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�, 21 protecting water quality, we looked at the major sources of specific pollutants , the uses of particular rivers and streams , and the requirements of federal water quality law . All that is still important . EPA is very proud of that fact that over the past 30 years we ' ve put in place a strong foundation of pollution control, particularly for industry and wastewater treatment facilities . We ' re proud of the accomplishments that flow from federal law . But as you well know, the problem is a lot bigger than that . It includes sewage sludge and industrial grease and oils and heavy metals , to be sure . But it also includes habitat loss and fragmentation, suburban sprawl, invasive species , air deposition, the concentration of population along shorelines , the proliferation of home septic systems , and many other issues we were barely aware of ten years ago . In the years that I ' ve been gone from the Agency, you all have made remarkable progress in redefining the problems plaguing watersheds in this country, and expanding the range of solutions . You ' re thinking more holistically than we did back in the 1980s . You clearly understand a fundamental premise that too often gets lost in the Agency ' s daily grind to put out rules and regulations and enforce the law . That fundamental premise is this : the environment is a delicately interconnected web of life , and the web is greater than the sum of its parts . So to protect any particular part of that web , you always have to consider the web as a whole . The watershed is the web of life . The watershed is greater than the sum of all the individual streams , lakes , wetlands , and groundwater that flow through it . And to protect any part of the watershed, everyone who affects any part of it has to be involved . You understand that well . And because of your understanding, your knowledge, your commitment and hard work, you ' re providing all of us with a lot more hope for the future of America ' s water . Since I ' ve been back, I ' ve noticed another big change in the way the environment is protected these days , another change that ' s evident in this room today, another change that the President and Administrator strongly support . And that ' s the extensive , roll-up -your- sleeves involvement of state and local governments , communities , businesses — in fact, everyone who has a stake in the health of a watershed . The federal government, and federal laws , are necessary, but they ' re not sufficient . By themselves , they will never be enough to protect all the watersheds , in all their differing circumstances , across this great country of ours . Those of us who work in Washington simply don ' t know enough about the complex problems facing our watersheds , problems that are rarely the same in any two places . But you do . Not any one of you, but all of you taken together, and others like you . You represent every imaginable perspective within a watershed — from agriculture and forestry and mining to state and local