KWA is proud to serve on the Steering Committee for the Healthy Waters Coalition,  comprised of 120 local, state, and national conservation organizations who are working together to restore and protect the interconnected waters of the Ohio River Basin. This new coalition seeks to secure a regional restoration plan and the federal funding to implement it — goals that align with a broad collaboration underway in the region that is calling for more to be done to protect the waters that 30 million people depend on for their drinking water. Read the full Press Release below.  Contact Michael Washburn, KWA Executive Director for questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
National Wildlife Federation – American Farmland Trust – American Rivers – Appalachian Citizens Law Center – Backcountry Hunters and Anglers – Groundwork Ohio River Valley – Indiana Wildlife Federation –
Kentucky Waterways Alliance – NAACP-Evansville – Pennsylvania Environmental Council – PennFuture –
Rural Action – Tennessee Wildlife Federation – Upstream Pittsburgh – West Virginia Rivers Coalition
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2025
Contact: Michael McShane | (202) 731-3413
 
New Coalition Launches to Restore, Protect Waters of Ohio River Basin, Home to 30 Million
120-member Healthy Waters Coalition seeks to address threats, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, nonpoint pollution, and flooding.
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than 120 local, state, and national conservation organizations launched the Healthy Waters Coalition to restore and protect the interconnected waters of the Ohio River Basin. This new coalition seeks to secure a regional restoration plan and the federal funding to implement it — goals that align with a broad collaboration underway in the region that is calling for more to be done to protect the waters that 30 million people depend on for their drinking water.
 
The Basin encompasses portions of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The region is the ancestral and historical homelands of over 40 federally recognized Tribal Nations, including those currently in the region, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Seneca Nation of Indians.
 
“The Healthy Waters Coalition will work to ensure all 30 million people in the region have access to clean, safe and affordable water,” said Jordan Lubetkin, director of the Healthy Waters Coalition. “Together, we will work to elevate the restoration and protection of our region’s waters as a national priority to address urgent threats like toxic pollution, sewage contamination, and flooding through new federal investments and strong clean water protections. We have solutions, and it is time to use them before the problems get worse and more costly to solve.”
 
The Ohio River Basin Alliance (ORBA), National Wildlife Federation, and University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute released in June a draft plan to confront threats to restore and protect the Ohio River Basin. The plan calls for addressing urgent threats to people and wildlife, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, inadequate water infrastructure, nonpoint source pollution, habitat loss, and flooding. Several Healthy Waters Coalition members participated in crafting the plan.
 
The collaboration with stakeholders led by the Ohio River Basin Alliance and National Wildlife Federation to craft the plan over the last four years has captured the attention of Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, who in December introduced bipartisan legislation to invest in the restoration of the Ohio River Basin. Additional bipartisan legislation is expected to be introduced in the fall to support shared clean water goals for the Ohio River Basin.
 
The Healthy Waters Coalition steering committee, led by the National Wildlife Federation, is comprised of representatives from American Farmland Trust, American Rivers, Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, NAACP-Evansville, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, PennFuture, Rural Action, Tennessee Wildlife Federation, Upstream Pittsburgh, and West Virginia Rivers Coalition.
 
Despite progress over the last 50 years to restore the region’s waters by local, state, Tribal, and federal partners, serious threats continue to plague the interconnected streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands of the Ohio River region including:

• Nearly 69% of assessed stream miles and 64% of assessed lake acres in the region do not meet state water quality standards — they suffer from pollutants including mercury, PCBs, bacteria, and nutrients.
• Nearly every state in the region has issued advisories restricting fish consumption on streams, rivers, or lakes due to contaminants such as mercury, PCBs, certain pesticides, dioxins, and PFAS.
• There are at least 146 toxic waste dumps, commonly called Superfund sites, in the Ohio River Basin — with some are already contaminating water supplies and all of them threaten to.

 
According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), low-income communities suffer disproportionate harm from pollution. In the Ohio River Basin, approximately 50 percent of people in the region live in counties considered economically distressed or at risk. Residents who live in distressed or at-risk communities have shorter life expectancies, higher incidences of heart disease, diabetes, mental distress, and more drug-related deaths than people who reside in more economically advantaged communities.
 
