On September 16, 2026, the president approved the revocation of Executive Order 13508, an order that included important guidelines for the protection of the Chesapeake Bay — home to the Potomac River basin. The new order notably criticizes “rain taxes” included in the original directive — taxes that they say states use “to pay for their stormwater infrastructure, whether or not it contributes to the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay.”
This year’s catastrophic failure of the Potomac Interceptor — sending more than 200 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac — showed us exactly what happens when critical water infrastructure fails. It should be a wake-up call for greater investment in our aging water and sewer systems, not a retreat from the funding, coordination, and accountability needed to protect clean water.
The Potomac is the second-largest tributary to the Chesapeake Bay, and protecting the Bay is impossible without protecting the Potomac and the communities that depend on it.
Stormwater pollution, sewage, and failing infrastructure don’t respect political or jurisdictional boundaries.
Weakening the tools communities use to address these problems puts our rivers, the Chesapeake Bay, and the people who depend on them at greater risk. We need more investment in clean water infrastructure, not less.
Betsy Nicholas, President
Potomac Riverkeeper Network
