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The Environmental Protection Agency would be in charge of protecting and restoring the Ohio River Basin under recently proposed legislation by Reps. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) and Erin Houchin (R-IN).
Other waterways around the country, such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes, have dedicated federal restoration funding, but the Ohio River does not, said Michael Washburn, executive director of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance. He added that a large portion of the nation's commerce relies on the 204,000-square-mile river basin.
“What this means,” he said, “is that we’ve had decades, if not longer, of people, communities, and industries treating the river more like a machine than like an abundant natural resource that it is.”
The Ohio River Restoration Program Act would require monitoring and data collection, habitat restoration, farm conservation, invasive-species control and management, support for homeowners concerned about their local watershed, and investments that help communities prepare for the impacts of extreme storms and flooding.
A 2023 report by American Rivers found the Ohio River is the second-most endangered waterway in the nation.
Heavy industry dumped more toxic pollution into the Ohio River watershed than any other in the United States in 2020, according to data from Environment America. Washburn pointed to mounting challenges, such as addressing PFAS contamination, which makes the need for federal funding even more critical.
“Twenty-five million people live in the basin,” he said. “Five million of those folks directly get their drinking water from the main stem, but many millions of other folks get their drinking water from tributaries that are also in peril that need help.”
A recent poll from the Environmental Protection Network found nearly 70% of voters say they want the EPA to implement federal protections, such as the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.
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Written by Nadia Ramlagan for Kentucky News Connection.
