I've loved rivers all my life. That's what drew me to become an environmentalist and, lucky for me, a paid environmental advocate. I've spent years working to protect rivers from all manner of abuse and pollution.

One reassuring aspect of this challenge is that at least America has some pretty strong laws on the books that help us tackle environmental problems. When it comes to water quality, we have several protective statutes including the Clean Water Act.

Despite these laws, however, one of the biggest threats to clean water we face is sewage pollution. Whether from straight pipes, failing septic systems, or overflows from centralized treatment plants, sewage spills are making it unsafe to use rivers and streams all across the country.

No joke. You may not see it (or even smell it always) but it's there, unseen for the most part, flowing down our rivers, streams, and creeks - making them little than dumping grounds for wastewater.

Sure, most of our waste gets "treated" but not always adequately. And more and more often, poorly treated and even raw sewage overflows into the rivers we love - right into our drinking water!

Occasionally - but not nearly often enough - you can read about this in the newspapers. In the past couple weeks, for example, there was a spill in Warsaw, North Carolina following a heavy rain that sent 90,000 gallons of untreated sewage spouting out of manholes and into a neighborhood creek (The Sampson Independent - December 5, 2006).

Another spill closed Malibu's Surfrider Beach (CBS 2, CA - Dec 4, 2006). A lake near Orlando, Florida got "an unwanted dose of raw sewage" courtesy of a broken sewer pipe - forcing residents of the lakeside neighborhood to stay out of the water for five days! (Orlando Sentinel, FL - Nov 29, 2006) In Georgia two sewer lines leaked, causing a "major" spill (minimum 10,000 gallons) that left stream banks fouled with toilet paper and the air reeking (Clayton Tribune - Dec 6, 2006).

And this is just a spattering of the sewage spills happening every day, just about everywhere in America!

Typically, reporting on these incidents happens after the fact - which doesn't help anyone who is out on the water boating, swimming or fishing when the spills occur. Even worse, press coverage on these incidents is spotty at best. That's because there is no federal law that forces a sewage plant to report a spill immediately or that requires public health officials to notify the public. That's outrageous and unacceptable...And it's gotta change.

Under a new campaign called "Act for Healthy Rivers," American Rivers is banding together with river conservation organizations, local watershed groups, public health associations, medical professionals, and other allies to convince Congress to pass "Community Right-to-Know" legislation for sewage pollution. That way, when sewage spills occur in communities, people will know and can take steps to protect their families.

As this growing problem captures public attention, we're also going to create political pressure to take other important steps - whatever it takes - to protect our waters (and us!) from sewage pollution.

This blog - really a "sewage log" or, better yet, a "slog" - is intended to help shine a spotlight on this serious problem plaguing our rivers.

We plan to use the slog to inform and incite people - especially grassroots river leaders - on this issue.

We'll update and activate concerned citizens on the upcoming legislative battle in Congress.

We'll also share resources that will help you lead the fight in your own watershed.

We expect to profile the experts, individual activists and groups who already are waging the war against sewage pollution. That means featuring guest ‘sloggers' to share strategy ideas, offer up useful tactics, and tell about their success stories.

And you can count on us to keep profiling more "spills of the week" to get you fired up. As the bumper sticker says, "If you're not outraged, you haven't been paying attention."

So come on, join us as we...Act for Healthy Rivers!