Victory for Environmental Protection: Clean Water Act Prevails in PG&E Hydropower Projects on Yuba and Bear Rivers

The Possible Impacts of the EPA Redefining “Waters of the United States” on the Yuba Watershed

Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act established a nationwide approach to improving the quality of our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, and other water bodies. One of its features is that it prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point source into “navigable waters” unless otherwise authorized under the Act. “Navigable waters” are defined in the Act as “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”