Early morning fog on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee. The Cumberland River is part of the Ohio River Basin. (Photo: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

A union of environmental groups and researchers Draft plan has been released Thursday aims to leverage federal funding and state relationships to protect the Ohio River, a drinking water source for 30 million people from pollutants and habitat destruction.

Central and East Tennessee are part of the 204,000-square-mile Ohio River Basin, which includes 14 states and some parts of more than 40 tribal countries. The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River, flowing from Knoxville to Ohio, Padoca, Kentucky. The Cumberland River is also fed to the Ohio River.

The state is making independent progress in improving river health, but the report argues that a fragmented approach is not enough.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that in 2025 there are still men, women, families and communities who do not have access to clean, safe and affordable water. There are still toxic waste sites that have not yet been repaired. There are still warnings about contaminated fish.

“The bottom line is this. So many communities see health-critical pollution, so we need to do more to protect the waters where we all rely on. This report creates a bold case of action.

Report – edited over 3 years Ohio River Basin Alliancethe National Wildlife Federation and the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Institute for Environmental Studies, dozens of collaborators from government, nonprofit, education and industrial organizations will ultimately be delivered to Congress.

Pollution, habitat loss, and flood threat

The river is said to be threatened by toxic pollution, agriculture and urban runoff, sewage pollution, invasive species, habitat loss and severe flooding. All of these have been deteriorating water quality, ecosystem degradation, ecosystem degradation, threatening public health and negatively affecting the local economy by limiting recreation, according to the report.

Ted Smith, director of the University of Louisiana’s Health, Water and Soil Center, said there are hundreds of intact sites in the Ohio River Basin that are recognized as toxic by the Environmental Protection Agency, many of which are located in the flood plains. As floods become more frequent, this becomes a bigger problem, he said.

“Without cleaning these types of sites, we put our entire water system at a serious risk each year,” Smith said.

The efforts have been underway since 2009 to secure federal attention and funding for the protection of the basin, according to Harry Stone, past chairman of the Ohio River Basin Alliance. The need is serious. 69% of the creek miles assessed and 64% of the lakes within the Ohio River Basin do not meet water quality standards, he said.

The solution to this set of threats is to secure more federal funding for remediation programs, to enhance research and surveillance, build more local coordination and provide more technical support to the community, the report says.

Chris Lorenz, professor of biological sciences at Thomas More University and chairman of the Ohio River Basin Alliance, said it was a proven combination.

“Early we have seen comprehensive basin-wide collaboration combined with federal investments produce strong economic, environmental and social returns,” Lorentz said, citing the Great Lakes recovery as an example.

Efforts face “political winds”

The release of the report is in political time for environmental regulations and spending.

Tennessee lawmakers passed the law in April Restrictions removed For an estimated 80% of the state’s unfortified wetlands. Similarly, Kentucky Passed the law This year, it is restricting states’ powers to regulate water pollution. At the federal level, the budget adjustment bill currently under consideration by senators is Cut your EPA budget 54%, and the Trump administration is at work Reduce Clean Water Act surveillance.

Rather than presenting recommendations for regulatory programs, Lorentz and Lubetkin stressed that the plan advocates additional funding, resources and adjustments for concrete actions, such as improving toxic sites and providing incentives to reduce field outflows.

Legislation facing the desk of the Isolated Wetland Development and Development Surveillance Building Lee

Later, Lorentz said that by demonstrating the benefits of such investments, he “gets stronger support for stricter regulations.”

The initiative was in 2016, Lorenz said.

“We certainly couldn’t control the timing, but we’re going to repeat the widespread bipartisan support for (clean water),” he said. “The lack of hope for such a victory in this bipartisan climate is a strong debate about improving the economy, protecting public health, improving quality of life. These are crossing the aisles.”

Lubetkin said the NWF is “for a long period,” but they would prefer to advance faster than they would later be.

“Even in an environment where cutting costs are supposed to be the mantra of the day, cutting funds or delaying funds is because all the issues we’re talking about here today won’t get better on their own,” he said. “It only costs more money and causes more problems.”

“We’re not naive. There are some political winds in our faces, but we’re going to get through them,” Lubetkin said.

Ohio River Basin Alliance is Accept feedback From the general public to draft report until July 18th.