Reading Response 2 “What is Sustainability?”

In Sustainability Principles and Practice, Robertson (2021) states, “The Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 was an amendment to an earlier act. It required that all navigable waters in the US be “fishable and swimmable” by 1983 and prohibited all discharge of pollutants into navigable waters without a permit by 1985. The Act also regulated the potential filling of wetlands” (p. 53). This amendment was clearly not the greatest idea. Not all water is safe to swim due to bacteria and pollution. In New Jersey where I lived at, at our local lake there were different zones dedicated to different activities. There were zones for fishing, boating, sailing, and swimming. For example, the purpose for fishing and swimming to be separated was if as a fisherman you break off, you’re your hooks at the bottom stuck on a rock, someone swimming would be less likely to step on it if no one fished around that zone. For obvious reasoning to allow any pollution to be allowed into a water way is insane. Certain items that help grow and protect the eco systems are different than I have this chemical that I used for x,y, and z it should now be ok in a place it should not go.

(Ruggiero 2026)

Reference Robertson, Margaret. Sustainability Principles and Practice, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/fgcu/detail.action?docID=6457832. Created from fgcu on 2026–06–03 01:49:44. Page 55