In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the La Follette School of Public Affairs last week partnered with the Water & Health Advisory Council to host “SDWA 50: The Next 50 Years of Drinking Water in America.”
The SDWA was signed into law on December 16, 1974, and it remains a landmark piece of public health legislation that transformed drinking water safety in the United States.
The December 11 symposium, which took place on the UW–Madison campus, was dedicated to bridging the gap between the Act’s original vision and today’s challenges, while charting a path forward for the next 50 years of safe drinking water in America.
Thanks to the SDWA, Americans enjoy some of the safest drinking water in the world, with utilities operating at a higher level of professionalism and accountability. Despite these achievements, significant challenges remain as millions across the country continue to face risks from inaccessible, unreliable, or contaminated drinking water.
“This is not just a celebration of what we’ve achieved but a call to action,” said La Follette Professor Manny Teodoro, who also serves on the Water & Health Advisory Council. “We need bold and collaborative efforts to address the inequities and risks still present in our water systems. The future of drinking water requires risk prioritization, innovation, investment, and renewed commitment to public health.”
Drinking water leaders, decision-makers, researchers, and community leaders from across the country came together to discuss the challenges of aging infrastructure, microbial and chemical contaminants, and the erosion of public trust. At the heart of the symposium was the unveiling of The Declaration for the Future of Drinking Water in America, a strategic vision outlining the steps necessary to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for all Americans over the next half-century.
The Safe Drinking Water Act has been enormously successful over the last 50 years in reducing harmful contaminants in tap water, an achievement that must be maintained,” said keynote speaker Kathryn Sorenson, director of research at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. “Yet, the structure of the Act forces investment in addressing new contaminants with diminishing public health benefit at increasing cost and crowds out investment in addressing the most serious threats to tap water: lack of investment in aging infrastructure, a fragile supply chain, lack of skilled labor, and cybersecurity.”
In addition to Sorenson’s keynote address and the unveiling of The Declaration for the Future of Drinking Water in America, sessions covered water industry topics as wide-ranging as prioritizing risk, building capacity, and transparency and trust. It also included panels during which researchers shared their latest work on today’s most pressing issues for drinking water. Teodoro and La Follette Associate Professor Amber Wichowsky both presented their work during this session.
The symposium’s holistic approach, which brought together professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives and included both academic and non-academic portions, helped set apart the symposium from traditional drinking water conferences. It also spoke to the urgency of the work ahead.
“In the next 50 years of the SDWA, it is so important that we maintain focus on public health,” said Rob Renner, Chairman of the Water & Health Advisory Council. “Safe drinking water is the single most important advancement in public health that has increased longevity in the United States.”