forbidden word: water management
This is one of the terms you can’t say in the Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.
water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and optimum use of water resources under defined water polices and regulations. It includes: management of water treatment of drinking water, industrial water, sewage or wastewater, management of water resources, management of flood protection, management of irrigation, and management of the water table.
from — Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Category:Water management – Wikipedia. Retrieved August 10, 2026
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Water resource management
Water resource management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. It is an aspect of water cycle management. The field of water resources management will have to continue to adapt to the current and future issues facing the allocation of water. With the growing uncertainties of global climate change and the long-term impacts of past management actions, this decision-making will be even more difficult. It is likely that ongoing climate change will lead to situations that have not been encountered. As a result, alternative management strategies, including participatory approaches and adaptive capacity are increasingly being used to strengthen water decision-making.[64]
Ideally, water resource management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands. As with other resource management, this is rarely possible in practice so decision-makers must prioritise issues of sustainability, equity and factor optimisation (in that order!) to achieve acceptable outcomes. One of the biggest concerns for water-based resources in the future is the sustainability of the current and future water resource allocation.[65]
Sustainable Development Goal 6 has a target related to water resources management: “Target 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.”[66][67]
Sustainable water management
At present, only about 0.08 percent of all the world’s fresh water is accessible. And there is ever-increasing demand for drinking, manufacturing, leisure and agriculture. Due to the small percentage of water available, optimizing the fresh water we have left from natural resources has been a growing challenge around the world.
Much effort in water resource management is directed at optimizing the use of water and in minimizing the environmental impact of water use on the natural environment. The observation of water as an integral part of the ecosystem is based on integrated water resources management, based on the 1992 Dublin Principles (see below).
Sustainable water management requires a holistic approach based on the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management, originally articulated in 1992 at the Dublin (January) and Rio (July) conferences. The four Dublin Principles, promulgated in the Dublin Statement are:
- Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment;
- Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels;
- Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water;
- Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.
Implementation of these principles has guided reform of national water management law around the world since 1992.[68]
Further challenges to sustainable and equitable water resources management include the fact that many water bodies are shared across boundaries which may be international (see water conflict) or intra-national (see Murray-Darling basin).
Integrated water resources management
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been defined by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems“.[69]
Some scholars say that IWRM is complementary to water security because water security is a goal or destination, whilst IWRM is the process necessary to achieve that goal.[70]
IWRM is a paradigm that emerged at international conferences in the late 1900s and early 2000s, although participatory water management institutions have existed for centuries.[71] Discussions on a holistic way of managing water resources began already in the 1950s leading up to the 1977 United Nations Water Conference.[72] The development of IWRM was particularly recommended in the final statement of the ministers at the International Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992, known as the Dublin Statement. This concept aims to promote changes in practices which are considered fundamental to improved water resource management. IWRM was a topic of the second World Water Forum, which was attended by a more varied group of stakeholders than the preceding conferences and contributed to the creation of the GWP.[71]
In the International Water Association definition, IWRM rests upon three principles that together act as the overall framework:[73]
- Social equity: ensuring equal access for all users (particularly marginalized and poorer user groups) to an adequate quantity and quality of water necessary to sustain human well-being.
- Economic efficiency: bringing the greatest benefit to the greatest number of users possible with the available financial and water resources.
- Ecological sustainability: requiring that aquatic ecosystems are acknowledged as users and that adequate allocation is made to sustain their natural functioning.
In 2002, the development of IWRM was discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, which aimed to encourage the implementation of IWRM at a global level.[74] The third World Water Forum recommended IWRM and discussed information sharing, stakeholder participation, and gender and class dynamics.[71]
Operationally, IWRM approaches involve applying knowledge from various disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders to devise and implement efficient, equitable and sustainable solutions to water and development problems. As such, IWRM is a comprehensive, participatory planning and implementation tool for managing and developing water resources in a way that balances social and economic needs, and that ensures the protection of ecosystems for future generations. In addition, in light of contributing the achievement of Sustainable Development goals (SDGs),[75] IWRM has been evolving into more sustainable approach as it considers the Nexus approach, which is a cross-sectoral water resource management. The Nexus approach is based on the recognition that “water, energy and food are closely linked through global and local water, carbon and energy cycles or chains.”
