To protect the Midwest’s great waterways – including the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes – we must safeguard the wetlands, community creeks and ephemeral streams that surround them.
Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 with the objective “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” Determining what waters are covered by the Clean Water Act has been a fraught process. The Trump EPA’s effort to narrow the scope of the Act, the so-called Navigable Waters Protection Rule, wiped out federal protections for many streams and wetlands putting safe clean drinking water at risk. A federal court vacated the Trump rule and EPA is now working on a two-step process to ensure our clean water is protected.
The EPA must act swiftly on this first step by restoring protections for streams and wetlands and then propose a comprehensive science-based standard that will deliver on the original promise of the Clean Water Act.
