Genesis of Clean Water Reform

To help the reader better understand the history of the reform movement to clean up our water supplies, including shale gas water (fracking fluid or gas-related produced water and blowback), we trace a chronology of some of the significant events precipitated by environmental organizations and citizens groups that have occurred since the mid-1960s  

Americans came face-to-face with the grim condition of the nation s waterways in 1969, when the industrial-waste-laden Cuyahoga River caught on fire. That same year, waste from food-processing plants killed almost 30 million fish in Lake Thonotosassa, Florida. 

This chronology is adapted from Sierra Club, Clean water timeline. The Planet, 4(8), 1997. 

In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) passed, requiring the USEPA to establish national standards for contaminants in drinking water systems, underground wells, and sole-source aquifers, as well as several other requirements. 

In 1987, the Clean Water Act reauthorization bill was reintroduced. It became law after Congress overrode President Reagan s veto. A new provision established the National Estuary Program. 

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