An IWRM approach aims at avoiding a fragmented approach of water resources management by considering the following aspects: Enabling environment, roles of Institutions, management Instruments. Some of the cross-cutting conditions that are also important to consider when implementing IWRM are: Political will and commitment, capacity development, adequate investment, financial stability and sustainable cost recovery, monitoring and evaluation. There is not one correct administrative model. The art of IWRM lies in selecting, adjusting and applying the right mix of these tools for a given situation. IWRM practices depend on context; at the operational level, the challenge is to translate the agreed principles into concrete action.[76]
Regional governance frameworks
When water systems cross international borders, countries must cooperate to manage them effectively. WHiles frameworks exist globaly, continental and regional entities often dictate policy alignment, resource allocation, and integrated management straegies. Africa usually serves as a prominent model due to its high density of transboundary waters.[77]
Water resource management in Africa is coordinated through continental frameworks aimed at balancing development with conservation. Regional cooperation is central to continental policy because over 60 percent of Africa’s water resources are contained within transboundary river basins and aquifers.[78]
The African Ministers’ Council on Water, or AMCOW, was established in 2002 via the Abuja Declaration to provide political leadership and policy direction for water and sanitation across the African Union’s 55 member states.[79] In late 2025, AMCOW formally adopted the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy, which replaced the previous 2025 roadmap. This updated gramework integrates water security directly into the African Union’s Agenda 2063, making shared water systems as instruments for climate resilience, economic trade, and regional peace.[80] The African Network of Basin Organisations, or ANBO also operates alongside AMCOW, coordinating technical capacity-building and standardizing data collection methodologies among Africa’s scattered river basin entities.
To manage specific shared river and lake systems, African nations utilize specialized River Basin Organizations.[81] These institutions manage competing water claims, negotiate hydrological infrastructure development like hydroelectric dams, and implement environmental protection plans.
Notable examples include the Nile Basin Initiative, a cooperative partnership formed in 1999 by the Nile riparian states. It operates as a transitional institutional mechanism to foster socio-economic benefits, and equitably utilize shared resources along the Nile River.[82][83] Similarly, the Niger Basin Authority acts as one of the oldest regional water bodies on the continent, governing the Niger River basin across nine West and Central African nations. Niger Basin Authority’s aim is to promote integrated development in agriculture, energy, and transport.[77] In southern Africa, the Zambezi Watercourse Commission provides a joint governance framework for the eight riparian states sharing the Zambezi River basin, focusing heavily on equitable utilization and sustainable water infrastructure planning.
International initiatives, such as the European Union-backed Team Europe Initiative on Transboundary Water Management in Africa, provide development assistance to these organizations. They finance long-term infrastructure and update climate-resilient water allocation plans.[84]
Managing water in urban settings
Integrated urban water management (IUWM) is the practice of managing freshwater, wastewater, and storm water as components of a basin-wide management plan. It builds on existing water supply and sanitation considerations within an urban settlement by incorporating urban water management within the scope of the entire river basin.[85] IUWM is commonly seen as a strategy for achieving the goals of Water Sensitive Urban Design. IUWM seeks to change the impact of urban development on the natural water cycle, based on the premise that by managing the urban water cycle as a whole; a more efficient use of resources can be achieved providing not only economic benefits but also improved social and environmental outcomes. One approach is to establish an inner, urban, water cycle loop through the implementation of reuse strategies. Developing this urban water cycle loop requires an understanding both of the natural, pre-development, water balance and the post-development water balance. Accounting for flows in the pre- and post-development systems is an important step toward limiting urban impacts on the natural water cycle.[86]
IUWM within an urban water system can also be conducted by performance assessment of any new intervention strategies by developing a holistic approach which encompasses various system elements and criteria including sustainability type ones in which integration of water system components including water supply, waste water and storm water subsystems would be advantageous.[87] Simulation of metabolism type flows in urban water system can also be useful for analysing processes in urban water cycle of IUWM.[87][88]
By country
Water resource management and governance is handled differently by different countries. For example, in the United States, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners monitor water resources, conduct research and inform the public about groundwater quality.[89] Water resources in specific countries are described below:
See also
- List of sovereign states by freshwater withdrawal
- List of countries by total renewable water resources
- Socio-hydrology – Interdisciplinary field studying the dynamic interactions between water and people
- Virtual water – Concept on hidden water in traded commodities
- Water resources law – Law and regulations that relate to water resources
- Water rights – Right of a user to use water from a water source
- Water storage – Storage of water by various means
from — Wikipedia contributors. (2026af, July 24). Water resources. Wikipedia. Retrieved August 10, 2026
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Water Management Plans and Best Practices at EPA
Through a combination of strategic planning, project execution and conservation efforts, EPA has been able to reduce water intensity over the past several years.
