Another View: Proposed rule protects Midwest’s streams, wetlands

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rotecting Midwestern streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act helps our communities and is vital to our health, safety, and quality of life. Local rivers — the Des Moines, Raccoon and North — along with a network of tributaries and wetlands, like Walnut, Beaver and Four Mile creeks, are important to the Des Moines area’s water quality, recreation, wildlife habitat and flood abatement.

For the past 15 years, two complex court decisions muddled the law and we lost a clear understanding of which waters are protected and which aren’t.

Working jointly with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we’re releasing a proposed rule that clarifies which waters are protected by the law. Our proposal will smooth out wrinkles in the existing law. It does not add to or expand the scope of waters historically protected under the Clean Water Act.

The proposed rule does not change exemptions and exclusions for agriculture. We’ve worked closely with the agricultural community to avoid surprises. The rule will not protect any new types of waters that haven’t historically been covered. It will not regulate groundwater or tile drainage systems or increase regulation of ditches, whether they are irrigation or drainage.

The EPA has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure we’re addressing farmers’ concerns. Farmers and ranchers benefit when healthy wetlands and small streams are able to store floodwaters so that crops and pastures are not damaged or destroyed during floods. They also need reliable water sources and available irrigation water to grow the crops that feed our nation.

From the Missouri River to the Mississippi, the American waterscape is a defining part of our national identity. In the Midwest, we are blessed with a vast network of wetlands and streams that support these rivers: from the Upper Mississippi River floodplain wetlands to wet prairies; from oxbow lakes in Iowa to bottomland forests; from small seasonal streams to the Mississippi River. Because of this diversity of water resources, previous interpretations of waters of the U.S. resulted in uncertainty. Clarifying the Clean Water Act protections will add certainty and clarity to farmers, developers and others.

People depend on streams, lakes and rivers for swimming, boating, wildlife and drinking water. According to a 2011 survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 90 million Americans, or 38 percent of the U.S. population 16 years and older, fished, hunted or enjoyed wildlife-associated recreation. Hunters, anglers and wildlife recreationists spent $145 billion. Fishing attracted 33 million people 16 years and older.

The proposed rule helps clear the way for the Clean Water Act to do its job and ensure clean, healthy waters. The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 90 days from publication in the Federal Register. Go to water.epa.gov/CWAwaters to learn more about our proposal and the Clean Water Act.

We’re committed to continuing to listen to everyone who has a stake in this. So I urge you to voice your concerns and lend us your advice. That’s how we’ll get the final rule right.

THE AUTHOR:

KARL BROOKS is administrator for Region 7 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and nine tribal nations. Contact: r7actionline@epa.gov.