Climate change has super-charged our water pollution loads. Our local waterways are experiencing intense pollution pressures from increased frequency of extreme weather events as well as increased intensity and duration of rainfall due to climate change. Across the region we’ve seen extreme rainfall events and more frequent floods that devastate our communities, overwhelm our water infrastructure, and deliver immense pollution loads to our waterways. Along our coastlines, communities are experiencing rising sea levels and sea water encroaching into our groundwater. Too often our low-income communities and communities of color overburdened by pollution due to environmental racism are hit first and are more heavily impacted when climate-driven storms and flooding occur. It is urgent that we focus on frontline communities in the face of a changing climate.
Our strategies include:
- Stop the expansion of fossil fuels infrastructure.
- Ensure safe disposal of toxic coal ash.
- Champion policies that mitigate new pollution pressures, build more resilient communities, reverse environmental injustices, and improve implementation and enforcement of clean water laws and regulations.
- Demand funding to upgrade and repair aging, poorly maintained water infrastructure.
2025 Water Quality Across the Chesapeake: What Waterkeepers are Seeing in Their Watersheds
A Year in Water Quality Monitoring with Your Local Waterkeepers
PFAS & Climate Change Fact Sheet
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