From FLORIDA TODAY and other sources

   The Clean Water Act of 1972 was designed to protect the nation's waterbodies, large and small; interconnected or isolated, from contamination and destruction. Within the Clean Water Act, the Migratory Bird Rule, specifically protected isolated lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands. In 2001 the Supreme Court ruled that a developer could fill in a man-made pond that had been providing habitat to migratory birds. This January the federal government interpreted that ruling to lessen the scope of the Clean Water Act and directed the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to no longer "require permits for the pollution or destruction of wetlands that are located within a single state and are not associated with any navigable waterway". The former administration strongly supported the Clean Water Act's protection of isolated wetland and waterbodies. The present administration has interpreted the Supreme Court Ruling as eliminating these protections. A proposal requesting public input on the definition of "isolated" has been issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.

   The new federal approach to the Clean Water Act may exclude many of our nation's waterbodies from federal protection. Whether isolated or connected, most of the 100 million acres of waterbodies throughout the United States provide valuable habitat for local wildlife and migratory birds. Without healthy wetlands the U.S. duck populations could face total destruction. Other migratory species will suffer as well. Isolated wetlands include California's Mono Lake and Utah's Great Salt Lake; crucial areas for migratory birds. Wetlands that form seasonally in prairies and deserts are isolated but still important for migrating birds. The number and type of "isolated" waterbodies is extensive and most are vital to local and migratory wildlife. There is enormous concern among environmentalists that this is the beginning of industry's attempt to deflate the protections of the Clean Water Act. A small number of states have begun to institute protection plans for their isolated wetlands, but the majority continue to have the Clean Water Act set the standards. Cases challenging the weakening of the Clean Water Act's power have begun to appear in federal court.