EPA Water Management Plans
Water management plans help individual facilities set long- and short-term water conservation goals. EPA currently has 20 signed water management plans.
Learn more about EPA’s water management plans.
Top 10 Water Management Techniques
Following are the top 10 water best management practices that EPA has implemented to reduce water use at facilities throughout the agency.
- Meter/Measure/Manage
- Optimize Cooling Towers
- Replace Restroom Fixtures
- Eliminate Single-Pass Cooling
- Use Water-Smart Landscaping and Irrigation
- Reduce Steam Sterilizer Tempering Water Use
- Reuse Laboratory Culture Water
- Control Reverse Osmosis System Operation
- Recover Rainwater
- Recover Air Handler Condensate
1. Meter/Measure/Manage
Metering and measuring facility water use help to analyze saving opportunities. This also assures the equipment is run correctly and maintained properly to help prevent water waste from leaks or malfunctioning mechanical equipment.
A cooling tower at EPA’s Environmental Science Center in Fort Meade, Maryland
2. Optimize Cooling Towers
Cooling towers provide air conditioning for laboratories and are large consumers of water. Cooling tower operations can be optimized by carefully controlling the ratio of water discharged (blowdown) to water evaporated. The ratio of evaporation to blowdown is called the cycle of concentration. For maximum water efficiency, cooling towers should be operated at six or more cycles of concentration. Metering water put into and discharged from the cooling tower ensures the cooling tower is operating properly and can help identify leaks or other malfunctions.
- The Environmental Science Center in Fort Meade, Maryland, saved 530,000 gallons of water by reducing its cooling tower blowdown.
3. Replace Restroom Fixtures
The U.S. Department of Energy established federal water-efficiency standards in the 1990s. Prior to that, most EPA facilities had inefficient sanitary fixtures. For example, toilets used 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf). Nearly all EPA laboratories have since installed water-efficient fixtures, many of which have earned EPA’s WaterSense® label for efficiency and performance. These include:
- New toilets with flow rates of 1.28 or 1.6 gpf.
- WaterSense labeled urinals flushing at 0.5 gpf or less.
- WaterSense labeled showerheads flowing at 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm) or less.
Faucet aerators flowing at 0.5 gpm, well below the 2.2 gpm federal standard, have also been installed in most laboratories.
4. Eliminate Single-Pass Cooling
Single-pass cooling circulates a continuous flow of water just once through the system for cooling purposes before it goes down the drain. EPA strives to eliminate single-pass cooling in its laboratories. Instead, facilities have air-cooled or recirculating chilled water systems.
- The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, replaced its single-pass cooling system with a recirculated chilled water loop. This cut water use 80 percent, saving the laboratory 24.8 million gallons of water annually.
5. Use Water-Smart Landscaping and Irrigation
Planting native and drought-tolerant plant species minimizes the need for supplemental irrigation. Landscape water use can also be reduced 10 to 20 percent by having an irrigation water audit. EPA selects audit professionals certified through a WaterSense labeled program. WaterSense labeled weather-based irrigation controllers or soil moisture sensors are used to water only when plants need it.
6. Control Steam Sterilizer Water
Steam sterilizers use cooling water to temper steam condensate discharge from the sterilizer to the laboratory drain. Many older sterilizers discharge a continuous flow of tempering water to the drain, even when it is not needed. EPA has retrofitted sterilizers with a tempering water control kit or replaced old steam sterilizers with models that only apply tempering water when needed.
- The Pacific Ecological Systems Division Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, installed tempering water control valves on its sterilizers. This has saved approximately 1.5 million gallons of water annually.
7. Reuse Laboratory Culture Water
EPA’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory pumps water from Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota.
Several EPA laboratories require water for aquatic culture research. In some cases, culture water is pumped into laboratory specimen tanks from local bodies of water, such as lakes or bays. It is then discharged into the sewer or treated and returned to the body of water.
- The EPA’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory in Duluth, Minnesota, uses approximately 35 to 40 gallons per minute of Lake Superior water for its laboratory research.
8. Control Reverse Osmosis System Operation
Up to 10 percent of a laboratory’s water consumption can be related to the multi-step process of generating deionized (DI) purified water through reverse osmosis (RO). Water savings can be achieved by carefully regulating purified water generation rates to meet laboratory demand and making sure that systems are sized accordingly.
