From the Office of U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) attended a Transportation and Infrastructure Roundtable Wednesday to discuss the importance of prioritizing science-backed solutions in guaranteeing access to clean drinking water, highlighting the US Supreme Court’s failure to protect our nations communities by ignoring the science of hydrology in their Sackett vs. EPA ruling.

Rep. Stansbury drew on her background as a water scientist to explain the science behind why the ruling will negatively impact communities’ access to clean water.

Rep. Stansbury explained that partisanship around clean water is relatively recent, stating, “I think it’s important for folks to know that when the Clean Water Act passed here in Congress a little over 50 years ago, it was a bipartisan bill. And in fact, when it went to the president’s desk and there was a veto threat on the Clean Water Act, it was the Republicans here in Congress that made sure that there would be an override of that veto so that we could protect water for the American people.” Referring to the importance of using science backed information to inform water policy, the Congresswoman exclaimed, “I can’t believe in 2023 I have to say this.”

Elaborating on the impact in her home state, which the Congresswoman represents, she said, “New Mexico is one of three states in the United States that does not have primacy under the Clean Water Act. We do not have a robust water quality permitting program. That means that now in my home state, it is potential that over 90 percent of our waterways no longer have protection from sewage, from toxic waste, from farm waste.”

Watch the full video here.