Let EPA protect small streams

Last week, Congress held the first joint House and Senate hearing in many years. I must admit some cynicism to congressional hearings as so little actual listening seems to go on, but this one struck close to home. The Congress was debating the merits of the federal government returning the protections of the Clean Water Act to small streams—streams that enjoyed protections for 30 years until 2006.

My family and I know the value of these streams. On a good week, I’ll get two days with my kids in West Virginia where we own a small farm along the Little Cacapon River. The Little Cacapon runs dry during parts of the year; it is what’s called an “intermittent stream.” But it is an endless source of joy for my family where we stalk turtles, catch panfish, swim and skip stones. The other five days of the week, I work in Arlington, Va., downstream of the Little Cacapon and alongside the Potomac River—the drinking water supply for Washington, D.C. When the weather warms, I spend many hours with friends and family catching shad, catfish, and bass on the Potomac.

{mosads}My Dad, who lived here in the 1960s, described the Potomac back then as a “smelly cesspool that would make you sick.” Two things happened to make the fishing and water quality better on the Potomac. First, the Clean Water Act of 1972 regulated direct discharges of industrial pollutants into the river. Second, the countless rills, creeks, and other intermittent streams such as the Little Cacapon that feed the Potomac were protected so that streamside landowners were required to get permits before they could dredge, dam or road these small streams.

For the first 30 years of the Clean Water Act, these two parts of the law did just as Congress intended. They made rivers more fishable and swimmable. Until 2006, streams such as the Little Cacapon— that provide clean water to Washington, D.C., places for fish to spawn and rear and great fun for me and my kids — were protected.

Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. And healthy headwater streams, and the Clean Water Act that protects them, are foundations of our work.

The foundation is cracked. Two politically charged Supreme Court cases in 2001 and 2006 threw 30 years of precedence and logic on its head. The court said the federal government had to prove a “significant nexus” between perennial and intermittent streams in order for the Clean Water Act to apply. That ruling took away the protections of the Clean Water Act for my West Virginia stream—and 60 percent of the nation’s other stream miles.

And last March, the EPA proposed a solution. At its heart is a fact every angler knows: small streams influence the health of larger rivers, and small streams help to grow big fish. After scientists demonstrated the “significant nexus,” the Supreme Court asked for, EPA proposed reapplying protections to intermittent and ephemeral rivers and streams.

Trout Unlimited works with farmers and ranchers across the country, from vintners in California, to ranchers in Colorado, to dairy farmers in Wisconsin, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and we want this proposed rule to work for them. The proposal does not change any of the existing rules for regular farming activities, and makes clear that puddles in irrigated fields and ponds are not regulated. No one is interested in regulating a farmer’s swale or pond. And as important as farming is, fishing is an industry, too—a $48 billion per year industry.

Without proper oversight, the roads, land clearing and well pads associated with expanding gas development can be ongoing threats to our headwater streams. Twice, for example, in 2014 EPA struck enforcement deals with gas companies in West Virginia caused by several miles worth of illegal destruction of headwater streams from gas development in preceding years—clear violations of the Clean Water Act.

The Clean Water Act has a stunning record of success, but we are not finished. Without smart planning, energy development, sprawl, and climate change can all dirty water, compromise fisheries and make people sick. Urge your member of Congress to allow the EPA the opportunity to re-apply the protections for small streams that existed for the first 30 years of the Clean Water Act.  

Fix the foundation. Mend the safety net. Tell Congress to protect headwater streams, for healthy watersheds, healthy kids and healthy communities.

Wood is the president and CEO of Trout Unlimited.