Inside Climate News: “Trump Administration’s Threats to Shrink or Eliminate National Monuments Could Endanger Drinking Water for Millions”
RFF Senior Fellow Margaret Walls comments on the importance of national monuments for clean water resources.
“Margaret Walls, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future who has studied national monuments but was not part of this study, said national monuments are designated to protect cultural or historical landmarks, and it can be forgotten that they can also serve purposes like safeguarding water. Though she noted that even if monument protections are loosened, the areas remain federal lands, and their changes in status do not guarantee they will be developed.
‘We don’t protect waterways the way we do land,’ Walls said, ‘we’re going to get those water benefits by protecting the land.’”
