Evolving Scope of the U.S. Clean Water Act Caitlyn Johnson ENCE412 Spring 2023 Introduction and Contents About Me • B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering Water Resource Management • Minor Global Engineering Leadership • Post Grad: MK Consulting Engineers • Sustainable Urban Design About the Paper • History • Case Study • Methods • Results • Conclusion • Applications History 1948-1972 1972-1982 1982-2006 2006- Present • Federal Water Pollution Control Act • Aimed to protect human health • “interstate waters” • Poor enforcement • 1961 Amendments; Water Quality Act • Clean Water Act • WOTUS • Vague legislative definition • USACE and USEPA regulation • Wetlands • Prompted Supreme Court rulings • Ruled out isolated wetlands and waterways • Clear limits on CWA protection • Rapanos v. US • “significant nexus” • 2015 Clean Water Rule (CWR) • 2020 Navigable Water Protections Rule (NWPR) Methods Case Study: Wabash River Basin, IL,IN,OH, USA • Critically examine timeline of Federal Regulations, court cases, and laws and amendments • Define jurisdictional WOTUS • Display over time what streams, lakes, and wetlands are: • Protected • Possibly • Conditionally • Not Protected Case Study: Results Conclusions Uncertainty in which waters are jurisdictional has remained high Supreme court cases and agency rules often shift uncertainty rather than clarifying Modern changes, NWPR and CWR, have had small impacts Applications Geospatial analysis to evaluate policy implications Observing historic changes to WOTUS can inform modern rulemaking Agencies need to clarify which waters should be regulated Some uncertainty allows state and local agencies to adopt rules that best fit Hydrologists predictions and mitigations rely on clear regulations and relevant data
