Thirty-one national monuments established since the Clinton administration are currently safeguarding essential clean water supplies for more than 13 million Americans, according to a comprehensive new analysis by the Center for American Progress (CAP). This vital protective role is under heightened scrutiny as the Trump administration signals intentions to potentially downsize or revoke these designations, aiming to open vast tracts of public lands to a range of extractive industries. The report, which leveraged advanced geospatial data, meticulously quantified the extensive network of rivers and watersheds nestled within these national monument boundaries, alongside the precise number of citizens who depend on these pristine water sources. It revealed that an overwhelming 83 percent of the water flowing through these federally protected lands lacks any other form of legal or environmental safeguard beyond its monument status, underscoring the critical importance of these designations. Furthermore, the analysis determined that national monuments collectively protect over 21,000 miles of waterways across the United States, a figure nearly double the mileage encompassed by the esteemed National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

This groundbreaking report emerges amidst a period of significant policy uncertainty surrounding America’s public lands. In March of the current year, the Trump administration initially announced plans to eliminate California’s Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands national monuments, although language announcing this decision was subsequently removed from a White House fact sheet, indicating a potential recalibration or internal debate. The following month, reports from The Washington Post indicated that the administration was actively considering the downsizing or outright elimination of at least six national monuments, stirring considerable concern among conservationists and local communities. Further cementing this policy direction, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a legal opinion in June asserting the president’s inherent power to rescind national monument designations—a significant departure from decades of established legal interpretations and precedents that have largely upheld the permanence of such protections. These actions echo a previous period during a prior Trump administration term, when the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, initially established by the Obama and Clinton administrations respectively, were substantially reduced in size, only to be fully restored to their original boundaries by President Joe Biden upon taking office.

The potential ramifications of downsizing or eliminating national monuments extend far beyond mere boundary adjustments; they pose a direct and severe threat to the integrity of critical water resources. Removing these protections would expose vast areas surrounding vital waterways to the unchecked operations of extractive industries, including oil and gas drilling, various forms of mining, and extensive grazing. Such activities carry a high risk of contaminating streams and rivers through the release of pollutants, toxic chemicals, and sediment runoff. Moreover, these industries often demand prodigious quantities of water, particularly in already arid regions, which would further deplete precious water supplies for downstream communities grappling with increasing scarcity. While certain limited mining and grazing activities are sometimes permitted within national monument lands, they are typically subject to stringent regulations and scale limitations that are significantly more lax or absent in unprotected areas.

Drew McConville, a senior fellow for conservation policy at the Center for American Progress and a co-author of the recent report, emphasized the inextricable link between terrestrial landscapes and aquatic ecosystems. "Landscapes and waterways go hand in hand," McConville stated, highlighting that "the clean water depends on what comes into them from natural lands… Just protecting the wet stuff itself doesn’t guarantee that you’re keeping [water] clean and durable." This holistic perspective underscores that the health of a river or stream is intrinsically tied to the condition of the surrounding land, where precipitation is collected, filtered, and channeled into the aquatic system. Degradation of the land inevitably leads to degradation of the water.

The report also brought to light a concerning environmental justice issue: a disproportionately high percentage of historically marginalized communities reside within the watersheds protected by these national monuments, compared to the national average for all watersheds. This implies that any weakening of protections could disproportionately impact vulnerable populations who often lack the resources to mitigate the effects of contaminated water or dwindling supplies. Compounding this vulnerability, 23 of the national monuments studied are situated in regions projected to experience severe water shortages in the coming decades due to the escalating impacts of climate change. This makes the preservation of these protected watersheds even more critical, as they serve as natural bulwarks against the intensifying aridity and water stress facing the American West and other susceptible regions. The escalating global water crisis, driven by population growth, pollution, and climate change, makes the protection of every available freshwater source a paramount concern, linking local conservation efforts to broader international sustainability goals.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah serves as a poignant illustration of these critical interdependencies. According to the CAP analysis, this sprawling monument alone protects an astonishing 2,517 miles of waterways. Disturbingly, nearly 90 percent of the watersheds within its boundaries are anticipated to experience significant declines in water levels, making its protective status all the more vital. The monument strategically straddles the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basins, encompassing the headwaters and stretches of the Paria and Escalante rivers. Its southern boundary lies in close proximity to Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, a critical water storage facility for millions across the Southwest.

While Grand Staircase-Escalante is often perceived as a stark, arid landscape, its ecological role in the regional water cycle is indispensable. Jackie Grant, the executive director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, a non-profit dedicated to the monument’s protection, highlighted its crucial function. The organization has invested $11 million in safeguarding the Escalante River watershed and its tributaries. Grant explained that the monument plays a key role in slowing the flow of water originating from the Paunsaugunt Plateau within Bryce Canyon National Park. Much of this water begins as snowpack, gradually melting and nourishing the intricate network of streams and rivers that ultimately feed into the beleaguered Colorado River System, a lifeline for approximately 40 million people across seven states and Mexico. "People don’t think of water when they think of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument," Grant observed, underscoring the common misconception. "So when we can bring this view of water and how important it is to the protection of the monument, it helps us put another building block in our case for supporting the monument, because not only is it important for the animals, the native plants, the geology and the paleontology, water plays a huge role in the monument, and the monument protects the water itself."

Spanning an expansive 1.87 million acres of public land, Grand Staircase-Escalante stands as one of the country’s largest national monuments, offering sanctuary to countless wildlife species and safeguarding invaluable archeological resources. However, its subsurface holds immense mineral wealth, including a nine-billion-ton coal deposit buried within its central section, alongside significant reserves of uranium and nickel. The pursuit of increased domestic coal production and a broader pro-mining agenda have been consistent priorities for the current administration, placing these protected landscapes in direct conflict with industrial interests. Grant cautioned that such resource extraction poses an immediate and severe risk: "It’d be very easy to contaminate either one of those rivers if mining were to take place in the center section of the monument," she warned, pointing to the potential for irreversible environmental damage.

Margaret Walls, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future who has extensively studied national monuments but was not involved in this specific analysis, noted that while national monuments are typically designated to protect cultural or historical landmarks, their crucial role in safeguarding water resources is frequently overlooked. Walls also offered a nuanced perspective, pointing out that even if monument protections are loosened, the affected areas remain federal lands, and a change in status does not automatically guarantee their immediate development. However, the intent behind such changes is often to facilitate greater access for resource extraction. "We don’t protect waterways the way we do land," Walls commented, encapsulating the broader conservation challenge. "We’re going to get those water benefits by protecting the land." This statement encapsulates a fundamental principle of conservation: the health of aquatic systems is inextricably tied to the integrity of their surrounding terrestrial environments, making land-based protections the most effective means of securing clean and abundant water for current and future generations. The ongoing debate over national monument designations thus represents a pivotal moment for balancing economic interests with long-term environmental sustainability and public health, especially in an era of accelerating climate change and increasing demands on finite natural resources.