- EPA’s Environmental Science Center in Fort Meade, Maryland, saves approximately 1.5 million gallons of water by reducing DI/RO system operation from 24 hours per day to 12 hours per day.
9. Recover Rainwater
Recovery systems capture rainwater from the roof and redirect it to a storage tank. This water is used for flushing toilets, supplying cooling towers and irrigating the landscape.
- The Region 7 Science and Technology Center in Kansas City, Kansas, has incorporated a state-of-the-art rooftop rainwater recovery system that has the potential to save the laboratory more than 300,000 gallons of water per year.
10. Recover Air Handler Condensate
Air conditioning units produce condensate water from the cooling coils. Many EPA laboratories are capturing this water for use as cooling tower make-up water.
- The Region 4 Laboratory Services and Applied Science Division Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, captures 400,000 gallons of condensate from three rooftop air handlers and routes it to the facility cooling tower.
For more information on water-saving best practices, please see the resources available from:
Trump Silent as Severe Water Crisis Impacts Tens of Thousands of Americans
Puerto Rico entered a sweeping 48-hour water-rationing cycle affecting more than 180,000 people as drought conditions reach historic extremes, while residents in several neighborhoods report having endured more than 100 days of unreliable service this year alone.
The crisis is unfolding with no comment from President Donald Trump, even as residents, businesses, and hospitals brace for prolonged shortages. Local officials warn the emergency could stretch for weeks or months, leaving millions of U.S. citizens navigating a system already weakened by years of neglect.
The island’s water authority says the Carraízo reservoir has dropped to critically low levels, forcing alternating shutoffs across seven municipalities, but residents say outages began long before the drought—a sign of deeper infrastructure failures that neither the Puerto Rico government nor federal agencies have addressed.
CTPR Executive Director Willianette Robles Cancel told Newsweek the tourism sector is coordinating with Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) and the central government to maintain operations, noting: “Our focus has been clear: anticipate, guide, and support the sector to guarantee continuity of tourism services.”
But the broader crisis extends far beyond tourism, and frustration is mounting over the absence of federal leadership.
A White House official told Newsweek that the situation in Puerto Rico is being “closely” monitored, and it has received no requests from FEMA for assistance.
A Federal Silence as a Major U.S. Territory Runs Dry
Despite more than 3 million U.S. citizens living on the island, the Trump administration has not issued any statement on the worsening water shortages. The silence comes as Puerto Rico faces one of its most severe droughts in modern history. July was San Juan’s driest month in more than 120 years, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects below-average rainfall and above-normal heat through October due to a strengthening El Niño pattern.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s early‑August update shows roughly 68 percent of Puerto Rico in drought, with moderate to severe conditions concentrated across the island’s interior and northern municipalities.
Governor Jenniffer González has admitted she does not know how long rationing will last, calling the situation “out of our hands.”
Environmental and climate‑communication researcher Catalina de Onis said the government’s messaging minimizes its own role in the crisis. She argued that decades of privatization, austerity, and fossil‑fuel dependence — intensified under the federally imposed Fiscal Control Board — have directly contributed to the island’s vulnerability.
“Massive cuts to public services, privatization, and disinvestment have propelled very damaging fossil fuel reliance that perpetuates the drought crisis,” she said, adding that Puerto Rico’s colonial status further limits local control over climate and energy decisions.
Customers were divided into two groups that will alternate not having water for at least 48 hours at a time. Local government officials have also not said when the rationing will end and have warned the outages could be extended to 72 hours at a time.
Residents counter that the crisis stems from years of political neglect at the territorial and federal levels, as people in several San Juan neighborhoods have tracked more than 118 days of unreliable water service this year, reporting full‑day and multi‑day shutoffs along with persistently low pressure well before the formal rationing plan began.
Environmental communication researcher Catalina de Onis said the current shutoffs must be understood in the context of Puerto Rico’s long history of resource extraction and political neglect.
She noted that water access has repeatedly been shaped by “racial capitalism, neoliberalism, and US and Spanish empire building,” adding that elderly and disabled residents are facing the most disproportionate impacts.
De Onis said the present crisis reflects “disinvestment in public infrastructure…now existing amid compounding crises, including worsening drought conditions associated with climate breakdown.”
Puerto Rico’s government has offered little clarity or urgency. PRASA says rationing is necessary to “distribute available water more equitably,” yet communities have been reporting outages since mid-June, long before the drought intensified.