“Clean drinking water is a basic need, but right now too many communities in the U.S. are dealing with health-threatening pollution,” Lubetkin said. “We need to ensure everyone has access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water, and we need to start where the problems are biggest. The Healthy Waters Coalition will strive to ensure that the communities that have been harmed the most by pollution are prioritized when it comes to cleanup, and that the people who live in those communities have a voice in the solutions.”
 
Funding to support the formation of the Healthy Waters Coalition has been provided by the Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, Network for Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund, Tides Foundation, and Water Solutions Fund in coordination with Mosaic.

The Ohio River Basin restoration and protection plan can be found HERE.
More information on the Healthy Waters Coalition, including how conservation organizations can join the coalition, can be found HERE.
 
###

KWA and our partners, including the National Wildlife Federation, oppose changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that removes habitat protection from the ESA. KWA and our partners submitted comments to the Department of the Interior opposing a federal rule proposing to remove habitat destruction from the definition of “harm." This proposed rule also signals a move away from science-based policy and toward political expediency, which is incompatible with both the plain language of the ESA and the agencies’ duty to faithfully execute the laws passed by Congress. In Kentucky, 29 species of mussels are currently federally listed as threatened or endangered, most due to habitat degradation. Many of Kentucky’s other threatened and endangered species would be impacted by this proposal, including the the Blackside dace and Big Sandy crayfish pictured below.

• Read our comment letter here.
• KWA also assisted with drafting and signed onto technical comments submitted by the National Wildlife Federation, found here.

These are not easy days to protect Kentucky’s waterways. Federal protections for clean water are being dismantled—wetlands stripped of safeguards, pollution limits weakened, enforcement scaled back. Here at home, we’ve seen how deep pockets speak louder than public interest. And all across Kentucky, the floods keep coming—devastating, displacing, and now arriving with yearly regularity. The work is getting harder by the day. 
​
But that’s not the whole story. Across Kentucky, communities are rising—farmers, paddlers, faith leaders, and small business owners—standing up for clean water and a healthy future. That spirit is the heart of Kentucky Waterways Alliance.

We’re a member-powered organization rooted in science, but guided by something deeper. Science is not our goal—it’s our tool. We use it to serve a single agenda: to create the conditions for individuals and communities to flourish in Kentucky. In that way, our mission is a civic one. We are working to make good on the promise of what it means to live in a Commonwealth.

And what does that promise include? Safe drinking water. Clean rivers to fish and paddle. Landscapes that feed both body and soul. Too often, we think of water and land separately—but water is the landscape. It’s the lifeblood that shapes our hills, nourishes our farms, runs through our towns, and flows from our taps. When we protect water, we protect everything built upon it.

Since I joined KWA, we’ve rarely made mid-year asks. But these aren’t typical times. Last fall, we launched a full policy program to meet the mounting threats head-on. We didn’t expect it to be tested so quickly—but here we are. The passage of SB89 was a blow. It weakened core protections. But it also lit a fire. We saw people across the Commonwealth step up and say: Not here. Not now. Not without a fight.

That’s what this moment asks of us. Self-defense. Self-preservation. Self-determination.

And it’s why I’m asking you to make a mid-year gift today. Your support helps us:

• Hold the line against bad policy and hold polluters accountable.
• Monitor Kentucky’s waters so pollution never goes unseen.
• Mobilize people to speak out and protect what we love.

​This is what it means to live in a Commonwealth—to choose each other, again and again. Please, stand with us in this shared work. Let’s defend what we can’t afford to lose.

With gratitude and resolve,
Michael Washburn, Executive Director​

P.S. Members of KWA receive our NewsStreams magazine twice a year. Give now to receive the summer edition featuring a Q&A with Silas House!

