Key Dates: Clean Water Act & Endangered Species Acts

Passed in 1972 by the United States Congress, the Clean Water Act was designed to protect, restore, and maintain water quality. Utah Lake’s water quality had been in question for many years as local communities had used the lake to dump raw sewage and local industry like Geneva Steel also dumped waste product. In 1973, the Congress passes the Endangered Species Act, mandating that communities act to conserve and recover species in danger of extinction. Many people credit the Act as saving countless species while also protecting and maintaining wildlife habitats including forest, beaches, and wetlands, while others see it as government control with negative impacts to economic activity.