Let’s start with a fact we already know to be true: clean, safe, reliable drinking water and healthy rivers are a top priority for the people in your community – and your community is not alone in this belief. Whether your community is urban or rural, in the West, Midwest, South, mid Atlantic or Northeast, clean water matters to the people in your community.

As the new Administration and Congress takes shape, River Network wants to be a source you can turn to on an ongoing basis to know and understand what the Administration and Congress are proposing that will impact water in your community.

One way to stay up to speed is the Monthly Water Policy Updates and Calls hosted by River Network, the Clean Water for All Coalition, Earth Justice, and Clean Water Network for NGO water advocates. If you are a water advocate affiliated with an NGO, you can sign up for the calls here.

We plan to use this space, River Network’s blog, to keep you updated on ongoing basis. So please sign up for our email list to get the latest updates and plan to check back regularly to learn what’s new.

Here is a rundown of water-related actions since the beginning of the new Administration and Congress in January. Click the topic links to jump to what’s most relevant for you.

• 💧 Water Policy
• 💵 Water Funding
• 🏛️ EPA and Other Federal Agencies
• 🌱 Environmental Justice
• 🗣️ Action Items
• 🛠️ Resources

💧 Water Policy

• Executive Order for a Regulatory Freeze that withdrawals or halts all pending federal regulations and any new regulations from being proposed or issued.
• Proposal to address six types of PFAS in wastewater discharge withdrawn.
• EPA asked for a 60-day pause to a court case challenging their “Lead and Copper Rule Improvements” while EPA is “in the process of familiarizing itself with the issues presented in this case.”
• Actions taken to overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
• Actions taken to overhaul EPA’s WaterSense water efficiency program.
• An Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk (Executive Order 14030 – May 20, 2021) was rescinded. This action rescinds the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS), which requires federal agencies to prepare for and protect federally funded buildings and projects from flood risks. The standard should, however, stay in place until the agencies finalize rules to undo the standard.
• EPA announced it will revise the 2023 definition of “waters of the United States” to further clarify which waters receive protection under the Clean Water Act based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA. This revision will further narrow wetlands protections to only those with a “continuous surface connection to a requisite covered water making it difficult to determine where the water ends and wetland begins”, as stated in EPA’s guidance memo to the US Army Corps.
• EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History including changes to wastewater regulations for coal power plants and Steam Electric Power, potentially loosening effluent guidelines for toxic metals entering our waterways.

💵 Water Funding

• The Administration implemented a wide-ranging freeze of federal funding that is impacting, among many other vital services, a broad set of programs that directly support clean water, flood protection, and community resilience. The Unleashing American Energy Executive Order also directed all agencies to immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Over 700 communities are affected just within River Network’s federally funded programs.
• The Administration’s Executive Order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” directs federal agencies to provide the Office of Management and Budget with a list of “Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA,” or “environmental justice programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.”

🏛️ EPA & Other Federal Agencies

• Lee Zeldin confirmed as new EPA Administrator, announced “five pillars that will guide the EPA’s work over the first 100 days and beyond.”
• By Executive Order, the Administration established a “Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).”
• Federal Workforce
  • By Executive Order, a freeze on filling vacancies or creating new positions for all Federal civilian employees throughout the executive branch, except military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.
  • By Executive Order a new classification for federal employees with “policy-influencing positions” that allows for hiring and firing similar to political appointees.
  • At least a dozen Agency Watchdogs, including the EPA Inspector General, were dismissed. Legally, the administration is required to give advanced notice and explanation to Congress before dismissing Inspectors General.
  • Office Personnel Management (OPM) directed federal agencies to dismiss probationary employees. Federal employee unions filed a lawsuit claiming OPM is usurping Congressional authority.
  • An Office of Personnel Management memo entitled “Fork in the Road” calls for a “reformed federal workforce” “built around four pillars” that includes “return to office” requirements, “performance culture,” downsizing of a “majority of federal agencies” and “enhanced standards of conduct.” The memo also included details on a “deferred resignation program.”

🌱 Environmental Justice

• As part of numerous deregulatory actions announced on March 12, 2025, EPA said it would terminate Environmental Justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion arms of the agency.
• Executive Orders “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunity” and “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” take aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs requiring them to be dismantled in federal agencies as well as discouraging them from the private sector. They also revoke a Clinton-era Executive Order that requires federal agencies to take environmental justice and cumulative impacts into consideration. It will also bar most federal grant programs from prioritizing Disadvantaged Communities for funding, technical assistance, etc.
• These actions were followed by a memo (1/21/25) ordering all agencies to put all federal employees “in diversity, equity and inclusion programs on paid leave” and “take down all materials marketing DEI programs.” EPA placed 171 employees on administrative leave as a result.

🗣️ Action Items

• Reach out to your Members of Congress: It’s critical that they hear from you about the real-world positive difference federal funds, programs, and protections make to ensure clean water and resilience for your community.
• Share your experiences: Tell River Network about how freezes on federal funding and changes to federal programs and protections are impacting water and people in your community.

🛠️ Resources

• Environmental Protection Network (EPN)
  • EPA Facts – EPA information on impacts to public health, the economy, stewardship of federal funds, public support, and more
  • Resources for Communities, NGOs, and State/Local/Tribal Government Agencies
• Lawyers For Good Government (L4GG)
  • Federal Funding Resources
• Communications and Messaging
  • Voter Views on Water + Climate Resilience and The Opportunity on Water – Water Hub
  • How framing can cue – or avert – a partisan divide – Resource Media
• Data
  • Cuts to Federal Workforce
• Public Opinion Polling
  • Voters Are Concerned About Recent Layoffs and Budget Cuts at the U.S. National Park Service and Forest Service (February 2025)
  • Post-Election Voter Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Support a Strong EPA to Protect Public Health (November 2024)
  • National voter poll on resilience, infrastructure and drinking water (October 2024)
  • Value of Water Campaign 2024 Poll
  • Americans Strongly Support Environmental Protections in the Clean Water Act (September 2022)
  • Environmental Polling Consortium Resources and Polling Library