General election candidates:
General Candidates
Primary Candidates
To sit in on meetings of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council, a group overseeing water management projects, both in person and virtually: https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/environmental-finance/water-infrastructure-advisory-council/