Home to the Ogallala Aquifer, Nebraska has some of the vastest water resources in the entire country. In fact, 85% of Nebraskans get their drinking water from the ground, and Nebraska has more miles of streams than most other states. Unfortunately, across Nebraska, our water quality is unsafe and getting worse. 

For example:

• In 2018, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality found that 83% of lakes and 39% of stream miles are impaired, meaning that the water quality does not meet state requirements for at least one of its uses (recreation, drinking water, irrigation, or the support of aquatic life). Some streams had multiple impairments. 
• A 2014 report found that Nebraska's waterways were the 6th worst in the nation for toxic pollution.
• In 2018, 40% of surface water samples tested had nitrate levels at or above 10 ppm. The EPA has set 10 ppm as the maximum safe limit of nitrates in drinking water. 
• In each of the last three decades, nitrate contamination in Nebraska has doubled, indicating that our water quality is getting exponentially worse. 
• High nitrate ingestion has been connected to cancer, blue baby syndrome, birth defects, thyroid disease, and macular degeneration.
• UNMC has been conducting research into the connection between high nitrates in Nebraska's groundwater and our state's high rate of pediatric cancer.

Contamination of drinking water leads to negative health outcomes if unaddressed. Water treatment, especially of nitrates, is expensive - costing millions of dollars. As our water quality degrades and we face increased threats to our water supply from drought and extreme weather, it is more important than ever for our State Legislature to take action to protect our drinking water. Please sign the petition to urge elected officials to take action to protect our water supply.