If you want regulation, well, we have more regulations up the ying-yang than any fifty countries could possibly need or want. While we might claim it’s helped, it has not done nearly as much as advocates claim or want.
The far better solution would be to auction off the ownership of the river in question, use the money to pay down the national or state debt, then let the new owner enforce his property rights by suing anyone and everyone who violates them by pollution or whatever other trespass he may choose. The polluters would end up paying for their civil crimes, and the river would be clean, without any government intervention except the court system, which the polluters would pay for in court costs anyway
A long term recommendation would most likely be using fabric bag instead of plastic bags when getting groceries. This could stop the blockage protect rivers because , people would not be able to through the fabric bag into the river they will have to keep reusing everytime the go to market.
