The Clean Water Act turns 30: celebrating its past, predicting its future.

• Author: Smith, Tyson

In celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the nation's most successful pollution control statute, Lewis & Clark Law School and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center hosted a national Clean Water Act conference October 17-18, 2002, in Portland, Oregon. The conference featured nationally prominent scholars and practitioners, who provided entertaining glimpses into the history of the Clean Water Act, stimulating comments on the present state of the Act, and predictions for the future. It also featured workshops on the basics of the Act, water quality, wetlands protection, enforcement, and citizen suits.

This symposium issue would not be possible without the thoughtful insights of the many speakers at the thirtieth-anniversary conference. Those speakers included Robin Kundis Craig, Robert W. Adler, Nina Bell, Michael C. Blumm, Derb Carter, Jr., Neil Cartusciello, Robert Dreher, Fred Hansen, Jim Hecker, Craig N. Johnston, Susan F. Mandiberg, James Moore, Mark Morford, Patrick Parenteau, William Rodgers, Stephen Samuels, Eric Schaeffer, Ellen Steen, Bruce Terris, James Waldron, LaJuana Wilcher, and Ann Williams.

The variety and caliber of speakers and topics befitted a statute that has made inroads into nearly every area of modern life. Far from becoming an irrelevant dinosaur sailing smoothly on its past successes, the Clean Water Act contains the tools for continued water quality improvement. From the role of citizen suits in environmental enforcement to the land use implications of total maximum daily loads, the Clean Water Act provides a framework for discussing the legal, political, and regulatory issues of the day. Some of the exchanges that took place at the conference coalesced into the articles that follow, while other articles prepared specifically for this symposium reflect the importance and...