San Juan’s mayor has sued PRASA over chronic shortages unrelated to weather, and the agency is urging residents to boil water once service returns — a sign of contamination risk and system instability.
Water‑resilience specialist Kevin Gast told Newsweek that the crisis highlights a national problem.
“Water resilience is not only a matter of having enough natural water, but also of the quality of the treatment and distribution infrastructure,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to PRASA and La Fortaleza for comment; neither responded.
A Crisis That Demands Federal Attention—But Isn’t Getting It
Puerto Rico has faced water rationing before, including in 2015 and 2020, but experts say the current emergency is broader, deeper, and more destabilizing. Extreme heat, historic drought, and long-standing infrastructure failures have created a crisis that residents say should have prompted federal intervention weeks ago.
Instead, hospitals are relying on tanker trucks and businesses are paying hundreds of dollars a day to stay open. The absence of federal engagement is becoming a central part of the story—one that tens of thousands of Americans living on the island say they can no longer afford to ignore.
Small Businesses Face Mounting Costs and Daily Disruptions
Local businesses, especially in Old San Juan, have been hit hard.
Some cafés and restaurants have had to close during rationing windows because they cannot operate safely without running water. Others are paying hundreds of dollars per day for private tanker services when municipal trucks fail to arrive.
One San Juan business owner told Noticias Telemundo he spends $300 to $500 daily to fill cisterns just to stay open.
Travel blogger and podcast host Bianca Alba told Newsweek that the strain is widespread.
“When businesses can’t operate, they lose income. And when that happens for days or weeks at a time, it becomes difficult to pay employees, cover rent, and meet everyday expenses. This isn’t just an inconvenience…it’s affecting people’s livelihoods,” she said.
Residents describe long lines for bottled water at supermarkets and warehouse stores, with supplies running low hours after deliveries.
“People are stocking up on bottled water whenever they can,” Alba said. “Just yesterday, one of my close friends spent hours waiting in line at Costco simply to buy water before supplies ran low. That scarcity mindset is very real because people don’t know when they’ll have reliable access again.”
She continued: “At the same time, residents are still going to work, serving visitors, running businesses, and doing everything they can to keep life moving. It’s an incredibly difficult balance.”
Daily Life Upended as Residents Scramble for Water
For many families, the emergency is not theoretical—it is reshaping daily life. Vanessa Toro, who is currently staying in Puerto Rico with relatives, described the cascading disruptions in a voice memo shared with Newsweek.
She said she spent hours trying to wash clothes, only to find multiple laundromats closed because they had no water. When she finally reached one that was open, she learned it was operating on limited supply and could only take certain loads.
Toro said she then went to Econo, a major supermarket chain, where customers were buying water in bulk and shelves were quickly emptying. She described people filling carts with bottles, worried they wouldn’t have enough for the next shutoff window.
“The Econo is flooded with people,” she said. “This is before the kids even get out of school. Everybody’s buying water; they’re selling bags of water bottles, like individual water bottles, like four or five of them in the produce bags.”
Extreme Heat and Historic Drought Deepen the Crisis
Rainfall since June 1 is more than 9 inches below normal, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Meteorologist María Novoa García told The Weather Channel that rainfall over the next several weeks is expected to be 50 percent below average, with El Niño intensifying.
PRASA President Luis González Delgado said potable water trucks will prioritize hospitals and elder‑care facilities but acknowledged the system has suffered from decades of underinvestment.
Residents in Canóvanas, Cupey, and other hard‑hit areas say they’ve already endured weeks without water, making preparation for scheduled shutoffs nearly impossible.
“It’s chaos,” community leader Marcia Soler París told the Associated Press. “How are Puerto Ricans supposed to prepare for rationing when they don’t have water now?”
Long‑Term Risks Grow as Leaders Fail to Act
Experts say the crisis reflects deeper structural issues. Aging infrastructure, chronic underinvestment, and climate‑driven extremes have created a system unable to withstand prolonged drought.
Local scientists recently raised concerns about large‑scale development projects approved during the drought, arguing they could worsen water stress and harm fragile ecosystems.
Forty‑four local scientists signed a letter warning that Esencia would cause “grave harms to local communities, including multiple endangered species that are endemic to Puerto Rico.”
De Onis said the unified intervention from biodiversity and ecosystem experts signals that the project poses “ecocide” risks and highlights a broader pattern in which government agencies “allow, invite, and welcome harmful projects for supposed economic gains,” despite the environmental costs.
