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

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.”

New EPA Rule Greatly Reduces Clean Water Act Protections

New EPA Rule Greatly Reduces Clean Water Act Protections

Earlier this week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new federal rule that eliminates protection for a majority of our nation’s wetlands and estimated totals of well over a million miles of streams. The rule aligns the law with a recent Supreme Court Case that limited the kinds of wetlands and streams that can be covered by the Clean Water Act, known as Waters of the United States, or WOTUS. American Whitewater joined an amicus brief in that pivotal court case, advocating for the science-based protection of these streams and wetlands, but the Supreme Court ruled against us.

Sackett v. EPA decision on Clean Water Act

Sackett v. EPA decision on Clean Water Act

Today, the Supreme Court rolled back protections under the Clean Water Act (CWA) by severely limiting the interpretation that adjacent wetlands will be protected and considered “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) except in extremely limited circumstances. For...