Foreword
In 1948, determining that “pollution of our water resources by domestic and industrial wastes has become an increasingly serious problem due to the rapid growth of our cities and industries,” Congress passed the Water Pollution Control Act. The law, for the first time, declared it in the “national interest” to assure a high level of water quality throughout the United States. Additional water pollution control laws enacted over the next two decades all embodied the idea that the enforcement of clean water standards for most lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and ponds was primarily the responsibility of the States, with the…
