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.
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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!

Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA)opposes the proposed construction of a shipyard and barge repair facility at the foot of Six Mile Island, on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is accepting comments, including emails, on this permit until the close of business on Thursday, March 28. The subject line of the email must be the Public Notice Number, which is LRL-1992-00532. The email must provide your physical mailing address and telephone number. To facilitate commenting Kentucky Waterways Alliance is providing a template email (below) that you may use as a resource to craft your own message.

About the project: 
An application has been filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to permit the project. This project would include construction of a 160x70 foot dry dock and the permanent mooring of four barges along the Ohio River. The applicant has also requested authorization to conduct regular maintenance dredging which will result in the discharge of 400 cubic yards of material annually for the next ten years into the river.
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The email template:
Email Address: [email protected]
Subject Line: LRL-1992-00532
I am submitting this email to formally oppose the proposed shipyard and barge repair facility planned at the foot of Six Mile Island, on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. This location is inappropriate based on risk to the preservation of Six Mile Island, the Ohio River, our recreational economy, and the physical health of Kentucky and Indiana citizens.
 
Six Mile Island is a protected State Nature Preserve and habitat to many species of wildlife. The 85-acre island is noted for its variety of waterbirds, including Bald Eagles. This island was protected as a preserve so that it would be allowed to return to its original natural state. Additional barge and tugboat activity will create wakes that will further erode the sensitive banks of the island.

Six Mile Island and the surrounding section of river serve as a beloved area for regional recreational boaters, including weekly sailboat races, families on motorboats, kayak and canoe paddlers, and even the Mary M. Miller Riverboat. There will be a negative impact to this important public recreation area used by thousands of Indiana and Kentucky citizens.

The new facility is to be located approximately 50 feet upstream from a marine diesel fuel suppler. Adding more barge traffic near fuel barges carrying 600,000 gallons of diesel and hundreds of gallons of lubricating oils only 2.2 miles upstream from Louisville's drinking water supply intake on the Ohio River poses risks to the health of our community.

I formally oppose this proposed project and believe that public hearings are in order with input from such organizations at the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Ohio River Way, UofL’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, KY Fish and Wildlife, and the City of Louisville Metro Government.

Sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS

Thirty years ago in 1993, the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to Mandela and de Klerk, hundreds of levees failed along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers during the Great Flood of 1993, the first Beanie Babies were sold, the European Union was established, Al Gore was talking about climate change, the Clean Water Act was 20 years old, and the Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) was founded.
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The world has changed a lot in the last thirty years. What hasn’t changed is the KWA commitment to protect, restore, and celebrate Kentucky’s 90,000 miles of waterways as a source of cleaner and safer drinking water, to protect wildlife and endangered species, and to preserve the beauty of our greatest natural resource.
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In the Beginning
The origins of KWA are reflected in the word ‘Alliance’. Eighty representatives from government, industry, community organizations and individuals from across the state, motioned to create a formal organization to work together on waterway issues. As a result, KWA was incorporated and granted non-profit status in 1993. River Network provided start-up funds with in-kind support coming from various state and local agencies.

Watershed Partnerships
As an alliance, we have placed a priority on working with communities across the state on local watershed issues. Much of our first decade was dedicated to helping small watershed groups. Over this decade we helped over 50 watershed groups across the state from Paducah to Prestonsburg, Louisville to Bowling Green, Covington to London protect their river or stream and to educate the community about the importance of clean water. KWA was instrumental in the founding of Watershed Watch of Kentucky, resulting in thousands of citizens who have been trained to take water samples and have learned about their local streams as well as about their larger watershed. In 2022, KWA’s Watershed Network program was established to continue the work of previous decades with the goal of increasing collective impact to improve water quality for wildlife and people who rely on clean water.