Here is the Veto Statement.
Now we need you to make your voices heard!
​Exactly What to Do: Spend 10 Minutes to Save Our Water.
Look up who your House Rep and Senator are here. OR, the LRC switchboard can look it up for you.
1️⃣ CALL YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE (2 minutes)

• Call the Legislative Research Commission Switchboard: (502) 564-8100
• They’re VERY nice—this is their job!
• Ask to be transferred to YOUR House Rep’s office and say:
• “My name is [Your Name], and I live at [Your Address]. I’m calling to ask Representative [Name] to uphold the veto of SB 89. This bill removes pollution protections for groundwater, putting tens of thousands of private wells in rural Kentucky at risk. Every Kentuckian deserves clean, safe water—and SB 89 threatens the water we rely on for drinking, farming, and industry.”

2️⃣ REPEAT FOR YOUR SENATOR (2 minutes)

• Same call, same message—just swap Representative for Senator.

3️⃣ DEMAND ACTION FROM THE FULL LEGISLATURE (2 minutes)

• Call the main message line - 1-800-372-7181
• Leave a message for the FULL HOUSE AND THE FULL SENATE:  “Kentuckians demand clean water. Uphold the veto of SB 89.”

4️⃣ BACK IT UP WITH AN EMAIL (3 minutes)

• Find your legislators’ emails: House Rep HERE / Senator HERE
• Subject line: “Uphold the Veto on SB 89—Protect Kentucky’s Water”
• Email Body (Personalize the red parts) :
  Dear [Representative/Senator Last Name], Clean water isn’t political—it’s a right. As a constituent from [Your Town/City], I urge you to uphold the veto of SB 89. This bill removes critical protections for Kentucky’s groundwater, putting tens of thousands of private wells at risk of contamination and increasing costs for public drinking water and sewage treatment. SB 89 threatens the waters we rely on for drinking, farming, and industry. I’m counting on you to stand for every Kentuckian's right to clean, safe water.
• You can find all the links with the facts and data on why SB 89 is such a dangerous bill below. Feel free to copy any of those links into your emails! 

5️⃣ SHARE & MULTIPLY YOUR IMPACT (1 minute) Email or text this webpage to your friends, family, and neighbors. Post about it on social media and direct people to this action page. 
​
We’re in a critical fight to stop SB 89, a dangerous bill that would roll back protections for Kentucky’s groundwater, wetlands, and streams. An unprecedented coalition of partner organizations across the state is coordinating actions and activating Kentuckians to oppose this bill. Read our joint state in opposition to Senate Bill 89 here. 

• Courier Journal op-ed by Michael Washburn: Kentucky bill would give coal, other industries the right to pollute our water 
• Fact Sheet #1,
• Fact Sheet #2,  
• Fact Sheet #3,
• Kentucky's Energy and Environment Cabinet expressed the State's "grave concerns" about SB 89,
• Energy & Environment Cabinet’s analysis of SB 89 (addressing the insufficiencies of the House Committee Substitute
• Secretary of Kentucky's Energy and Environment Cabinet letter of March 12, 2025 to Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives
• Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House remarks here

2025 Senate Bill 89: Removing Protections for Waters of the Commonwealth
SB 89 – (S. Madon) – An act relating to environmental protection and declaring an emergency.
 
Kentucky Waterways Alliance Strongly Opposes SB89 as it threatens:
Drinking Water – Groundwater – Wetlands – Headwaters – Increases Water Pollution 

• 1.5 million Kentucky residents get drinking water from groundwater.
• Kentucky has 416 million private drinking wells, industrial wells, monitoring and agricultural wells.
• 65% of Kentucky’s waters are headwaters and ephemeral streams.
• 80% of Kentucky’s historical wetlands have already been lost.

What SB89 Does:

• SB89 replaces the current definition of “Waters of the Commonwealth” at KRS 224.1-010(32) with the federal definition of “navigable waters” as defined by 33 U.S.C. sec. 1362.

SB89 Harmful Impact – Practical Effect

• SB89 removes Kentucky’s jurisdictional authority/primacy to define what waters are within our state boundaries, except for federal navigable waters.
• SB89 removes Kentucky’s jurisdictional authority/primacy to govern over waters within our state boundaries, except for federal navigable waters.
• This would be like limiting police to only patrolling interstates while ignoring local roads.
• Kentucky would be the only state in the United States to abandon its sovereignty to define its jurisdictional authority over its own water, surrendering this power to the federal government to change or treat as it wishes.
• SB89 removes all protections and authority to govern groundwater, wetlands, and headwaters.

