(Reflective and Atmospheric Piano Music) (Gurgle of stream) (Hissing water) (Birds chirping) [Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali] Water is life.

[RoseMary LaClare] Without it, there would be no us.

[Shannon Wheeler] Water is life.

(Eagle screeching) [Nepalese Riverkeeper] The river is the root of our human civilization.

(Train horn) [Dennis Mabasa] You immediately feel a sense of calm when you're down to the river.

(Stream burbles) [Catherine Flowers] People from all races, creeds, colors, enjoy the rivers and streams.

(Seagull squawking) [Radhika Fox] Everybody should have access to clean safe water.

(Duck quacks) [William Reilly] Clean water is that gold standard.

(Eerie Music) [Marc Yaggi] Before the Clean Water Act was passed, our waterways were a mess.

(Sound of sirens and water spraying from hose) [Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali] When you have things like the Cuyahoga River catching on fire.

When you have the immense dumping, if you see some of those early photos, oil sheens across water bodies, mass fish kills.

[William Reilly] Pollution that you could not quite walk across, but some places you almost could.

And you certainly had to be careful because a lot of it caught fire.

In a sense we had gone too far, we had allowed the water bodies of the country to go on and degrade substantially.

[Tom Jorling] It was important to demonstrate to the American people that yes, we can respond to a problem.

We can do something.

(Eerie music builds and intensifies) (Clapping) [Reilly] The Clean Water Act was a major part of the commitment the country made in 1972 on behalf of the environment.

[Dr. Ali] The Clean Water Act gave us the opportunity to begin to put a sort of a safety net if you will.

You know, there're so many more people who are now protected.

(Sound of children playing, laughing) [Jorling] In fact, you had to repeal the right to pollute.

That changed the whole relationship between the polluter and the government.

(Ship horn blows) (Rushing water) [Nancy Stoner] We rely really heavily on the citizen suit provision of the Federal Clean Water Act.

That is our strongest tool.

Sometimes people call and say there is a big spill or there's something that looks wrong in the waterways, and then the riverkeeper investigates.

(Ethereal music) (Birds chirping) (Boat motor rumbling) [Fred Tutman] I've been the Patuxent Riverkeeper since about 2004.

The Patuxent is a very particularly important river in Maryland.

It's the longest and deepest river that stays entirely within the state.

(low rumble of boat motor) Our job as riverkeepers is to really marshal the energy, the forces needed to try and protect these rivers.

Some of us are lawyers, some of us are scientists, using environmental laws, to try and turn, at least some power, back to citizens.

People have a lot tied up in these issues and causes we work on, and failure is catastrophic.

(Boat engine rumbling) [Tutman] Patuxent was the first in terms of using the federal Clean Water Act to compel the state to protect this river.

It got measurably better.

[Tutman] The Patuxent is jeopardized by upstream growth.

The irony being that the downstream areas of the Patuxent are relatively wild and vast and that's where the most productive fisheries happen to be.

So we inherit downstream all of those inputs that come from the upstream highly developed areas, runoff from parking lots, storm drains, wastewater.

I mean, tons and tons of different stuff.

And that goes into the Chesapeake Bay.

(Birds chirping and squawking) (Sound of cars on road) [Julian Gonzalez] The Clean Water Act doesn't really do a good job of regulating run-off, which is when things like manure from farms or phosphorous from large agricultural operations, or bacteria from having a bunch of cows or pigs in a field, goes into the ground and into rivers and wetlands and things like that.

That's where most of the pollution comes these days.

Some states have regulations which allow state agencies to regulate run-off pollution, but most states do not.

(Lilting piano music) [Tutman] This tributary, the Patuxent, used to be one of the most productive shellfish rivers in the Chesapeake Bay spectrum.

Today you measure those catches, it's gone way, way downhill.

(crabs rustling) The Patuxent is the only river in Maryland's history that has been substantially brought back to health only to see those gains lost again.

(Dog panting and splashes into river) [Tutman] This literally is the river that gave rise to the Chesapeake Bay movement, so here we go again.

We're getting pretty close to that worse-case scenario.

Riverkeepers want to build enough of a success that others can build on that.

(Water lapping) (Chanting) [Tutman] To make real change, structural change, necessary change, you need to go out and fight for what's right.

(Crowd chanting) [Jorling] Government responds to pressure, to activism.

The tools are there but the tools have to be exercised.

They have to be used.

