IDAHO STATE JOURNAL: Opinion: On the importance of water infrastructure

To best enable water projects and towns across Idaho and our nation to continue to deliver clean water while facing growing pressures on our water resources, primary jurisdiction over the allocation, management and use of water must remain as constitutionally directed — with the states, not the federal government.

Last year, President Trump issued an Executive Order to undo the 2015 “Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule.” The 2015 WOTUS Rule redefined navigable waters to exert federal control over nearly every stream, ditch, pond and puddle on state, local lands and private property.

Historically, navigable waters had been limited to rivers and streams and their immediately adjacent wetlands.

I have helped block past legislative efforts to exert federal control over non-navigable waters of the U.S. and supported legislative and other efforts to eliminate this unwarranted power grab over water and land use across the country.

On Dec. 11, 2018, the administration announced a rewrite of the WOTUS rule that it asserts, “respects the law and would give states and tribes the certainty and flexibility they need to manage waters within their borders.”

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Photo Credit: Mike Crapo