[Listen] New Definition of WOTUS Warren Formo MAWRC

The Biden Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally released their definition of Waters of the U. S. or WORTUS. The authority goes back to the Clean Water Act passed in the 1970's. The EPA was to regulate "navigable waters" which most assumed meant rivers large enough for barge transportation. However, Congress did not define exactly what navigable waters were.

So, near the end of the Obama Administration the EPA took a much broader definition. Their definition was any water "tied" to navigable waters. That meant water in a pothole on the back 40 was under the control of the Federal EPA. There was not time to implement the new definition before Donald Trump was sworn in as President.

The Trump Administration went back to the definition of navigable waters being large enough for barge traffic. Now we have a definition from the Biden Administration's EPA. Click on the link above and listen to Warren Formo talk about the new definition and what it means for farmers and landowners.