(Native American singing and drumming) (Clapping) (Speaking in his native language) [Nakia Williamson-Cloud] On this morning we come from along the Columbia River, the Snake, Salmon and Clearwater river to remind the decision-makers here in the U.S. Capitol of what we stand for and how our humanity is centered around those rivers.

Because as we're told the rivers are the lifeblood of this land.

(Audience clapping) [Larry Wright] We are all here today to advocate on behalf of our Pacific Northwest tribal nations and support them in calling for the removal of the Columbia and Snake River dams.

[Jeremy Takala] If we do nothing while temperatures rise in the system of lakes that the dams have made of our rivers, we will face extinction for our fisheries and other species, like orcas, that rely on them.

(Native American inspired music swells over sounds of nature) [Shannon Wheeler] Salmon are dwindling.

They are just teetering above the extinction level.

That's a keystone species and just like any keystone brick in any building, the rest of the eco-system falls.

And for us, the way of life and our obligation to these species, it's the same as us, we don't view ourselves any different, so we fall, too.

[Rosemary LeClair] We need to bring the salmon back so supporting the dam removal I believe will help bring the salmon back to our neighboring tribes as well as our tribe.

(People talking) [Paulette Jordan] Our eco-system is dying and we need to protect it, so help us stand up for humanity, stand up for nature... uphold your contract with the universe, and do what's right for this planet.

(flowing water over lilting piano music) [Gonzalez] Dams, levees, older and aging pieces of infrastructure were built with good intentions back in the 70's and earlier, but we know now in the years and decades since then that there's a lot of unintended consequences that neither prepared us for climate impacts or benefited the communities that surrounded the infrastructure.

And, acknowledging that is definitely the first step when we're talking about solutions.

(Distant traffic and sirens) [Dennis Mabasa] Millions of people every single day drive over the Los Angeles river, many people don't know it's an actual river.

It was seen as a river channel, you know, it was seen as a storm water protection zone.

[Bruce Reznik] You'd see these signs like you're going over the L.A. River and I remember asking my parents like, what do they mean, it's just concrete down there.

[Marissa Christiansen] This is actually a natural flowing river, the L.A. River, this is why the city of L.A. grew up where it grew up.

[Reznik] Los Angeles grew tremendously quickly around the turn of the last century.

By the 1930's our underground aquifers were already getting polluted.

The city just kept growing but there was not enough water.

[William P. Whitsett] We here in Southern California are face to face with a water problem.

All Southern California was at one time a desert waste, but the desert is ever around us, willing and eager to take back what was once its own.

And it will take it back unless we bring in more water.

[Reznik] So to meet its water needs, aqueducts were built to bring water from hundreds of miles away, from the Owens Valley, the Colorado River, Northern California.

You have water coming from the Santa Susannas, the San Gabriels, and the Santa Monica mountains.

We're kind of bowl in L.A. and when it rains, it really can flood quickly.

And that's what happened in the 1930's.

(crashing) [Reznik] There was a massive investment to channelize and to tame the L.A. River, and to straighten it and to, you know, put concrete everywhere, and create a massive flood-control channel.

It's a scar across this city, a scar that then led to more of the railyards, and the industrial development, and it led to the 710 freeway, and the 110 and the 10 and the 405 and the 605.

(Sounds of irritated traffic) [Reznik] When it rains about 85-90 percent of that run-off goes into the L.A. River.

[Marissa Christiansen] You can imagine a 51-mile corridor that outfalls into the Pacific Ocean down in Long Beach.

(Cars driving by) [Reznik] One of the reasons we have to import so much of our water in L.A. County is because we get rid of our water so quickly.

We don't use it to recharge our aquifers in an area that needs every drop of water we can get.

(Cars driving on freeway) [Gonzalez] A lot of important water infrastructure have been built in disproportionately low-income communities, communities of color.

They didn't have a say in where these facilities were placed and they've been fighting these battles alone for 10, 50, 100 years.

[Laura Cortez] Good Afternoon, Buenas Tardes, this is East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

It's really, really important that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors understand that they have the power to create structures that prioritize water, that prioritize land, that prioritize equitable community engagements with indigenous people, with communities of color that are severely impacted, that have been generationaly struggling because of institutional practices that they have created.

(Audience Claps) [AnMarie Mendoza] For us indigenous people, we don't look at the water as a resource, we look at it as a relative, as a part of our family and that's why we're so passionate about you know, these kind of actions, because we want to protect our relative just like you want to protect your family when it's under threat.

