The comment period for the proposed rule that would redefine “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act ends April 15. If you have facts, opinions, or stories that you want to share with the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers concerning this rule or the 2015 rule, click here to provide a comment.
Image of the Blue River Watershed by Earthstar Geographics.
This proposed rule that would redefine “waters of the United States” was proposed by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers, and it would exclude streams with ephemeral flow and wetlands that do not have a direct and continuous surface connection with a traditionally navigable water. If the proposed rule is adopted, many headwater streams would no longer be protected by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. Here is what the EPA has to say about the importance of those ephemeral headwater streams:
“Headwater streams and streams that only flow for part of the year make up the majority of river miles in the United States. About 53 percent of the total stream miles in the continental U.S. are headwater streams. Almost 60 percent of stream miles in the continental U.S only flow seasonally or after storms. The very foundation of our nation’s great rivers is a vast network of unknown, unnamed and underappreciated streams.”
EPA Archives. (2013, October). Retrieved
from https://archive.epa.gov/water/archive/web/html/streams.html (emphasis added).
Let the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers know that we should not allow the “foundation of our nation’s great rivers” to collapse. Ibid.