Washington, D.C. – Idaho’s U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo today applauded the Trump Administration’s move to relieve Idaho’s farmers and ranchers of the regulatory burden created by Waters of the United States (WOTUS), an overreaching Obama Administration rule that defined all bodies of water, including ephemeral streams created by rainfall, as subject to federal government regulation. 

“President Trump’s new Waters of the United States definition is a significant and necessary improvement from the Obama Administration’s disastrous attempt to regulate every puddle of water across America,” said Senator Risch. “Idaho’s farmers and ranchers have an important job to do feeding American families, and the less time they have to spend navigating federal bureaucracy, the better off we’ll all be.”

“Returning to the agreed upon definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ and rightsizing federal government oversight is the right approach to managing and protecting our waters. I support EPA's action to roll back this rule and return the management of Idaho's waters to our state officials who know our lands best,” said Crapo.  "The 2015 Clean Water Rule is a textbook case of a federal overreach. This rule subverts state water sovereignty and jeopardizes private property rights by significantly expanding federal authority— allowing the EPA to regulate nearly every stream, ditch, pond and puddle on both state and local lands, as well as private property.”