In response to today's White House announcement establishing the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued the following statement from Senior Vice President of Freshwater and Food, Melissa Ho:
"Climate change, consumption patterns and poor water management are wreaking havoc on lakes, rivers, wetlands and streams in the United States and around the world. Since 1970, populations of freshwater species have declined at an alarming rate of 83% and one-third of our planet's wetlands have been lost. And yet we continue to dam, drain, dredge and degrade our rivers, lakes, wetlands and aquifers. Securing a water-positive future for species and communities around the world has never been more important.
As an inaugural member of the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge Partnership, WWF looks forward to working with the administration, state agencies, Tribal Nations and local communities to help reconnect, restore and protect freshwater resources in the United States.
The Freshwater Challenge is the largest freshwater restoration and protection initiative in history - aiming to restore more than 186,000 miles of degraded rivers and 850 million acres of wetlands globally by 2030. Despite the vital role healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands play in water security, they continue to disappear at a shocking rate. The Freshwater Challenge comes at a crucial time and puts freshwater ecosystems at the heart of national action plans.
If we fail to act, farmers won't have enough water to grow crops, homes won't have water to drink, energy output from hydropower will decrease and cost more, wildfires will increase in frequency and severity, and entire species will become extinct. We need to work harder to protect our freshwater ecosystems to pave the way towards the resilient future we need."
