Headquartered in Washington, DC, Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund operate programs nationally and locally from a network of state and regional field offices around the country. We have members, donors and activist volunteers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Learn more at www.cleanwateraction.org.
What's Inside? Here's a snapshot.
Download the Full 2023 Annual Report Here
2023 Challenges and Victories
2023 was marked by relentless challenges to our environment, but we also celebrated remarkable victories in our campaigns to protect clean water, reduce toxic exposures, and promote efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to environmental protections on May 25, 2023 with its ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which removed Clean Water Act safeguards from most wetlands and streams. This anti-science decision favored polluters and put wetlands and streams at risk of pollution and destruction.
Fortunately, the Clean Water Act of 2023, introduced on October 18, aims to reverse much of the damage inflicted by this ruling while reaffirming that wetlands and streams are protected water resources. The proposed legislation also emphasizes the commitment of Congress to safeguarding water quality nationwide. Thanks to Clean Water Action members who mobilized to urge Congress to support this vital legislation, we have thousands of submissions to date. Download the full annual report to learn more.
Additional Highlights
• We collaborated with communities opposing pipelines, wastewater pits, new drilling, fracking, and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Our climate advocacy played a key role in securing billions in new federal investments and achieving significant climate victories across several states, all while thwarting efforts by polluters to undermine state climate policies.
• We initiated a major expansion of our ReThink Disposable program to eliminate single-use plastic pollution. By working closely with businesses and consumers, we advanced new bans, phase-outs, and “zero waste” and “producer take-back” policies aimed at tackling the most harmful products and practices.
Water Pollution and Drinking Water
Clean Water Action is working state by state to win PFAS bans, phase-outs and “polluter-pay” cleanup solutions, building momentum with big policy wins and progress in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Rhode Island, with additional states poised for action. Together with coalition partners, Clean Water Action has been calling on big box retailers and outdoor recreation clothing and equipment companies to stop selling consumer products tainted with PFAS chemicals. REI Coop was one of the businesses feeling and responding to consumer pressure.
Sustainability: Re-Thinking Disposable
Since 2011, Clean Water Fund’s ReThink Disposable program has successfully helped 13 institutions and more than 380 busiesses save $740,000 and avoid the generation of 22.3 million pieces of disposable packaging items per year. Our goal is to more than double our impact in half the time, by reaching a 50 million-piece reduction of single-use disposable plastic foodware items in the next five years.
We expanded our ReThink Disposable program nationally, adding six states (Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania) to our existing program in California. In 2024, we plan to expand into Michigan, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Toxic Exposure and PFAS Chemicals
In February 2023, we celebrated a victory that will have real-world impacts on reducing the use of perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as “forever chemicals”. One of the most recognized outdoor retailers, REI, announced that it will eliminate PFAS chemicals in textiles and cookware that it sells starting in fall 2024. Our multi-year effort has mobilized members and others through canvass and communication efforts urging REI to be an industry leader and take this step. Some of our state offices have been working with Mind the Store campaign even longer to put the pressure on REI to get PFAS chemicals off the shelves.
Canvassing and Democracy
At the core of Clean Water Action’s mission lies a proven strategy: person-to-person organizing. This grassroots approach —visiting people in their homes, followed by meaningful engagement through phone calls and online conversations — continues to deliver extraordinary results year after year.
In 2023 alone, our dedicated teams reached an astonishing one million households, laying the groundwork for a critical 2024 election season. These efforts included on-the-ground door-knocking campaigns, phone outreach, and a mix of traditional methods like letter-writing and email campaigns. But we didn’t stop there. Our digital outreach team sent thousands of texts and emails to members, inspiring them to take action in remarkable ways. Together, they flooded elected and appointed officials with tens of thousands of letters, postcards, emails, and public comments, amplifying the voice of our movement at every level of government.
