Snowmelt is our water supply. Why are we weakening protections for it?

Around the world, snowmelt and mountain runoff are a vital component of providing annual freshwater supply to downstream communities. In the Western United States, as much as 75% of freshwater starts as snowpack. In the spring, as snow melts, it feeds into creeks and rivers providing clean water resources for downstream communities. Seasonally, snowpack is a vital source of water resources… but it’s not always guaranteed. This past year was a challenging winter across much of the United States, and we are now seeing the consequences of that on water supplies (read our Snow to Flow blog to learn more).

Why this matters beyond winter

Clean water is essential to human and ecosystem health. Clean water also supports a thriving outdoor recreation industry and the communities that depend on it. Whether you’re paddling a river, hiking alongside a stream, or catching waves on the coast, you’re relying on clean water.

What’s happening to the Clean Water Act?

Right now, a series of administrative policy changes and funding decisions are putting our county’s clean water resources at risk—from efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act and redefine which waters are protected, to cuts in beach water quality monitoring and expanded offshore oil and gas drilling. While these changes may seem technical, their impact is simple: more pollution in the rivers, lakes, and coastal waters that people rely on.

At Winter Wildlands Alliance, we believe that protecting clean water starts by protecting a major source: snowpack. We work year-round to keep our winters wild, advocating for wild snowscapes that remain free of development and balancing use on these snowscapes so as to limit pollution and its consequences for watersheds downstream. The following threats to the Clean Water Act are jeopardizing this work.

Threats to the Clean Water Act

The PERMIT Act and changes to the definition of the “Waters of the United States” threaten how the Clean Water Act protects our water.

The PERMIT Act would significantly weaken the Clean Water Act by limiting what waters are governed by the Clean Water Act. It would reduce oversight and public input, enabling increased dumping of pollutants and threatening rivers, lakes, and coastal waters that communities rely on for recreation and drinking water.

Efforts to narrow the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) would exclude many streams and wetlands from protection, even though these waters feed into larger rivers and drinking water sources. Weakening these protections leaves more waterways vulnerable to pollution, directly impacting recreation and the water quality relied on by millions of Americans.

Now, as the Trump Administration moves to undermine Clean Water protections, it’s important that we all make our voices heard.

Together, Winter Wildlands Alliance and our partners at Outdoor Alliance, American Whitewater, Surfrider, and American Canoe Association are working to defend clean water. See how here.

Where The PERMIT Act Stands Now

The PERMIT Act, led by Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves of Missouri, passed the House on December 11, 2025, and now awaits action in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. No Senate markup date has been posted, but if the bill advances, it could become one of the most consequential rollbacks of Clean Water Act safeguards in decades.

Speak up now to protect the Clean Water Act.