WASHINGTON – Protecting the world’s increasing endangered waters is a religious duty. That’s the message Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew has been espousing during his three-week visit to the United States. But just how threatened are U.S. bodies of water?
A comparison of data from the Environmental Protection Agency confirms that in the vast majority of states, there has been an increase or little change in the number of waters reported as “impaired,” or in environmental jeopardy. Click here to see a state-by-state graph of the results.
Bartholomew has been spreading his environmental message throughout the nation during a visit to the United States, which started Oct. 18. His itinerary has included meeting President Barack Obama in Washington and leading a prayer service at the United Nations in New York. Additionally, he has stopped in Memphis, Atlanta and several other cities.
In New Orleans, he held a symposium in late October on the state of the Mississippi River and what can be done to protect water and the environment at large. He has convened similar meetings since 2001 focusing on bodies of water from the Amazon to the Arctic, but this was the first one held in the United States.
Bartholomew focused on the Mississippi River area because “in many ways the Mississippi Basin encapsulates many of the climate issues being faced by communities around the world,” according to a symposium spokesman. “If the richest country on earth cannot confront and solve these problems, what chance has the rest of the world… Coastal communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change, in particular to increased storm activity and rising sea levels.”
In Louisiana alone, there are about 300 bodies of water in addition to the Mississippi that have been labeled as impaired since 2002, each represented on the map below.
The 1972 Clean Water Act requires states to develop lists of waters they deem “impaired” and report that information to the EPA every two years. It’s not possible to draw overall national comparisons from the data because each state develops its own standards.
Across the nation
Most states are seeing a rise or consistent trend in the numbers of impaired bodies of waters from 2002 to 2008. To follow the trend in each state, click on the interactive graph below. To see multiple states at once, hold down the control key while selecting multiple states. Data points of 0 mean the state didn’t file a report for that cycle.