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To:

Members & Affiliates

From:

National Office

Date:

May 26, 1999

Subject:

Clean Water . . . We've Got the Point
Now Let's Get to the Nonpoint . . .

Reference:

LA 99-9

Throughout the year AMSA has focused its government affairs efforts on three key priorities — clean water funding, wet weather programs and the impacts of nonpoint source pollution. Focused initiatives like The Cost of Clean and The Urban Wet Weather Priorities Act of 1999 have given definition to these issues and served as a catalyst for ongoing negotiation and debate. We are pleased today to provide you with a copy of AMSA's newest publication, Clean Water . . . We've Got the Point. Now Let's Get to the Nonpoint, focusing attention on the issue of nonpoint source pollution.

With this publication, AMSA has reached an important stage in executing the Association's three top legislative priorities. AMSA's National Environmental Policy Forum takes place in Washington, DC next week, and many association members will visit their congressional delegations, carrying with them The Cost of Clean, The Wet Weather Watershed Act of 1999 and Let's Get to the Nonpoint. By contacting lawmakers and presenting them with information on these priority issues, AMSA members will take the lead in advocating action on these critical clean water issues.

AMSA has developed the nonpoint source publication with the intention of focusing public and congressional attention on the need to control the largest remaining source of water pollution — nonpoint source pollution. Clean Water . . . We've Got the Point. Now Let's Get to the Nonpoint outlines the causes of, and the issues surrounding, nonpoint source pollution. It also presents ten “Nonpoint Source Pollution Solutions,” which are steps that must be taken in order to attain the Clean Water Act's goal — the physical, chemical and biological health of the nation's waters.

The publication calls for stronger laws and regulations, increased funding and further research — all aimed toward controlling nonpoint source pollution. Without a comprehensive national plan to address these needs, further water quality progress will be impossible.

Members are urged to use Let's Get to the Nonpoint to educate the public, the press, and their lawmakers on the issues surrounding nonpoint source pollution. Further copies are available from the National Office by calling 202/833-AMSA or online in the Publications section of www.amsa-cleanwater.org.