WASHINGTON (June 18, 2020) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new tool that assembles publicly available water quality data into a user-friendly package that provides information on the quality of our nation’s waters at the community, state, and national level. The release of this tool coincides with the agency’s month-long focus on partnerships as part of EPA’s 50th anniversary commemoration. This new tool was created in partnership with states and water stakeholders and will facilitate next steps in our collective efforts to continue providing clean water for recreation and safe drinking water for communities across the nation.

“How’s My Waterway is the latest tool developed by the Trump Administration to improve transparency and empower the American public with critical information. EPA is proud of the significant progress that’s been made in restoring and protecting our nation’s waters. However, challenges remain and this will be an important tool for collaborative and creative solutions with federal, state, local, tribal, and community partners to safeguard those waters,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water David Ross.

EPA’s new How’s My Waterway provides unprecedented transparency that our partners and the public can use to learn about water, explore data and find out what’s happening to improve the health of our waters. Map-centric and mobile-friendly, How’s My Waterway works on all different screen sizes—from desktop computers and tablets to mobile phones. The tool provides users with an easily accessible and understandable summary of water quality at the community, state, and national level.

Here’s what each level has to offer:

  • Community: Learn about the health of local waters, identify challenges and learn about what’s being done to restore or protect the waters. Find out more about your drinking water. Discover if waters in your community are suitable for swimming or eating fish and if they support healthy aquatic life.
  • State: Choose a state to find basic facts about a state’s waters, summaries of specific water assessments, a statewide survey of water quality and state drinking water metrics.
  • National: Learn about the quality of water resources (lakes, rivers and streams, wetlands and coastal areas) across the nation and the main challenges to our water resources nationwide. You will also find information about national drinking water quality and national drinking water metrics.

“ACWA is excited for the launch of the How’s My Waterway app and appreciates EPA’s consistent communication with our members throughout its development,” said Julia Anastasio, Executive Director & General Counsel for the Association of Clean Water Administrators. “By sharing information and listening to feedback from our members, we feel as though this app will provide a major benefit to all those who are invested in water quality.”

Learn more about How’s My Waterway at: https://mywaterway.epa.gov.

Posted in EPA, Water Quality