Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
President Donald Trump takes a drink of water while speaking in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2017.
- President Donald Trump has slashed a number of regulations aimed at protecting America's waterways, including many that affect the country's drinking water.
- Trump has contended the regulations he's rolled back - or sought to rescind - put unnecessary burdens on US industries.
- Research shows millions of Americans are exposed to unsafe drinking water every year, and environmental groups warn Trump's decisions could compound this issue.
Since entering the White House, President Donald Trump has rolled back a number of environmental regulations put in place by his predecessors that could make drinking water less safe for people across the US.
Trump has faced some legal hurdles in attempting to repeal such regulations, but he's been fairly successful in this effort as he's argued that such rules are burdensome to farmers and businesses.
The rules Trump has slashed have made it easier for corporations to dump pollutants into water systems, which in turn has the potential to seep into drinking water.
According to the US Geological Survey, in 2005 roughly 43 million Americans - approximately 15 percent of the population - supplied their own drinking water and 99 percent of that came from groundwater.
In short, when ponds, streams, rivers, and lakes are polluted, it can seep into groundwater and has the potential to negatively affect a significant number of Americans who get their water from wells.
Studies have shown that millions of Americans are exposed to unsafe drinking water every year. This issue goes well beyond the highly publicized stories like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Here are the environmental rules Trump has repealed - or is fighting to repeal - that could affect drinking water in the US: