science environment

Northwest Farmers Wary About Obama's Expected Water Rule

By Courtney Flatt (OPB)
May 22, 2015 11:15 p.m.

The Obama Administration is expected to announce a new clean water rule in the next few days, which has some Northwest farm groups worried what new regulations could mean for their operations.

The rule has also drawn criticism from property rights groups and praise from environmentalists.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the new rule will help limit pollution in streams and wetlands. Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 created uncertainty about who can regulate these smaller bodies of water.

Evan Sheffels, associate director of government relations for the Washington Farm Bureau, says farmers would rather work with state agencies on water protection issues.

"There's just a great amount of uncertainty about how EPA would implement this. There's not any kind of level of trust," Sheffels says.

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A bill recently passed by the U.S. House would block the new clean water rule.

Environmental groups say this new rule will provide critical protection for clean drinking water and fish habitat, what they say was the original intent of the Clean Water Act. One half of people in Oregon and one-third of people in Washington get drinking water from sources that rely on these types of small water bodies.

"The challenge of tackling water pollution is that we can't just go to one source and deal with the problem," said Lauren Goldberg, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper. "It's really an issue of society coming together and having strong laws at every corner, including this new rule, that will help ensure that for generations to come we have safe drinking water."

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