Ensuring Safe Drinking Water

From mountain streams, to coastal rivers, to hundreds of lakes that dot the landscape, the South's water resources are abundant. These waters provide countless opportunities for recreation as well as commercial and other fishing. Perhaps most important, however, is the drinking water they provide. Some of our largest rivers - the James, Chattahoochee, Tennessee and others - supply the South's metropolitan areas with drinking water and our rural areas are served by dozens of smaller lakes. Keeping these waters clean is imperative to provide safe drinking water to residents across the Southeast and protect public health.

Unfortunately, these waters face ongoing threats from unchecked development, road construction, and construction projects that provide sources of polluted runoff - the number one source of water pollution in the South. Polluted runoff, the result of rainwater picking up dirt, oils, toxins and other pollutants as it washes over land, is one of the most difficult water quality issues to address. SELC has drawn on our 20 years of experience to develop a multi-faceted approach to safeguard these waters that includes fighting illegal development permits in the courts and working behind the scenes to develop comprehensive policies that will ensure safe drinking for the South.

• Birmingham Drinking Water (AL)
• Goose Creek (NC)