SB89 Harmful Outcomes:

• More overall water pollution would be allowed across the entire Commonwealth.
• All protection for groundwater drinking sources and wells would be removed
• No prohibition on dumping, filling, or releasing pollutants in headwater streams, compromising all streams, rivers, and lakes downstream.
• Drinking water treatment costs could increase for city and county residents and governments.
• Increased flood risk due to reduced protections for and loss of wetlands.
• Cost of pollution controls could increase for permitted industry due to intake treatment costs and more stringent limits due to degraded water quality in waterways.
• Increased confusion and uncertainty of regulated waters for industry and development due to continuously changing definition of federal “navigable waters” definition.
• Loss of groundwater protection from landfills and superfund sites.

Kentuckians Suffering from Unintended Consequences of Well Intended Regulations

• Kentuckians are worth investing in balanced permitting and environmental protections.

• Balanced permitting ensures responsible development and prevents shifting burdens of environmental damage onto Kentucky residents.
• Harmful unintended consequences to wetlands and headwaters are already harming Kentucky residents.
• 8 of the top 10 counties in the US experiencing the most major disasters in the past 12 years are in KY.
  • Johnson County is 1st in the nation experiencing 15 major disasters in 12 years.
• Owsley County is 9th in the nation experiencing 13 major disasters in 12 years.
  • Floyd 2nd - 14, Lawrence 4th - 14, Magoffin 5th - 14, Knott 6th - 14, Clay 7th - 13, Lee 8th - 13
• 19 of the past 20 disasters were severe storms and flooding. One disaster was a winter storm.

Importance of Clean, Abundant Water

• Reliable, high-quality supply of water supports public health, quality of life and the economy.
• Clean, abundant water creates jobs and opportunities and grows communities.
• Water is the lifeline and cornerstone for Kentucky’s top industries
  • 76,000 farms, 13 million acres of farmland – Agriculture is 50% of KY’s total land acreage.
  • 4,500 manufacturing facilities, 250,000 jobs – Manufacturing is $37.5 million to KY’s GDP.
  • 175 health care-related businesses, 30,000 jobs – 315 gallons used per hospital bed per day.
  • 173 school districts, 1,233 schools, 22,284 gallons of water used by average school per day.
• Bourbon produces $8.94 billion in economic output of Kentucky.
  • 95% of global bourbon is made in Kentucky - 240 breweries and distillers - 22,450 jobs
• Outdoor Recreation Industry is extremely reliant on clean water and healthy habitats.
  • $8.4 billion in outdoor recreational consumer spending in Kentucky in 2013.
  • $11.2 billion estimated economic impact from fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing in 2022.
  • Creates 70,000 jobs, $2.5 million in wages and engages 3.42 million participants.
  • Generates $552 Million for state and local revenue and $373.1 Million in federal revenue.

Abundant, Clean Water is a right of every Kentucky resident. Clean water is not political or ideological.
If the right to pollute water is created, Kentucky’s water will be more polluted.
We all live downstream.
Kentucky is water. Water is commonwealth
 
Contact – Nick Hart, Water Policy Director KWA – 502-472-7971 – [email protected]

2025 General Assembly: KWA's February Legislative Update
On February 4, the Kentucky Generally Assembly re-convened in Frankfort for the second part of the 2025 legislative session, and the water started moving fast in the wrong direction---a flood of legislation threatens environmental protections Kentuckians rely on for clean water and air. Legislative targets threatening Kentucky’s residents and natural resources include:

• Senate Bill 89 removes all protections from wetlands, headwaters and groundwater. KWA continues to coordinate a defense against SB89 with a growing partnership.
• House Bill 137 limits evidence Kentucky can use to enforce the Clean Air Act, which KWA believes could easily be amended to threaten water.

