10/01/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C3SHWZsZi/
🚨 Action Alert: KWA is alarmed that the E.P.A. and the Army Corps of Engineers are proposing another major change to Waters of the United States (WOTUS) that could reduce the number of streams and wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act. If adopted, many Kentucky waterways that currently receive protection would no longer qualify.
📣What you can do: The National Wildlife Federation has created an easy Action Alert you can use to submit a comment to the E.P.A.
🔗That link and all the details are in comments.
😡What the E.P.A. is Considering:
🚨Streams: Limits “relatively permanent” waters to essentially only perennial/continuously flowing streams. E.P.A. acknowledges most intermittent streams would not meet this standard.
🚨Wetlands: Requires a continuous surface water connection between a wetland and another jurisdictional water. E.P.A. expects the majority of current wetlands to fail this test.
🚨30-day bright line: Only allows a stream to go dry or a wetland to become disconnected once during the year for up to no more than 30 days due to to normal, predictable causes.
💦Why this Matters in Kentucky: Our headwaters, intermittent streams, wetlands, springs, and karst groundwater systems function together. Water does not stop moving through a watershed simply because surface flow temporarily stops. Kentucky cannot easily replace lost federal protections because state law now ties much or Kentucky's water jurisdiction to the federal WOTUS definition. When federal protection shrinks, Kentucky’s protection can shrink with it.
