Today, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a law foundational to our country’s water quality and instrumental to the safety of public drinking water systems nationwide, turns 50. To mark the occasion an Earthjustice report examines the law’s successes, and the urgent reforms needed to ensure safe, equitable drinking water for all communities.

SDWA was a historic step in regulating the safety of the nation’s drinking water. But decades of underfunding political inaction and inequitable implementation weakened the effectiveness of this historic law. As a result, millions of people remain without access to safe and affordable drinking water.

The report, titled The Safe Drinking Water Act at 50 — A Call for Urgent Reform, urges modernization of the law to address growing water safety challenges. It highlights declining protections, lack of transparency, outdated monitoring and reporting protocols, and decades of underfunded infrastructure, which have left communities — particularly communities of color, rural areas, and low-income populations — vulnerable to contaminants like PFAS, lead, and chemical spills. The report also emphasizes systemic inequities and includes a case study on the Oʻahu’s drinking water crisis caused by Navy jet fuel and PFAS spills.

“The Safe Drinking Water Act was a monumental achievement, and it needs to be modernized to meet the challenges of today,” said Julian Gonzalez, Earthjustice senior legislative counsel. “After 50 years of its passing, we need stronger protections, better practices, modern technology, increased funding, and stricter enforcement to ensure everyone can rely on their drinking water, no matter where they live.

The report also highlights how the SDWA’s early successes have been undermined by decades of slowed progress, with only six new chemical regulations added through the law’s contaminant regulation process in the last 28 years. Aging infrastructure now wastes six billion gallons of water daily, and many of our nation’s 50,000 public water systems struggle with less effective treatment from outdated systems due to billions of dollars in Congressional underfunding.

To address these challenges, Earthjustice calls for increased federal investment, modernized sampling and monitoring protocols, stronger federal and state implementation, and improved transparency from regulating agencies and public water systems.

Download the full report: The Safe Drinking Water Act at 50 – A Call for Urgent Reform