Protection
As an Alliance we have and continue to advocate for better policies and programs at the state and national levels. Over the years, KWA staff has served as watchdog over permits that discharge pollutants into Kentucky’s waters by reviewing, commenting, and in some cases challenging, bad permits. KWA staff reviewed and commented on hundreds of permit applications, helping to improve the permits and thereby protect our waterways. A citizen suit filed by KWA against the USEPA set national precedent on antidegradation that helped provide better protection for over 90% of Kentucky’s waterways. We successfully advocated to the Division of Water and U.S. Forest Service for the addition of new Outstanding National Resource Waters that permanently protected over 62 miles of streams and 2040 acres of wetlands. We fought and succeeded to keep a cold-water habitat designation for 16 Kentucky streams, which protected their use as trout streams. KWA won an 8 yearlong court battle to ensure there will be no more valley fills from coal mines under generic nationwide permits. KWA won a lawsuit requiring a more thorough assessment of the impacts of any nationwide permit before reauthorization.

Restoration
As we have seen time and time again, an impaired, polluted waterway can be restored. KWA helped co-author a Watershed Planning Guidebook, a valuable resource for watershed groups all over Kentucky and we have helped author many watershed plans through the years. Six years ago, KWA began implementing the Red River Watershed plan in Eastern Kentucky. This nationally designated Wild & Scenic River has benefited from cleanups, environmental education, and septic system repair and replacement. 

KWA established and managed the Kentucky Aquatic Resources Fund (KARF), created to provide a sustainable source of funding for aquatic ecosystems in Kentucky. Outcomes from the partnerships created through this fund resulted in the removal of the Green River Dam 6 in 2017, the Barren River Dam 1 in 2022, and next the Green River Dam 5 will be removed. We have hosted and coordinated thousands of volunteers in river and stream cleanups across the state and removed hundreds of tons of trash from our waterways. 
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In 2022, KWA began working with the National Wildlife Federation and other partners on the creation of an Ohio River Restoration Plan which will be presented to Congress in late 2023. This plan, if enacted, could bring millions of federal dollars to the Ohio River Basin to protect and restore it for future generations. 

Celebration
In 2016 the “celebration of waterways' was added to the mission of KWA during a strategic planning process.  KWA believes that our waterways are worthy of celebration through participation in community events, art, music, film, photography, and writing. KWA believes when we celebrate the beauty and joy our waterways offer, it offers a chance to inspire activism and a love for nature. We protect what we love. Celebrations through the years have included hosting our Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the establishment of a KWA artist-in-residence program, Aveda Earth Month events, the Wild & Scenic Red River Festival, participation in AFLOAT, inspired by the art and environmentalism of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, and participation Ripple Effects, a water themed photography contest for students. This year, KWA is holding our 30th anniversary celebration, an evening of music and film, on August 18 at Waterfront Botanical Gardens on the bank of Beargrass Creek, Louisville’s primary urban stream.
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Looking to the Future
While much has been accomplished, much work is ahead. We know there will be continued threats to the Clean Water Act, that bad actors will put profit before our greatest natural resource, and that Black communities and communities of color will bear a disproportionate burden from polluted water and other environmental harms. We also believe that when we come together, resolved in our commitment to clean, healthy waterways, our actions can make a difference. Kentucky Waterways Alliance, its members, and partners will continue to strive to improve the quality of our waterways, for all Kentuckians and our neighbors downstream. Please join us!

KWA’s Beargrass Creek Environmental Education Program was generously supported by a grant from the Norton Foundation. This funding allowed KWA, along with our partners at Kentucky Association of Environmental Education (KAEE) and Louisville Nature Center (LNC), to host an in-person field trip for 8th grade Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) students and to provide professional development training to JCPS teachers.

Middle school teachers from seven JCPS schools received professional development using Project WET and Aquatic Wild curriculums that included classroom learning as well as experiential learning to replicate lessons they will teach their students. Teachers received Project WET and Aquatic Wild curriculum and guidebooks to keep in their classrooms as resource for future lesson plans.
Eighth graders from Farnsley Middle School had the opportunity to hike through the forest in Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve to Beargrass Creek where they collected crawfish, mussels, dragonfly larvae, and other aquatic creatures and observed them with creek-side microscopes. In addition, in small break out groups the students studied benthic macroinvertebrate and riparian zones.
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Following the field trip, Melissa Brown, an eighth-grade teacher Farnsley Middle School, wrote to tell us, “I was inspired to reach out to the Soil and Water Conservation District to help our school's Environmental Club to create a new pollinator garden on our campus.  We are using the benefits of this experience to maximize student learning as well as protect an ecosystem here at our school.”