The History

The Public Trust Doctrine is the legal foundation for public lands and water pollution control in the U.S. It gives citizens the "unassailable right" to access and use waterways and shorelines.

As early as 1215--long before the U.S. Constitution or even the British Magna Carta--the Doctrine entrusted "certain lands and bodies of water for use by the general public under the sovereign's management and oversight."

The Public Trust Doctrine is also the guiding principle of all the Waterkeeper organizations across our country and the world.

Anyone who denies citizens of this "unassailable right" to a waterway by diverting the water outright or making it unfit for use has violated this Doctrine.

Nonetheless, through the 19th and 20th centuries, America's prosperity came at a price: the degradation of Her bountiful rivers and streams...and the wholesale violation of the Public Trust Doctrine.

The Promise

In 1972 Congress made a promise to return the nation's waterways by mandating they be safe for fishing and swimming by the year 1985. That promise was the Clean Water Act.

While the Public Trust Doctrine gives the river to all citizens, the Clean Water Act requires that we take responsibility for this gift. The law requires that citizens be part of the decision-making processes that affect watersheds and waterways, and gives us the right and the responsibility to sue those not in compliance.