Check out other legislation KWA is following here.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance Strongly Opposes SB89, Urges Lawmakers to Vote No or Revise Language
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Washburn, Executive Director 
[email protected]
Louisville, KY – February 17, 2025 – Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) strongly opposes Senate Bill 89 (SB89), warning that redefining the “Waters of the Commonwealth” will have devastating impacts on millions of Kentucky residents. The proposed changes threaten drinking water, flood protection, agriculture, and outdoor recreation, jeopardizing the health, economy, and identity of the state.

“Advocating for clean water is not political or ideological—water follows only one path: downstream. Anything placed in a waterway will ultimately reach the lakes and streams we swim in, fish from, and drink from,” said Michael Washburn, Executive Director of KWA. “SB89 eliminates vital protections, exposing Kentuckians to irreversible harm.”

SB89’s proponents argue it will benefit industry and job growth, but KWA warns that its unintended consequences far outweigh any perceived benefits. City and county governments, utilities, farmers, hunters, anglers, and environmental experts have all raised alarm, calling the bill catastrophic for Kentucky’s people and economy.

If enacted, SB89 would strip Kentucky of its authority to regulate state waters beyond federally protected “waters of the United States” (40 CFR 120.2). “This would be like limiting police to only patrolling interstates while ignoring local roads,” Washburn added. “It’s a reckless move that hands over control of Kentucky’s waters to polluters.”

The economic implications are staggering. Outdoor recreation, an industry reliant on clean water and healthy ecosystems, contributes billions to the state economy and supports 70,000 jobs. According to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the industry generates:

• $1.2 billion from fishing
• $1.9 billion from boating
• $1.3 billion from wildlife viewing
• $1.5 billion from hunting
• $343.9 million in state and local revenue
• $373.1 million in federal revenue

“SB89 threatens the very foundation of this economic engine. Once our waterways are polluted, the damage is irreversible,” Washburn said. The bill would also worsen Kentucky’s flood crisis. Kentucky ranks among the most disaster-prone states, with eight of the nation’s top ten counties for major declared disasters from 2011-2023. Nineteen of the twenty declared disasters were due to severe storms and flooding. Reducing protections for wetlands and waterways will only increase flood risks and shift costly environmental damage onto residents.

“Never in history has a right to pollute been granted without being exercised,” Washburn stated. “SB89 creates a right to pollute, and Kentucky will pay the price in lost drinking water, increased flooding, and economic decline.”
KWA urges lawmakers to hold SB89 for revisions that include input from Kentucky communities, nonprofits, and industries. If revisions are not made, KWA calls for the outright rejection of this dangerous legislation.
                                                                          ###
Since 1993, Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) has been the only statewide nonprofit organization focused on waterways in Kentucky. KWA works with communities on local watershed issues and advocates for better policies and programs at the state and national levels. With a mission to protect, restore, and celebrate Kentucky’s waterways, KWA’s work is making a difference in the quality of life for all Kentuckians. Learn more at www.kwalliance.org

The full press release can be read here.
A summary of the Fishing Study report can be read here and the full report can be read here.

Fish caught by Humana Community Day and other volunteers at a Participatory Science Fishing Day at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in August contained safe levels of most contaminants according to recently completed analysis by University of Louisville researchers. Testing showed the fish did contain levels higher than limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a few contaminants, however, indicating a need for careful attention to fish consumption and additional environmental monitoring. 

The fishing event was organized by Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) and U of L’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute to help monitor the health of the Ohio River and its fish populations. Additional support was provided by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (Kentucky chapter), two centers affiliated with Envirome – the Center for Healthy Air, Water and Soil and the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences – along with the Falls of the Ohio Foundation and Humana Foundation.

"One thing that’s true about Kentuckians is there is a deep love for home, and a deep connection to place, and a big part of that is the environment." ~ Charles Booker

There's some special magic that happens when friends sit next to a river and talk, especially if those two people are Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Charles Booker. We are grateful to these two Kentuckians for their commitment to Kentucky Waterways Alliance's mission, and for letting us listen in on their conversation about the Commonwealth's most important natural resource, water. In this video Charles and Will discuss justice, creativity, and more. Also, a surprise guest makes an unexpected appearance!