Statistics have shown and proven again and again that Indiana’s waterways are over polluted, even ranking Indiana as the number one state for the most water recreation impairments. Recently, statistics have proven that one of southern Indiana’s major water sources is the second most polluted river in the entirety of the United States of America. Even after the attempted improvements such as the Clean Water Act. One major issue for Indiana being budget cuts. 

Indiana’s polluted waters have not further improved since the Clean Water Act of 1972. The Clean Water Act was meant to make all waterways in the United States clean and safe to drink by 1983 and hoped to eliminate water pollution by 1985. Unfortunately, after 50 years of trying to make Indiana’s water clean, fishable, and safe to drink from, our rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs have become evermore polluted to the point of being deemed unfixable. Due to bacteria such as e.Coli and toxic algae normally used to test fecal contamination, wildlife and human life are at risk when consuming water. Most of Indiana’s pollution is due to large animal farms and their feeding operations for the animals. Unfortunately, this factor was not something taken into consideration when the Clean Water Act of 1972 was made. While many independent large farms may not have the money to prevent pollution in local waterways, the two major companies in Indiana, Tyson and JBS, do have the resources to stop water pollution within the state. 

However, budget cuts have been made for a lot of companies which does not help with the fight against water pollution in Indiana. While there have been no major improvements within the last decade to Indiana’s water systems, environmentalists have heavily monitored the pollution rate and strive to fix the problem. With this being one of the major issues within Indiana, if a solution is not found, it could be detrimental to the state of Indiana.