Big news this week from the Associated Press on pharmaceuticals in our drinking water. In an interview on NPR's Talk of the Nation, American Rivers' Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee member Dr. Joan Rose, summed it by explaining that the close connection between human waste, animal waste and our drinking water supply essentially "short circuits the natural environment and leads one to be concerned."

The Associated Press released the first major report on pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies in the U.S. this week, and the results aren't encouraging. Investigators found an array of pharmaceuticals from pain killers to antibiotics to mood stabilizers in the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan water suppliers. Even worse, thirty-four of the sixty-two water suppliers contacted by the AP couldn't provide results as they had never tested for pharmaceutical compounds.

After finally getting some rest and allowing the dust to settle I'm very happy to say that River Action Day was a major success. About 90 river advocates from all over the country took to Capitol Hill to be the voice of their hometown rivers in the halls of Congress. As always, this event helped raise the political profile of several important pieces of river legislation that Congress is considering, including the Sewage Overflow Right to Know Act now pending in both the House and Senate. All told, River Action Day participants attended more than 200 congressional meetings and their presence was felt and seen on both sides of the Capitol.