As I write this, the U.S. House of Representatives is debating a bill that would essentially strip the Clean Water Act of its power by neutering the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to enforce the protection of our waterways.

The effort is being spearheaded by legislators from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In Virginia and Maryland, faced with the daunting costs of cleaning up local waterways and the Chesapeake, legislators have failed to take any action to muster the fiscal resources necessary to get sincere bay clean-up underway.

There have been enough meetings, there has been abundant planning, and EPA has finally agreed, 30 years after all the country's waterways were supposed to be fishable and swimmable, to start enforcing the law.

The time for hand-wringing has passed. There's nothing more left than to get to the task at hand of implementing the strategies that will bring back the health of our rivers and the bay.

Will these be expensive? Compared to what has been spent in the past, likely.

Realistically, there will likely need to be at least $1 billion per year, over the next 20 years, spent on restoration of the Chesapeake and its waterways throughout the watershed in order to effect real improvement.

The upside of these expenditures, in addition to the obvious benefits of cleaner water, is the vast opportunity for job creation, both in the engineering and construction sectors, the chance to foster innovation in clean water technologies, and even the prospect simultaneously restoring our fisheries and the bay's health.

This summer, as you and your family seek comfort in the cool refuge of a local stream, river, lake, bay or the ocean, take heed of the fact that swimming advisories abound and the loss of that resource is only one politician's empty promise away from becoming a reality.

It's time our governors stop talking about timelines and excuses and start getting serious about cleaning up our waterways.

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