Well, that's why we're here.

(Reflective piano music) [Christiansen] Our voices were ignored, the community's voices who have time and again asked for ecological restoration were ignored, and that matters.

(Birds chirping) [Reznik] If we're going to restore the river back to health, we need to prioritize ecological and community health and resilience and figure out that balance of a healthy river with healthy communities along the river.

(Birds chirping) [Dennis Mabasa] Once again, let's say thank you for coming out here today, we are at the great L.A. River Clean-Up.

And I just want to say I'm so grateful for all of you to come out here today.

We're able to do so much because of y'all.

You know when we get together, we can accomplish really great things.

(Upbeat guitar music) [Christiansen] Friends of the L.A. River was formed in 1986 and really with the singular vision of wanting to bring the river back to life.

And for us what that means is a verdant, green river that serves the communities along-side it, specifically in this era of climate change.

[Mabasa] Here you go.

[Christiansen] So we're doing it across nine weekends through June and July in all different sections of the river.

[Volunteer 1] I found a horseshoe, I wonder if its lucky (laughs).

(Bags rustling) [Volunteer 2] All I know is I want to more people come out here every time instead of paying for the gym.

Come out here and exercise and clean up the environment.

[Mabasa] When you go to the river, you just feel... you feel its power.

[Volunteer 3] I think it's important to keep the river clean because it's good for the environment and the animals that live here.

[Volunteer 4] Bowling ball!

[Christiansen] Every piece of trash that's in the river that we don't clean up ends up in the Pacific Ocean.

So this is real environmental impact we're having, however, I think even bigger than that is that for most people who participate in our clean-ups, it's the first sort of brush with the river that they've had.

They've been in this environment that they didn't know existed and that now they feel connected to and responsible for it.

So people are really starting to get back to that environmental healing that we want to see happen for the betterment of all of Los Angeles.

(Reflective music) [Gonzalez] The Clean Water Act is like any other law in that, it will only be equitable if it's enforced equitably.

[Radhika Fox] We can't fulfill the promise of the Clean Water Act unless we center ourselves in equity and environmental justice.

(Church bells ringing) [Dr. Ali] We have to understand that when we're talking about the Clean Water Act, that we're also talking about people's lives.

We know that there's still work to do.

Our most vulnerable communities often were not fully benefiting from the Clean Water Act the way that other communities have been able to.

We have crumbling infrastructure in our country and in some communities, nonexistent infrastructure.

(Suspenseful music) [Dr. Ali] And when you look at areas like the Black Belt down in Lowndes County, Alabama... you know we've got folks who are literally walking in human waste because we have not yet addressed those issues properly.

[Catherine Coleman Flowers] The wastewater issue in Lowndes County is really uh where people never got access to basic sanitation in the first place, or they have failing septic systems, or they're living next to sewage lagoons where everybody's waste goes into a pond.

The reason the problem hasn't been solved is because people have not acknowledged it's a problem until recently.

[Charlie Mae Holcombe] I've been dealing with the sewage problem ever since I've been here.

When you wash sometimes, it used to be where the water would back up even in the washer from the raw sewage.

When you, you go to wash it, maybe second, third load, you go to back it back up, coming back up in the washer and all.

I mean, it has been so disgusting, and I can tell when the lagoon, something's going on.

The sewage comes up in her bathtub!

[Coleman Flowers] When she's talks about the lagoon it's like a lake full of raw sewage that's right on the other side of those homes.

In Lowndes County Alabama, actually throughout the state of Alabama, but certainly in Lowndes County Alabama we need, we know that at least 90 percent of the septic systems, or the on-site systems are failing.

The average age of these systems is 21 years old, but we've also found people getting systems that are 2 years old and failing.

[Annye Burke] That's my home right there.

And I actually had the same issue, if it rains, um, if it got too full, you know, it will overflow, you know, ah it will come back up in my bathtub or the bathroom.

[Coleman Flowers] This is not just a Lowndes County issue.

And I think when people look at it in isolation, like that they missed the boat.

And what we don't want is infrastructure that's going to keep failing.

(Suspenseful piano music) [Coleman Flowers] It's not just a Lowndes County or an Alabama problem.

That's why we call it America's dirty secret.

The other problem is that with climate change, we're seeing tropical diseases emerging.

In the parasite study that we conducted, more than 33 percent of the people tested positive for some form of hookworm, DNA from hookworm.

