1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

We need immediate intervention to protect Washington’s failing aquatic ecosystems. regional whale deaths, the gutting of Clean Water Act protections, and climate-driven drought and extreme heat that impair aquifers,degrade watersheds, and push river temperatures past lethal thresholds for salmon.NPDES Pollutant Allowances: The Department of Ecology grants NPDES permits that shield industrial facilities discharging waste into waterways. This is exacerbated by federal efforts like the SPEED Act Permitting Reform Bill (H.R. 4776), which narrows review timelines and curtails public oversight. The state must phase out local discharge allowances and transition toward a zero-discharge mandate.Gutted Safeguards and Land Access: Recent rollbacks stripped protections from small streams and ephemeral wetlands. This works with the federal rescission of the BLM Public Lands Conservation Rule, which strips science-based protections and fast-tracks extractive logging, mining, and drilling, allowing toxic runoff to flow unchecked into Puget Sound.Wildlife Mortality: At least 51 whales have died along the West Coast this year, with 22 washing ashore emaciated in Washington, as documented by the Center for Biological Diversity Whale Mortality Study. Concurrently, federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) Rulemakings create loopholes allowing industrial operations to bypass critical protections, decimating the marine food web.Hydrological Instability & Salmon Decline: Drought and heat parch agricultural lands, forcing over-reliance on groundwater while aquifer replenishment fails because baked soils and degraded wetlands cannot absorb water. Instead, precipitation triggers toxic stormwater surges. Rivers are reaching lethally high temperatures, causing extensive pre-spawning mortality for returning salmon, a crisis compounded by commercial fishing pressures.How It All Ties Together: These crises are linked. Southern California offers a grim preview of our future, where recent industrial failures: a pipeline rupture dumping 2,400 gallons of crude oil into the LA River, a volatile chemical tank emergency in Garden Grove, and an ongoing transboundary sewage crisis, devastated regional watersheds.If Washington relies on a reactive, permit-sanctioned approach to industrial waste while leaving agricultural and logging runoff unregulated, ecosystem collapse is inevitable. The resulting toxic loads starve marine mammals, while dry, thermally impaired rivers kill returning salmon.I demand immediate executive and legislative action to:Overhaul the state NPDES permit system to eliminate corporate discharge allowances.Enact strict state-level emergency protections for wetlands and ephemeral streams in all state and BLM land.Mandate legally enforceable Best Management Practices (BMPs) for agriculture and logging.Washington's water is a public trust, not an industrial commodity. I look forward to your actionable plan to address this crisis.