[3] Created in 1972, the group focuses on canvassing and gaining support for political issues and candidates.

To reach this goal, Zwick outlined a grassroots strategy of door-to-door canvassing and public education.

[4] One of its first accomplishments occurred in 1986 when, along with the National Campaign Against Toxic Hazards, the group published a report claiming the Environmental Protection Agency was failing to properly enforce the federal Superfund toxic waste cleanup program.

In 2008, Clean Water Action and Earth Justice brought a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for not complying with state and federal water protection laws by allowing partially treated fracking wastewater to be discharged into the Monongahela River.

[8] Clean Water Action also has been involved in campaigns to reduce the environmental impact of plastics through their support of California's Assembly Bill 888, which proposed to ban the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products.