I just read an article that talked about polio coming back to this country and one way in which polio can be spread is through feces.

I think when the Clean Water Act was put in place, it was well-intentioned, but I think that we're now talking about it because it is not just a plumbing problem.

It's because we have developed wastewater infrastructure that cannot deal with the current reality.

And now that the EPA, the White House, and USDA is acknowledging there's a problem, means that there could be solutions on the horizon.

(gravel crunching) [Radhika Fox] So, today we are here with Catherine Flowers to really help ensure that the two million people across the country that don't have access to water infrastructure finally have that access through investments in the bi-partisan infrastructure law.

And what we're doing with that Initiative is making sure that rural communities that have never had access to centralized wastewater infrastructure will finally get it.

[Coleman Flowers] Well, first of all, I would like to just say that this is a very historic moment, to have the guest that we have here today in Lowndes County, The Secretary of Agriculture, the EPA Administrator.

Thank you so much.

[Secretary Tom Vilsack] Well, actually our thanks is to you uh and, Mrs. Grant for putting a spotlight on a problem that shouldn't exist in America today, shouldn't have existed in America at any time.

So we're announcing today 11 projects in 7 states across the United States to begin addressing issues like this because 2.2 million Americans today live in circumstances where they literally don't have the right kind of sanitation.

Mrs. Grant, we're going to take care of this.

[Aquilla Grant] Just to see this get fixed, it'll be thankful for me.

[Secretary Vilsack] So my partner here, uh, we've worked closely together on a lot of projects, but I think this one is personal for both of us, Michael.

[Administrator Michael S. Regan] The President heard Catherine Flower's advocacy.

No one in America in 2022 should have to have a hole in their backyard where waste flows, in some of the very places that our children play in.

(gravel crunching) [Coleman Flowers] I think that our water and sanitation is a human right.

People in Lowndes County are entitled to the same rights and privileges as all other Americans.

(Uplifting music) (Excited children talking) [Dr. Ali] I'm inspired by young people.

Uh, the transformational movements that they have in place, you know it doesn't matter if you're from someone who's had more wealth or less wealth, everybody can play a role, everybody comes together.

That's the beauty of youth.

[La'Tanya Scott] The Cahaba River Society is a non-profit organization.

We take students and teachers out into the river and build a connection with folks who may have not had the opportunity to step foot in their water source.

[Scott talking to kids] Good Morning Everybody, I'm La'Tanya!

[Kids] Good Morning!

[Scott] Oh I love it, sounds awesome!

[Scott] So with the CLEAN program we go fishing.

We're looking at uh life, biodiversity in the river.

So we work together, we're building teamwork, and talk about why it's important to protect their water.

[Scott talking to kids] Scientists go fishing every day, and they also test the water every day, and you guys are going to act as mini scientists testing the water out today.

[Scott] We have to build that connection for the kids.

[Scott talking to kids] We're actually walking in the Little Cahaba, which is a tributary that feeds into the main Cahaba.

[Scott] We always say be kind to your downstream neighbors.

Uh, wherever you are, you are upstream of another river.

[talking to kids] What do you guys think we're going to be doing right now, do you see these nets over there?

What do you think we're going to be doing?

Ooo.

Nice.

I love to go fishing.

We're going to catch quite a few if we work together as a team.

Alright guys, bring those fish in!

Fishy fishy!

Stay together, stay with me, don't pass me, don't pass me.

(Children walking and splashing) Keep going, c'mon, stay together, all the way, go go go!

(Children talking excitedly) [Scott] You can get a quick fish Patience.

Now put it in the bucket.

Yeah.

Now go over there.

No no nope.

Patience won.

Come here.

Seeing their eyes open up with excitement and enjoyment.

We want them to come back out here with their parents, and hopefully protect it for the generations to come, for the future.

(Uplifting, happy music) [Scott] I have hope, I have hope that our programs through our nonprofit organizations to teach the youth that, hey, this is a great place, and we want you guys to protect it for your families and for also the generations to come.

(Music swells) [Gonzalez] Everyone is downstream of someone.

And most people do agree that clean water is important.

[Dr. Ali] There are so many different things that are tied to water and why we need to be really, really focused on protecting that resource.

Everybody can play a role, everybody comes together.

[Mabasa] When we work towards clean water, we're benefiting all of us.

(Birds chirping) (Water flowing) ♪♪