Maui County, Hawaii, wastewater treatment facilities. Credit: Warren Gretz/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

On November 6, the Supreme Court heard a case (County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund) to determine whether the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction extends to the regulation of pollutants through groundwater flows.  The Clean Water Act was intended regulate point source discharges of pollutants to maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. AFS joined with other science societies in a brief to the Supreme Court to highlight the important connections between point sources and surface waters via different types of groundwater pathways, as well as the scientific tools used to ascertain those connections. Read the brief here.