As the drought intensifies, residents, businesses, and the tourism sector are left navigating a crisis with no clear end date.
“Water shouldn’t feel like a luxury,” Alba told Newsweek. “It should be something everyone can count on—whether you’re a resident, a visitor, or a business owner.”
from — Castro, A. (2026, August 10). Trump silent as Puerto Rico begins 48‐Hour water rationing amid severe drought. Newsweek.
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Trump’s EPA Moves to Ax Requirement that Coal Plants Treat Toxic Wastewater Seeping into Lakes and Rivers
EPA proposes to rollback requirements on the amount of arsenic and mercury that coal power plants are allowed to discharge
Today, the Trump administration released a draft plan to gut drinking water protections that would have required coal power plants to treat their toxic “unmanaged” leachate wastewater under the Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs). This pollution consists of toxic metals such as mercury, arsenic, and other harmful pollutants that have leached out of coal ash dumps and contaminated groundwater, which then is discharged into waterways, such as lakes and rivers, which are often sources of drinking water.
Under the proposal, coal power plants would only be required to treat this contaminated groundwater if they first decide to pump it to the surface as part of a groundwater cleanup. The proposal would exempt contaminated groundwater that seeps into waterways such as rivers, lakes, and streams from mandatory treatment requirements.
The EPA previously estimated that treatment requirements for unmanaged leachate would prevent between 113 and 601 million pounds per year of pollutants from contaminating water at between 61 and 113 facilities across the country. EPA estimates that the proposed rollback announced today would relax federal standards at the vast majority of those facilities (as many as 104 plants).
“This is another example of the Trump administration endangering the health of Americans as a favor to corporate polluters,” said Earthjustice attorney Thom Cmar. “This plan would eliminate safeguards on hundreds of millions of pounds of wastewater with neurotoxins and cancer-causing contaminants. It would allow coal power plants to avoid cleaning up contamination that threatens our drinking water sources.”
In 2024, the EPA strengthened the ELGs on several types of plant wastewater, including unmanaged leachate, to require coal power plants to substantially reduce the amount of pollutants that they are permitted to dump into U.S. waterways. The proposal EPA announced today focuses on gutting requirements that unmanaged leachate be treated to substantially reduce the arsenic and mercury that coal power plants are allowed to discharge.
Coal plant wastewater pollution is so concerning that the association of utilities that supply roughly 80% of North America’s drinking water (the American Water Works Association) submitted comments to the EPA about the Effluent Limitation Guidelines jointly with Clean Water Action, and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments also spoke out, warning about the effects for drinking water
Industry has been pushing hard to avoid these requirements. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget met this spring about the leachate proposal with the utility lobbying group the Edison Electric Institute; the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on behalf of Indiana utilities; DTE Energy in Michigan; and PPL Corporation, which owns utilities in multiple states, most notably LG&E and KU in Kentucky. Other companies and industry groups have been lobbying EPA for these changes, too, including by submitting written comments to EPA’s docket last year.
The administration has said that it plans another effort to weaken standards for other wastewater discharges under the Effluent Guidelines, to be launched potentially later this year. This rulemaking would reconsider standards for other wastewater generated by coal power plants, including air pollution scrubbers and water used to flush out coal ash that accumulates at the bottom of the coal boiler (known as bottom ash).
Background
Power plants have historically been by far one of the largest sources of toxic pollutants in America’s rivers, lakes, and streams. Even though the Clean Water Act requires polluters to use the most modern and effective pollution control technology available to treat wastewater, prior to 2015 most coal plants had no limits on toxic pollutants in their wastewater discharges. In response to Earthjustice lawsuits, the EPA finally revised the wastewater standards to require coal power plants to install state-of-the-art wastewater treatment technology and monitor local water quality. In 2024, for the first time, those standards included new treatment standards for leachate from power plant coal ash disposal sites, a result of a court victory won by Earthjustice and partner groups in 2019.
Right before Christmas, the EPA decided to delay many of the new standards on other types of coal plant wastewater discharges for six years, and they said they would do additional rulemakings to further gut the safeguards before they could take effect. The new proposed unmanaged leachate rule is this Administration’s second effort to roll back these critical water pollution standards, which are aimed at protecting the over 30 million people and over 100 threatened and endangered species that are still in harm’s way from this ongoing pollution.
August 10th, 2026
Hudson Valley, New York
This is one of the words/ phrases you can’t say in the new Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.
image: harbor moon © holly troy 7.2026
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